John Pemberton (footballer)

John Pemberton
Personal information
Date of birth (1964-11-18) 18 November 1964
Place of birth Oldham, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 Bristol City (caretaker Manager)
Youth career
19??–1983 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1984 Chadderton
1984–1985 Rochdale 1 (0)
1985–1988 Crewe Alexandra 121 (1)
1988–1990 Crystal Palace 78 (2)
1990–1993 Sheffield United 68 (0)
1993–1997 Leeds United 53 (0)
1997–1999 Crewe Alexandra 1 (0)
Total 322 (3)
Teams managed
2008–2009 Nottingham Forest (caretaker)
2010–2012 Sheffield United Academy
2013 Bristol City (caretaker)
2016 Bristol City (caretaker)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


John Pemberton (born 18 November 1964 in Oldham, Lancashire) is an English former professional footballer and is currently first team coach at Bristol City. He has also coached at Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, and was Academy Manager at Sheffield United.

As a player he made more than 300 appearances in the Football League and Premier League playing as a defender for Rochdale, Crewe Alexandra, Crystal Palace, Sheffield United and Leeds United.[1] He is also the former manager of Nottingham Forest's reserve team, and spent a brief period as interim manager of the club's first team.

Playing career

He started his career as a junior at Manchester United but was released in June 1983. He signed for Chadderton F.C., then Rochdale A.F.C. before moving to Crewe Alexandra in 1985. He initially came to prominence when he joined Crystal Palace in 1988, helping them win promotion to the First Division in 1989. He appeared for Palace in the 1990 FA Cup Final against Manchester United. The initial tie was drawn 3–3 after extra time, with United winning the replay 1–0 after extra time.

In 1990, Pemberton transferred to Sheffield United. During his début against Liverpool in the season opener, he was forced to play in goal after an injury to the United keeper. His most memorable moment game in 1993 when he scored the winning penalty in the shootout against Blackburn Rovers in the quarter-final replay in the FA Cup. The following summer, he was sold to Yorkshire rivals Leeds United. Pemberton became something of a cult figure at Leeds owing to his determination and high work-rate. He appeared in a second Wembley final when he played for Leeds in the 1996 League Cup Final against Aston Villa; again, unfortunately for Pemberton, his side was defeated.

He ended his career back at Crewe Alexandra with two appearances in the 1997–98 season.

Managerial career

Pemberton coached Nottingham Forest's reserve team to the Central League title in the 2007–08 season.[2] In December 2008, following the dismissal of first-team manager Colin Calderwood, Pemberton was appointed as caretaker manager for the match against Norwich City,[3] guiding Forest to a 3–2 victory.[4] Billy Davies was appointed to the post,[5] but did not take over with immediate effect. Pemberton took charge of the Forest side which caused an upset in the Third Round of the FA Cup by winning 3–0 at the City of Manchester Stadium against Premier League opponents Manchester City.[6] At the end of the 2008–09 season Davies reorganised his coaching staff, and Pemberton's contract was terminated by mutual consent after more than a decade as part of Forest's backroom team.[2]

The following season saw him join Crystal Palace's coaching staff for a short spell. The Eagles were in administration, and Pemberton was brought in, along with manager Paul Hart and assistant Dougie Freedman (both of whom had worked with Pemberton as a manager and a player respectively at Forest), for two months to keep the Eagles in Championship. This was achieved on the final day of the season, after which his contract expired.

After leaving Palace he was appointed as the manager of Sheffield United's Academy in May 2010[7] and guided his young team to the Youth FA Cup Final the following season, losing out to Manchester United over two legs.[8] He left Sheffield United in September 2012.[9] His Son Max also is Captain and Midfielder for the Academy Side. On 25 October 2012 he re-joined the coaching staff of Nottingham Forest as a 'Professional Development Coach'.[10]

On 28 November 2013, Pemberton was appointed caretaker manager at Bristol City for the club's next game away to Preston North End the following Saturday, this was after the sacking of manager Sean O'Driscoll.[11]

Career statistics

Club Years League FA Cup League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Rochdale 1984–1985 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Crewe Alexandra 1985–1988 121 1 3 0 7 1 131 2
Crystal Palace 1988–1990 53 2 8 0 7 0 68 2
Sheffield United 1990–1993 69 0 4 0 4 0 77 0
Leeds United 1993–1997 53 0 6 0 4 0 62 0
Crewe Alexandra 1997–1999 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
Total 323 3 21 0 23 1 341 4

References

  1. ↑ "John Pemberton". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Who's Who at Nottingham Forest". Nottingham Forest F.C. 18 June 2009. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
  3. ↑ "Forest latest: Pemberton in charge for Norwich game". Nottingham Evening Post. 28 December 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
  4. ↑ "Norwich 2-3 Nott'm Forest". BBC Sport. 28 December 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
  5. ↑ "Davies appointed Forest manager". BBC Sport. 1 January 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  6. ↑ Hunter, Derek (3 January 2009). "Man City 0 Nottingham Forest 3: Pemberton's glorious end spells nightmare for Hughes". Daily Mail. Retrieved 13 November 2009.
  7. ↑ "Pemberton appointed". Sheffield United F.C. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  8. ↑ "Radiant report from Pembo". Sheffield United F.C. 27 May 2011. Archived from the original on 28 May 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Shield, James (7 September 2012). "Sheffield United's academy coach boss John Pemberton quits Blades". Sheffield Star. Johnston Press. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  10. ↑ "Pemberton Returns". nffc.co.uk. 25 October 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  11. ↑ "City part company with O'Driscoll". Bristol City Official Website. 28 November 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
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