John Schofield
Schofield as assistant manager of York City in 2015
Personal information
Full name John David Schofield[1]
Date of birth (1965-05-16) 16 May 1965[1]
Place of birth Barnsley, England[2]
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Port Vale
(first team coach)
Youth career
1983–1984 Huddersfield Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1985 Woolley Miners Welfare
1985–1987 Shepshed Charterhouse
1987–1988 Matlock Town
1988 Gainsborough Trinity
1988–1994 Lincoln City 231 (11)
1994–1997 Doncaster Rovers 110 (12)
1997–1999 Mansfield Town 86 (0)
1999–2000 Hull City 25 (0)
2000–2001 Lincoln City 19 (0)
Total 471 (23)
Managerial career
2006–2007 Lincoln City
2009 Walsall (caretaker)
2009 Cheltenham Town (caretaker)
2013 Gillingham (caretaker)
2021–2023 Northern Ireland U21
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John David Schofield (born 16 May 1965) is an English football coach and former professional footballer; he is now assistant manager to Andy Crosby at EFL League One club Port Vale.

As a player he was a midfielder and spent twelve seasons in the basement division of the Football League with Lincoln City, Doncaster Rovers, Mansfield Town and Hull City, making a total of 547 league and cup appearances after turning professional at the age of 23. He was named as Lincoln City's Player of the Year in 1994. Prior to this he had spells in non-League with Woolley Miners Welfare, Shepshed Charterhouse, Matlock Town and Gainsborough Trinity. Following on from his retirement, Schofield held various coaching roles back with Lincoln City, where he eventually became manager and led the club to the League Two play-offs during the 2006–07 season. He has since held a variety of different positions on the coaching staff at Scunthorpe United, Walsall, Cheltenham Town, Cambridge United, Notts County, Gillingham, Scunthorpe United, York City, Doncaster Rovers, Peterborough United and Port Vale. He also managed the Northern Ireland U21 team from 2021 to 2023.

Playing career

Non-League

Schofield was born in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire.[1] A hard-working and combative midfielder, he began his career in non-League football, combining this with his job as an apprentice-trained motor mechanic.[3] As a teenager, he had spent a season with Huddersfield Town's reserve team before joining Northern Counties East League side Woolley Miners Welfare.[3] He moved up the non-League pyramid, joining first Southern League Premier Division side Shepshed Charterhouse and then Matlock Town of the Northern Premier League Premier Division.[3] In March 1988, he joined Gainsborough Trinity, also of the Northern Premier League Premier Division.[3]

Lincoln City

Lincoln City manager Colin Murphy signed him for a £10,000 fee on 10 November 1988.[1][3] Schofield made his debut in a 4–1 win over Fourth Division leaders Burnley at Turf Moor.[3] He scored his first goal at Sincil Bank in a 4–3 victory over Wrexham on 14 January 1989.[2] Schofield quickly established himself in the Lincoln team,[3] making 31 appearances in the number 4 shirt in the 1988–89 season.[2] He played 34 games in the 1989–90 campaign, scoring two goals, having lost his first-team place in January.[2] He appeared 46 times in the 1990–91 season, scoring three goals, with all his starts coming in the number seven shirt.[2]

He played 45 matches in the 1991–92 campaign, scoring three goals, again playing as a number seven.[2] He played 48 games in the 1992–93 campaign, with Lincoln now in the Third Division due to the creation of the Premier League; he again wore the number seven shirt, aside from a period in mid-season where he was restricted to appearances from the substitute bench.[2] He played 50 games in the 1993–94 season, scoring two goals, and was both club captain and supporters' Player of the Season.[3] He scored three goals in sixteen matches at the start of the 1994–95 season.[2] He was later voted as number 47 in Lincoln's list of 100 league legends.[4]

Later career

On 18 November 1994, Schofield joined Sammy Chung's Doncaster Rovers.[1][5] He featured 27 times as a number eight in the 1994–95 season, before scoring four goals in 46 matches playing as a number seven in the 1995–96 campaign.[2] He scored seven goals in 46 games in the 1996–97 season, again wearing the number seven shirt.[2] Schofield signed with Mansfield Town for a £10,000 fee on 8 August 1997.[1] He featured 50 times in the 1997–98 campaign and 48 times in the 1998–99 season, wearing the number seven shirt throughout his time at Field Mill.[2]

He joined Hull City on a free transfer on 28 July 1999.[1] He played 35 games in the 1999–2000 season, beginning the campaign in the starting eleven before being reduced to the role of substitute in the new year.[2] He had been signed to provide cover for player-manager Warren Joyce, but fell out with Joyce and found himself out of the team in favour of emerging talent Adam Bolder; he was identified as surplus to requirements by new manager Brian Little in April.[5]

Schofield returned to Lincoln City on 6 June 2000 to take up the post of Head of Youth Development.[6] With Lincoln beginning to struggle financially, Schofield was also called upon as a player, making a further 24 appearances in the 2000–01 campaign, before he finally wound his playing career down.[2]

Coaching and managerial career

Lincoln City

Schofield, a UEFA Pro Licence holder,[7] made impressive progress with Lincoln's youth team set-up. A number of promising players, such as Lee Frecklington, either making the first team squad or being sold to higher-level clubs such as Jack Hobbs who was sold to Liverpool and Scott Loach who moved on to Watford.[8] His good work was rewarded with an increasing role with the first-team and he was appointed first-team coach prior to the start of the 2005–06 season.[5] He signed a new two-year deal with the club in April 2006.[9] The departure of Keith Alexander as Lincoln's manager on 24 May 2006 saw Schofield take over as caretaker manager.[10] He was appointed as Lincoln's head coach on 15 June 2006, with John Deehan appointed as director of football.[11]

The 2006–07 season started promisingly for Lincoln with a new-found commitment to attacking passing football which saw them top the table in October 2006 and be amongst the leading scorers in the league. He was named as League Two Manager of the Month for October after winning all four games that month.[12] However, Lincoln's form fell away in 2007 and rather than pushing for automatic promotion they were, for the fifth season running, forced to settle for a place in the play-offs. In the semi-final Lincoln were beaten 7–4 on aggregate by Bristol Rovers.[13] His was contract extended to three years on 6 August 2007, and his title was changed from head coach to manager.[14]

The poor form exhibited by Lincoln in the second half of the 2006–07 season continued into 2007–08 and this was met with increasing unease by the Lincoln supporters with a feeling that Schofield has neglected the defence of the squad in favour of his attacking strategy. Schofield was sacked by Lincoln on 15 October 2007, after a run of nine matches without a win.[15]

Backroom staff roles

Schofield began coaching at Scunthorpe United in February 2008,[16] where he helped carried out extra training sessions for players not involved in the first-team, before he departed at the end of the 2007–08 season.[17] On 17 June 2008, he was appointed first-team coach at Walsall, to work under manager Jimmy Mullen.[18] Schofield was appointed manager on a caretaker basis after Mullen was sacked on 10 January 2009.[19] He took charge for just one match, a 1–0 defeat away to Peterborough United, but left the club ten days later[20] ahead of the appointment of manager Chris Hutchings, who brought in his own right-hand man in former Walsall player Martin O'Connor.[21]

On 20 March 2009, Cheltenham Town's manager Martin Allen appointed Schofield as his assistant on an initial expenses-only basis.[22] The appointment was made full-time on 14 May, when Schofield agreed a two-year contract.[23] On 20 October, he became caretaker manager of the club after Allen was placed on gardening leave whilst an alleged incident involving Allen at a nightclub was investigated.[24] Although Allen was subsequently cleared by an internal club investigation, on 11 December he left the club by mutual consent with Schofield remaining in temporary charge.[25] Although he was interviewed for the permanent manager's role,[26] his erstwhile Lincoln teammate Mark Yates was appointed with Schofield reverting to his role as assistant manager.[27] His spell as caretaker manager had consisted of nine matches with just a single victory: a 5–1 defeat of Barnet.[28] A restructuring of the backroom team at the end of the 2009–10 season saw Schofield depart Whaddon Road after fifteen months at the club.[29]

Schofield as assistant manager of York City in 2015

On 6 July 2010, he joined Cambridge United on a trial basis to assist manager Martin Ling with the club's pre-season preparations.[30] Having impressed, he joined the club on a two-year contract to become first-team coach.[31] Following a run of four successive defeats, he and Ling were sacked by Cambridge on 1 February 2011.[32] On 11 April 2011, Notts County appointed Martin Allen as manager on a one-year rolling contract[33] and he quickly appointed Schofield as first-team coach.[34] Although Allen steered the club clear of relegation at the end of the 2010–11 season, he was sacked on 18 February 2012 with the club occupying 11th-place in League One.[35] Two days later, following the appointment of Keith Curle as manager, Schofield also departed Meadow Lane.[36] In July 2012, he linked up with Martin Allen for a third time, when he became his assistant at Gillingham.[37] Although Allen led the club to the League Two title in 2012–13, after winning just two of their first eleven league games in 2013–14, he was sacked on 13 October 2013.[38] Schofield was placed in caretaker charge,[39] before Peter Taylor was appointed interim manager a day later.[40] He remained part of the backroom staff under Taylor,[41] before leaving his role on 6 May 2014.[42]

On 23 June 2014, Schofield was appointed assistant manager at Scunthorpe United.[43] He had played with the club's manager Russ Wilcox at Doncaster whilst the two also completed their coaching badges and pro-licence on the same courses.[43] On 8 October, Schofield and Wilcox were sacked by Scunthorpe, after the team started the 2014–15 season with two wins from eleven matches.[44] On 30 December 2014, he returned to Lincoln City in a voluntary coaching capacity to assistant recently appointed manager Chris Moyses,[45][46] before resuming his relationship with Wilcox through being appointed his assistant at League Two club York City on 21 May 2015.[47] With York 21st in the table after a nine-match run without a win early in the 2015–16 season, Wilcox and Schofield were sacked on 26 October.[48] On 7 September 2016, Schofield returned to former club Doncaster Rovers as a Senior Professional Development Coach, working with youth players and younger first-team players to bridge the gap between the squads.[49] He trained the first-team in the summer of 2019, before Darren Moore was appointed to the vacant manager role.[50] He later coached at Peterborough United's youth team.[51]

Northern Ireland U21

On 26 July 2021, Schofield became the new manager of Northern Ireland under-21 team.[52] He stepped down from the role on 1 February 2023 after Northern Ireland finished third in their group for 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification, having won two and drawn one of his ten games in charge.[53]

Return to coaching

On 18 April 2023, Schofield joined the backroom staff at Port Vale to assist interim manager Andy Crosby – his predecessor as Northern Ireland U21 manager – in steering the club away from the League One relegation zone.[54] Having achieved this aim, he was confirmed as Crosby's assistant manager in June 2023.[55]

Career statistics

Playing

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] Other[lower-alpha 2] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Huddersfield Town 1983–84[2] Second Division 00000000
Lincoln City 1988–89[2] Fourth Division 2920020312
1989–90[2] Fourth Division 2922030342
1990–91[2] Fourth Division 4231030463
1991–92[2] Fourth Division 3911052453
1992–93[2] Third Division 4002060480
1993–94[2] Third Division 4022080502
1994–95[2] Third Division 1210052163
Total 231118032427115
Doncaster Rovers 1994–95[2] Third Division 2710000271
1995–96[2] Third Division 4141040464
1996–97[2] Third Division 4271030467
Total 11012207011912
Mansfield Town 1997–98[2] Third Division 4402040500
1998–99[2] Third Division 4202040480
Total 8604080980
Hull City 1999–2000[2] Third Division 2504060350
Lincoln City 2000–01[2] Third Division 1901041241
Career total[lower-alpha 3] 4712319057554723
  1. ↑ Includes FA Cup
  2. ↑ Includes League Cup and Football League Trophy
  3. ↑ Non-League statistics not recorded

Managerial

As of 1 February 2023
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref
PWDLWin %
Lincoln City 24 May 2006 15 October 2007 64 23 14 27 035.9 [56]
Walsall (caretaker) 10 January 2009 20 January 2009 1 0 0 1 000.0 [19][56]
Cheltenham Town (caretaker) 20 October 2009 22 December 2009 9 1 3 5 011.1 [24][56]
Gillingham (caretaker) 13 October 2013 14 October 2013 0 0 0 0 !— [39][40][57]
Northern Ireland U21 26 July 2021 1 February 2023 10 2 1 7 020.0 [53]
Total 84 26 18 40 031.0

Honours

Player

Individual

  • Lincoln City Player of the Season: 1993–94[3]

Manager

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2001). The 2001–2002 Official PFA Footballers Factfile. London: AFS. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-946531-34-9.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 John Schofield at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "John Schofield". The Lincoln City FC Archive. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "Schofield wants Saddlers to hit new season in top condition". Business Live. 7 July 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 "775 John Schofield – On Cloud Seven". On Cloud Seven. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  6. ↑ "Schofield back with City". Lincoln City F.C. 6 June 2000. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012.
  7. ↑ Cawdell, Luke (2 August 2012). "John Schofield". Kent Online. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  8. ↑ "League Managers Association – JOHN SCHOFIELD". leaguemanagers.com. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  9. ↑ "Coach Schofield signs Imps deal". BBC Sport. 13 April 2006. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "Alexander parts company with Imps". BBC Lincolnshire. 24 May 2006. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  11. ↑ "Schofield named as Lincoln boss". BBC Sport. 15 June 2006. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  12. 1 2 "Manager of the Month". LMA. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  13. ↑ "Lincoln City 3–5 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 17 May 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  14. ↑ "Schofield rewarded with new deal". BBC Sport. 6 August 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "Lincoln City sack boss Schofield". BBC Sport. 15 October 2007. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "Schofield coaching at United". Scunthorpe United F.C. 18 February 2008. Archived from the original on 19 February 2008.
  17. ↑ "Schofield exits Glanford Park". Scunthorpe United F.C. 29 May 2008. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011.
  18. ↑ "Schofield is new Saddlers coach". BBC Sport. 17 June 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  19. 1 2 "Mullen sacked as Walsall manager". BBC Sport. 10 January 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  20. ↑ "Caretaker Schofield leaves Walsall". Express & Star. Wolverhampton. 20 January 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  21. ↑ "Walsall appoint Hutchings as boss". BBC Sport. 20 January 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  22. ↑ "Robins name Schofield as deputy". BBC Sport. 20 March 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  23. ↑ "Schofield stays with Cheltenham". BBC Sport. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  24. 1 2 "Allen put on leave by Cheltenham". BBC Sport. 20 October 2009. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  25. ↑ "Manager Martin Allen parts company with Cheltenham". BBC Sport. 11 December 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  26. ↑ "Schofield, Yates interviewed for Cheltenham Town job as announcement draws close". Gloucester Citizen. 22 December 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  27. ↑ "Kidderminster's Mark Yates appointed Cheltenham manager". BBC Sport. 22 December 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  28. ↑ "Cheltenham Town Assistant Manager John Schofield goes in shake-up". Gloucester Citizen. 30 June 2010. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  29. ↑ "Assistant manager John Schofield leaves Cheltenham Town". BBC Sport. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  30. ↑ "John Schofield on trial". Cambridge United F.C. 6 July 2010. Archived from the original on 18 December 2010.
  31. ↑ "John Schofield joins club". Cambridge United F.C. Archived from the original on 18 December 2010.
  32. ↑ "Manager Martin Ling sacked by Cambridge United". BBC Sport. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  33. ↑ "Notts County appoint Martin Allen as manager". BBC Sport. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  34. ↑ "Notts boss Allen hails spirit of his players after they end nightmare run". Nottingham Post. 11 April 2011. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  35. ↑ "Notts County sack manager Martin Allen". BBC Sport. 18 February 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  36. ↑ "Keith Curle appointed new Notts County manager". BBC Sport. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  37. ↑ "Schofield reunited again with Martin Allen as double act look to plot Gills' return to promotion success". Kent News. 14 July 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  38. ↑ "Martin Allen: Gillingham manager sacked after 16 months". BBC Sport. 13 October 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  39. 1 2 Thomas, Jack (13 October 2013). "Taylor tipped for Gillingham return". Kent Sports News. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  40. 1 2 "Gillingham: Peter Taylor named interim boss after Martin Allen exit". BBC Sport. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  41. ↑ "Former Gillingham assistant manager John Schofield has joined the coaching staff at non-league Lincoln City". Kent Online. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  42. ↑ "Carl Muggleton and John Schofield leave Gillingham FC". Gillingham F.C. 6 May 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  43. ↑ "Scunthorpe United sack manager Russ Wilcox". BBC Sport. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  44. ↑ "Schofield Back at the Bank". Lincoln City F.C. 30 December 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  45. ↑ Cawdell, Luke (31 December 2014). "Former Gills assistant back with the Imps". Kent Online. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  46. ↑ "Schofield Accepts York Role". Lincoln City F.C. 21 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  47. ↑ Flett, Dave (26 October 2015). "York City sack manager Russ Wilcox". The Press. York. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  48. ↑ "Schofield joins Rovers". doncasterroversfc.co.uk. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  49. ↑ Hoden, Liam (14 July 2019). "Doncaster Rovers: John Schofield delighted to hand over fully fit squad to new boss Darren Moore". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  50. ↑ Fullerton, Gareth (26 July 2021). "Who is John Schofield? The new Northern Ireland Under 21 manager?". Belfast Live. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  51. ↑ "Schofield appointed as Northern Ireland U21s manager". Irish FA. 26 July 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  52. 1 2 Morton, Johnny (1 February 2023). "Schofield 'disappointed to be leaving' Northern Ireland U21s role". News Letter. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  53. ↑ Baggaley, Michael (18 April 2023). "The lowdown on new Port Vale coach John Schofield". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  54. ↑ "John Schofield announced as Andy Crosby's Assistant Manager". port-vale.co.uk. 13 June 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  55. 1 2 3 "Managers: John Schofield". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  56. ↑ "Results/matches: 2013/14". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
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