Chris Powell facts for kids

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Chris Powell
MBE
Personal information
Powell at Charlton Athletic in 2008
Date of birth	(1969-09-08) 8 September 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth	Lambeth, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Left back
Club information
Current club	Sheffield Wednesday (assistant coach)
Youth career
1985–1986	Epsom & Ewell
1986–1987	Crystal Palace
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1987–1990	Crystal Palace	3	(0)
1990	→ Aldershot (loan)	11	(0)
1990–1996	Southend United	248	(3)
1996–1998	Derby County	91	(1)
1998–2004	Charlton Athletic	200	(1)
2004	→ West Ham United (loan)	13	(0)
2004–2005	West Ham United	23	(0)
2005–2006	Charlton Athletic	27	(0)
2006–2007	Watford	15	(0)
2007–2008	Charlton Athletic	17	(1)
2008–2010	Leicester City	19	(0)
Total		667	(6)
National team
2001–2002	England	5	(0)
Teams managed
2010	Leicester City (caretaker)
2011–2014	Charlton Athletic
2014–2015	Huddersfield Town
2016	Derby County (caretaker)
2018–2019	Southend United
2019–2020	ADO Den Haag (assistant)
2021	Tottenham Hotspur (interim assistant)
2023–	Sheffield Wednesday (assistant coach)
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Christopher George Robin Powell (born September 8, 1969) is an English football coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach at Sheffield Wednesday.

Powell played as a left back for many teams. These included Southend United, Derby County, and Charlton Athletic. He also played for West Ham United, Watford, and Leicester City. He even played five times for the England national team.

As a player for Charlton, he was part of the team that won the First Division in 1999–2000. This helped them get promoted to the Premier League. After he stopped playing, Powell became a coach and then a manager. He led Charlton Athletic to promotion to the Championship in 2011–12. He has also managed Huddersfield Town and Southend United.

Powell was also the chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association. This is a group that helps football players. In 2009, he became an ambassador for England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup. He was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2024 for his services to football.

Chris Powell's Football Journey

Starting Out in Football

After finishing school, Chris Powell played for the youth team at Epsom & Ewell. He started his professional career in 1987 at Crystal Palace. He didn't play many games for their main team. He also spent some time playing on loan for Aldershot.

Playing for Southend United

In 1990, Powell moved to Southend United. He played there for six years. During this time, he played in 288 games for the team. Fans of Southend United really liked him. They even voted him their all-time "cult hero" in a BBC poll. One fan called him "a true gent."

Time at Derby County

In 1996, Powell joined Derby County. He played 99 games for them. Derby fans also loved him. He won their Supporters' Player of the Year award in 1996–97. He scored two goals while playing for Derby.

His Years at Charlton Athletic

Powell moved to Charlton Athletic in 1998. He played 200 games for them in his first time there. He was 31 when he was chosen to play for the England team in 2001. This was quite late for a player to make their first appearance for England. After home wins, he would do exciting jumps to celebrate with the fans. He scored two goals for Charlton against Tottenham Hotspur.

In 2004, Powell went to West Ham United. He helped them get promoted to the Premier League. He then returned to Charlton in 2005. He played well and also started to learn about coaching. In 2006, he signed with Watford for a year. In 2007, he came back to Charlton for a third time. He played his last game for Charlton in 2008. He even scored a goal in that final game.

Playing for Leicester City

In 2008, Powell joined Leicester City. He played his 750th career game against his old club, Southend. In 2009, he became a player-coach at Leicester. This meant he was both a player and a coach. He stopped playing at the end of the 2009–10 season. His very last game was against his former team, Derby County.

Playing for England

Chris Powell was called up to play for England in 2001. He played his first game against Spain. In total, he played five games for England.

Chris Powell as a Coach

Coaching at Leicester City

After stopping his playing career, Powell became a coach at Leicester City. In 2010, he was a caretaker manager for one game. Leicester won that game 3–1. He stayed as a coach even when a new manager, Sven-Göran Eriksson, joined. Eriksson had picked Powell to play for England. He said Powell would be a "very good manager in the future."

Coaching for England

In 2019, Powell was chosen to be a coach for the England national football team. He left this role in March 2023. This was so he could focus on his job at Tottenham.

Coaching in the Netherlands

In December 2019, Powell became an assistant coach at ADO Den Haag in the Netherlands. He left the club in April 2020. This was because the football season ended early due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Coaching at Tottenham Hotspur

In August 2020, Powell became the head of coaching for the Tottenham Hotspur Academy. He also kept his job coaching for England. In April 2021, he became an interim assistant head coach for the main Tottenham team. He left his youth coaching role in August 2023.

Coaching at Sheffield Wednesday

On October 20, 2023, Powell was named assistant coach at Sheffield Wednesday. He works with the new manager, Danny Röhl.

Chris Powell as a Manager

Managing Charlton Athletic

In January 2011, Chris Powell became the manager of Charlton Athletic. They were in League One at the time. He signed a contract for three and a half years.

He signed 19 new players in the summer of 2011. Charlton had a strong second half of the season. They won promotion back to the Championship as champions of League One. In the 2012–13 season, Charlton finished in 9th place in the Championship.

Powell was sacked as manager of Charlton Athletic in March 2014. This happened after a period of poor results.

Managing Huddersfield Town

On September 3, 2014, Powell became the new manager of Huddersfield Town. His first game in charge was a 2–1 loss. He was sacked by Huddersfield Town in November 2015.

Caretaker Manager at Derby County

In May 2016, Powell became the assistant manager at Derby County. In September, he became the caretaker manager after the main manager was suspended. He went back to being assistant manager in October 2016. He left Derby in March 2017.

Managing Southend United

Powell returned to management in January 2018 at Southend United. He signed a two-and-a-half-year contract. He was the only permanent Southend manager to win his first three games. He was sacked as manager of Southend United in March 2019. This was after 11 games without a win.

Chris Powell's Personal Life

Chris Powell is a Christian. He also supports many charities and organizations. Since 2020, he has appeared in the Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso. He is a co-commentator in the show. In 2024, he was given an MBE award. This is a special honor for his work in football.

Honours and Awards

As a Player

Charlton Athletic

Football League First Division: 1999–2000 (promoted to Premier League)

West Ham United

Football Championship play-off winners: 2004–05 (promoted to Premier League)

Leicester City

Football League One: 2008–09 (promoted to Championship)

Individual Awards

PFA Team of the Year: 1999–2000 (best team in the First Division)

As a Manager