Chris Powell facts for kids

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Chris Powell
MBE
Personal information
Powell at Charlton Athletic in 2008
Full name	Christopher George Robin Powell
Date of birth	(1969-09-08) 8 September 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth	Lambeth, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s)	Left back
Team information
Current team	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)
International career
2001–2002	England	5	(0)
Managerial career
2010	Leicester City (caretaker)
2011–2014	Charlton Athletic
2014–2015	Huddersfield Town
2016	Derby County (caretaker)
2018–2019	Southend United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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

As a left back, Chris Powell played for several well-known clubs. 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.

Chris Powell had three different periods playing for Charlton Athletic. During the 1999–2000 season, he helped them win the First Division. This win meant they were promoted to the Premier League. After he stopped playing, Powell became a coach. He later managed Charlton Athletic, leading them to win League One in 2011–12. He has also managed Huddersfield Town and Southend United.

Playing Career Highlights

Starting Out in Football

After finishing school, Chris Powell played for the Epsom & Ewell youth team in 1985–86. He started his professional career in December 1987. He joined Crystal Palace as a trainee. However, he did not play much for their first team. He then spent some time on loan at Aldershot, where he played 11 games.

Time at Southend United

In August 1990, Powell moved to Southend United for free. He played for the club for six years. During this time, he made 288 appearances for the first team. In 2004, Southend United fans voted him their all-time cult hero. Fans described him as a very skilled defender. They also said he was one of the nicest people in football.

Playing for Derby County

In January 1996, Powell joined Derby County. The transfer fee was £750,000. He played 99 games for Derby County. Fans loved him at Derby. He won the Supporters' Player of the Year award in the 1996–97 season. He scored two goals for Derby. Both goals came in the 1997–98 season.

Memorable Spells at Charlton Athletic

Chris Powell moved to Charlton Athletic in June 1998. The fee was £825,000. While at Charlton, he played 200 games. His great play caught the attention of England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. In 2001, at 31 years old, Powell was chosen for the England team. This was quite late for a first England cap. He was the oldest player to make his England debut since 1954. After home wins, he would do exciting leaps to celebrate with the fans. He scored two goals during his first time at Charlton. Both goals were against Tottenham Hotspur.

In 2004, Powell moved to West Ham United. He helped them get promoted. But in 2005, he returned to Charlton. He signed a one-year contract. He also started to develop his coaching skills. In 2005–06, he played consistently well. He became Charlton's first-choice left back again. In July 2006, he joined Watford for one year. He returned to Charlton for a third time in July 2007. This time, he was mainly a coach. His last game for Charlton was on 4 May 2008. He came on as a substitute and scored a goal. This helped Charlton win 4–1 against Coventry.

Joining Leicester City

In August 2008, Chris Powell signed a six-month contract with Leicester City. He made his first appearance against Fulham in the League Cup. On 6 December 2008, he played his 750th career game. This was against his old club, Southend. Leicester won the game 3–0. He signed a contract extension to stay until the end of the 2008–09 season.

In July 2009, Powell became a player-coach at Leicester City. He was the first team development coach. He also registered himself as a player again. He played his first league match on 26 January 2010. He retired from playing at the end of the 2009–10 season. His final game was on 27 March 2010 against Derby County.

International Career

Chris Powell was called up to play for England in 2001. This was under manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. He earned his first cap against Spain. In total, Powell played five games for England.

Coaching Journey

Coaching at Leicester City

Chris Powell worked as a player-coach under manager Nigel Pearson. When Paulo Sousa became manager in 2010, Powell stayed on as a coach. In October 2010, Powell became caretaker manager with Mike Stowell. This happened after Sousa was sacked. They were in charge for one game, which Leicester won 3–1. Powell remained a coach when Sven-Göran Eriksson took over. Eriksson, who had picked Powell for England, said he would be a very good manager.

Coaching for England

In September 2019, Chris Powell was appointed as a coach for the England national football team. In March 2023, it was announced that Powell would leave his England coaching role. This was to focus on his job at Tottenham.

Coaching in the Netherlands

In December 2019, Powell became assistant coach to Alan Pardew. They worked at ADO Den Haag in the Netherlands. Both Pardew and Powell left the club in April 2020. This was because the league season ended early due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Coaching at Tottenham Hotspur

In August 2020, Powell was appointed head of coaching for the Tottenham Hotspur Academy. He also continued his role as a coach for England. On 20 April 2021, Powell was named an interim assistant head coach at Tottenham. He worked with interim head coach Ryan Mason. On 1 August 2023, Powell left his position as head of coaching for the club's youth teams.

Assistant Coach at Sheffield Wednesday

On 20 October 2023, Chris Powell was appointed assistant coach at Sheffield Wednesday. He joined newly appointed manager Danny Röhl.

Managerial Career

Managing Charlton Athletic

On 14 January 2011, Chris Powell became the manager of Charlton Athletic. The team was playing in League One at the time. He signed a three-and-a-half-year contract. His first signing was Bradley Wright-Phillips. Wright-Phillips scored on his debut in February 2011. Powell won his first four games as manager. However, the team then went 11 games without a win. They finished the season in 13th place.

In summer 2011, Powell signed 19 new players. Charlton had a strong second half of the 2011–12 season. They won promotion back to the Championship. They were champions of League One. In the 2012–13 season, Charlton finished in 9th place. They were only three points away from a play-off spot. On 11 March 2014, Powell was sacked as manager of Charlton Athletic. This decision came after a poor run of results.

Managing Huddersfield Town

On 3 September 2014, Powell was named the new manager of Huddersfield Town. This happened after the previous manager resigned. Ten days later, Huddersfield lost 2–1 in his first home game. Chris Powell was sacked by Huddersfield Town on 4 November 2015.

Caretaker at Derby County

On 27 May 2016, Powell became the new assistant manager of Derby County. He worked alongside manager Nigel Pearson. On 27 September, Powell was appointed caretaker manager. This was after Pearson was suspended. On 12 October 2016, Powell returned to his assistant manager role. This happened when Steve McClaren was reappointed as manager. Powell left Derby in March 2017.

Managing Southend United

Powell returned to management on 23 January 2018. He took over at Southend United. He signed a two-and-a-half-year contract. He is the only permanent Southend United manager to win his first three matches. After 11 games without a win, Powell was sacked on 26 March 2019. The club was in 20th place in the league at the time.

Personal Life

Chris Powell is a Christian. He is also an ambassador for many charities and organizations. Since 2020, Powell has appeared as a co-commentator in the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2024. This was for his services to football.

Honours

As a Player

Charlton Athletic

Football League First Division: 1999–2000

West Ham United

Football Championship play-off winners: 2004–05

Leicester City

Football League One: 2008–09

Individual

PFA Team of the Year: 1999–2000 First Division

As a Manager