John Cornforth (footballer)

John Cornforth
Personal information
Full name	John Michael Cornforth^[1]
Date of birth	(1967-10-07) 7 October 1967 (age 56)^[1]
Place of birth	Whitley Bay,^[1] England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)^[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1985–1991	Sunderland	32	(2)
1986	→ Doncaster Rovers (loan)	7	(3)
1989	→ Shrewsbury Town (loan)	3	(0)
1990	→ Lincoln City (loan)	9	(1)
1991–1996	Swansea City	149	(16)
1996	Birmingham City	8	(0)
1996–1999	Wycombe Wanderers	47	(6)
1998	→ Peterborough United (loan)	4	(0)
1999	Cardiff City	10	(1)
1999–2000	Scunthorpe United	4	(1)
2000–2001	Exeter City	24	(2)
International career
1995	Wales	2	(0)
Managerial career
2001–2002	Exeter City
2004–2005	Newport County
2006	Torquay United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Michael Cornforth (born 7 October 1967) is a former Wales international football player and is now a coach. Originally from Whitley Bay in the north-east of England, Cornforth and his family have been settled in Devon for some time.

Cornforth is currently^{[needs update]} assistant manager at Northern Premier side Blyth Spartans.

Playing career

Cornforth usually appeared in midfield during his playing days. He made a total of 322 starts for his various clubs over his career, scoring 36 goals in the process. Whilst at Swansea City he was a part of the team that won after a penalty shootout in the 1994 Football League Trophy Final.^[3] At one point he commanded a transfer fee of £350,000, in his 1996 transfer from Swansea to Birmingham City.^[4] His four-and-a-half years and nearly 200 games for Swansea led him to declare himself "a true Jack".^{[citation needed]}

International career

Cornforth was eligible to play for the Wales national football team due to his paternal grandmother, who was from Llantrisant. He had two caps before a cruciate ligament injury interrupted his career.^[4]

Coaching career

Cornforth was player-coach, assistant manager^{[citation needed]} and manager of Exeter City.

In July 2004 he joined the coaching team (unpaid) at his local side Crediton United.^[5]

In September 2004 he took over from Peter Nicholas as manager of Newport County but was sacked in 2005.^[6]

In January 2006 Cornforth took over as caretaker manager at Torquay United from Leroy Rosenior with the side deep in relegation trouble;^[7] soon afterwards, he was appointed as manager until the end of the season.^[8] The side's form worsened however, and Ian Atkins replaced Cornforth in April, having joined the club as an advisor to Cornforth the previous month.^[9] Against all odds, Atkins managed to rescue the side and lift them a comfortable three points clear from relegation.

In August 2007, Cornforth rejoined his local side Crediton United as an advisor.^[10] The following month he was reported to be combining this role with working as a milk tanker driver, while hoping for a return to football management at a higher level.^[11]

In November 2010 Cornforth was appointed Manager of South West Peninsula League side Witheridge.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2012 Cornforth joined Blyth Spartans F.C. as Assistant manager to Tom Wade.^{[citation needed]}

Honours

Individual

PFA Team of the Year: 1994–95 Second Division^[12]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "John Cornforth". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
^ Sewell, Albert, ed. (1996). News of the World Football Annual 1996–97. London: Invincible Press. p. 401. ISBN 978-0-00-218737-4.
^ White, Clive (25 April 1994). "Football: Sublime Swansea glide to victory: Welsh pride stirred at Wembley". The Independent. London. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
^ ^a ^b Taylor, Ray. "County galler: John Cornforth". Newport County A.F.C. Archived from the original on 7 March 2005.
^ "Cornforth helps out at local club". NonLeagueDaily. 27 July 2004. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "County go for Cornforth". NonLeagueDaily. 29 September 2004. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ Joint, Laura (25 January 2006). "Leroy leaves Plainmoor". BBC Devon. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
^ Joint, Laura (2 February 2006). "Cornforth is new Gulls boss". BBC Devon. Archived from the original on 11 February 2006. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "Atkins takes over as Torquay boss". BBC Sport. 13 April 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
^ "Cornforth joins Crediton". NonLeagueDaily. 7 August 2007. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
^ "Hurford catches the eye of former city boss Cornforth". Midweek Herald. Devon. 25 September 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 150.