Kit Symons facts for kids
Symons (front) as manager of Fulham in 2015
|
|||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Christopher Jerry Symons | ||
| Date of birth | 8 March 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Basingstoke, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Atromitos (Assistant Manager) |
||
| Youth career | |||
| Portsmouth | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1988–1995 | Portsmouth | 160 | (10) |
| 1995–1998 | Manchester City | 124 | (4) |
| 1998–2001 | Fulham | 102 | (13) |
| 2001–2005 | Crystal Palace | 49 | (0) |
| Total | 435 | (27) | |
| National team | |||
| 1992–2001 | Wales | 36 | (2) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2003–2007 | Crystal Palace (assistant) | ||
| 2003 | Crystal Palace (caretaker) | ||
| 2005–2006 | Crystal Palace (U23) | ||
| 2008 | Colchester United (assistant) | ||
| 2008–2009 | Colchester United (caretaker) | ||
| 2009–2010 | Fulham (head of analytics) | ||
| 2010–2013 | Fulham (scout) | ||
| 2010–2012 | Fulham (U18) | ||
| 2012–2015 | Wales (assistant) | ||
| 2012–2014 | Fulham (U21) | ||
| 2013–2014 | Fulham (assistant) | ||
| 2014–2015 | Fulham | ||
| 2016–2017 | Wales (assistant) | ||
| 2017–2018 | Sunderland (assistant) | ||
| 2018–2019 | Hebei FC (assistant) | ||
| 2021–2023 | Wales (assistant) | ||
| 2022– | Atromitos (assistant) | ||
|
|||
Christopher Jerry "Kit" Symons, born on March 8, 1971, is a well-known football coach and former player. He is currently an assistant manager for Atromitos, a team in the Greek Super League.
As a player, Kit Symons was a strong defender. He started his career at Portsmouth. Later, he played in the top-tier Premier League for teams like Manchester City, Fulham, and Crystal Palace. He also played 36 games for the Wales national team, scoring two goals.
After he stopped playing, Kit Symons became a football coach. He briefly managed Fulham and was a temporary (caretaker) manager for Crystal Palace and Colchester United. He has often worked as an assistant coach alongside his former teammate, Chris Coleman. They have worked together at Fulham, Wales, Sunderland, Hebei FC, and now at Atromitos.
Contents
Kit Symons' Playing Career
Kit Symons was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. He played over 100 league games for his first three clubs. These were Portsmouth, Manchester City, and Fulham.
He played for Fulham until December 2001. Then, he joined Crystal Palace for £400,000. He finished his playing career at Crystal Palace after playing 60 games for them.
Playing for Wales
Kit Symons was able to play for the Wales because his father was from Cardiff. He played 36 games for Wales and scored two goals.
His first game for Wales was on February 19, 1992, against the Republic of Ireland. His last game was on October 6, 2001, against Belarus.
Coaching and Management Roles
Kit Symons became a temporary (caretaker) manager at Crystal Palace. After Iain Dowie became the new manager, Symons took on two roles: player and assistant manager. During this time, Crystal Palace was promoted to the Premier League.
In October 2007, when Peter Taylor left as Palace manager, Symons became caretaker manager again. He held this role for three days until Neil Warnock was appointed. After Warnock took over, Symons left the club.
Symons joined Colchester United in January 2008 as an assistant manager. In September 2008, he became Colchester's caretaker manager after Geraint Williams left. He led the team to two wins in five games. However, he left the club when Paul Lambert became the new manager.
Later, Symons started working for Fulham as a Senior Scout and an Academy Coach.
Coaching the Wales National Team
In January 2012, Kit Symons joined the Wales national team coaching staff. He worked under the team manager, Chris Coleman.
Managing Fulham
On September 18, 2014, Symons was named caretaker manager of Fulham after Felix Magath left. He had a good start, with five wins in nine games. Because of these good results, Symons was announced as the full-time manager of Fulham on October 29, 2014.
Symons said that Fulham was "very close to my heart" and that this was a job he "always really wanted to do." The club's owner, Shahid Khan, also said that Symons' "passion for everything that Fulham represents came through loud and clear."
In July 2015, Symons decided to leave his coaching role with the Wales national team. He wanted to focus completely on his job as manager of Fulham. However, Symons was dismissed by Fulham on November 8, 2015, after a 5–2 loss to Birmingham City.
Return to Coaching
Symons rejoined Wales as a coach in August 2016. He left this role on November 17, 2017, when Chris Coleman resigned as manager. Two days later, on November 19, 2017, Symons became assistant manager at Sunderland, again working with Chris Coleman. They both left Sunderland after the team was relegated to League One.
In June 2018, when Coleman became manager of Hebei China Fortune, Symons joined him once more as assistant coach.
