Derek Fazackerley Explained

Derek Fazackerley
Fullname:Derek William Fazackerley
Height:[1]
Birth Date:5 November 1951
Birth Place:Preston, England
Position:Central defender
Currentclub:Oxford United (Assistant Manager)
Years1:1969–1987
Years2:1987–1988
Years3:1988
Years4:1988
Years5:1990
Clubs5:Kumu
Caps1:596
Goals1:23
Caps2:66
Goals2:0
Caps3:16
Goals3:0
Caps4:14
Goals4:0
Caps5:17
Goals5:0
Totalcaps:709
Totalgoals:23
Manageryears1:2018
Managerclubs1:Oxford United (caretaker)

Derek William Fazackerley (born 5 November 1951) is an English former footballer who was previously assistant manager at Oxford United, and managed the club on a caretaker basis for two months in 2018. He spent the majority of his career playing for Blackburn Rovers.

Playing career

Fazackerley made a record 671 appearances for Blackburn in an 18-year career.[2] In February 2019 he was one of the first seven players to be inducted into the club's Hall of Fame.[3]

Coaching career

In January 1987, he joined Chester City as a player and assistant manager. The long-term plan was for qualified coach Fazackerley to succeed Harry McNally as manager,[4] but he grew unhappy at the lack of progress at the club.[5] He moved on in the summer of 1988 to York City to assist ex-Rovers manager Bobby Saxton. In February 1989, he joined Bury where Martin Dobson was manager and ended the season helping run the side after Dobson departed. This was his final playing season in professional football.

In May 1990, he became player-manager of Kumu in Finland[6] before moving to Newcastle United as first team coach. He was involved in the England setup as assistant manager under Kevin Keegan, working alongside Les Reed.

He has since coached at other clubs, including Blackburn, Bolton Wanderers and Barnsley.

He was a scout for Manchester City and sat alongside Sven-Göran Eriksson on the bench at City's matches during his only season in charge. His position at the club was placed under review following Eriksson's departure,[7] and left in July after Mark Hughes was appointed as manager.[8]

On 11 December 2008, he was made the new first team coach at Football League One side Huddersfield Town, following the appointment of Lee Clark as manager.

On 4 October 2010, he was made the new assistant manager at Football League Championship side Leicester City, following the appointment of Sven-Göran Eriksson as manager. He left the club in October 2011.

When Clark took over as manager of Birmingham City in June 2012, he appointed Fazackerley to the role of first-team coach.[9] On 17 February 2014, it was widely reported that he and assistant manager Terry McDermott had left Birmingham;[10] the club stated they had "no comment to issue on the matter at this moment in time."[11]

Fazackerley joined Oxford United as assistant manager under Michael Appleton on 21 July 2014.[12] He remained at the club when Appleton joined Leicester City as assistant manager at the end of the 2016–17 season, and when Appleton's successor Pep Clotet was sacked in January 2018, Fazackerley took over as caretaker manager.[13] He was in charge for two months, during which time the team won twice in eight games,[14] before the appointment of Karl Robinson on 22 March 2018.[15] He left his coaching position in 2020, though he retained an advisory position at the club[16] and was involved in the recruitment of Robinson's successor, Liam Manning, in 2023.[17]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Book: Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81 . registration . Jack . Rollin . Queen Anne Press. London . 1980 . 0362020175 . 66.
  2. News: Football: Toast to the right-hand man. Slater, Richard. 30 May 1999. The Independent. London. 6 April 2012.
  3. https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2019/february/a-night-to-remember-for-the-immortals/ Rovers legends inducted into Hall of Fame
  4. Sumner (1997), p. 103
  5. Sumner (1997), p. 105
  6. News: Derek Fazackerley's 40 years in the game ready to pay off for Huddersfield Town . Huddersfield Examiner . Dougie . Thomson . 8 August 2009 . 10 September 2012.
  7. News: Sven-Goran Eriksson expected to leave Manchester City next week. Times Online. 30 May 2008. 8 July 2008 . London.
  8. News: Coach Fazackerley leaves Man City. BBC Sport. 7 July 2008. 8 July 2008.
  9. Web site: Backroom Staff: Derek Fazackerley . Birmingham City F.C . 7 August 2012 .
  10. News: Birmingham City: McDermott & Fazackerley future in doubt . BBC Sport . 17 February 2014 . 18 February 2014.
  11. Web site: Terry McDermott and Derek Fazackerley . Birmingham City F.C . 17 February 2014 . 18 February 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140217172533/http://www.bcfc.com/news/article/20140217-terry-mcdermott-and-derek-fazackerley-1365464.aspx . 17 February 2014 . dmy-all .
  12. Web site: Derek Fazackerley . Oxford United F.C. . 30 January 2018 . 11 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180711022138/https://www.oufc.co.uk/teams/first-team/coaching-staff/derek-fazackerley/ . dead .
  13. Web site: Pep Clotet: Oxford United sack manager . BBC Sport . 22 January 2018 . 30 January 2018.
  14. News: Oxford United's players and fans deserve the credit for win, says Derek Fazackerley . Oxford Times . David . Pritchard . 19 March 2018 . 23 March 2018.
  15. Web site: Oxford United: Karl Robinson named new head coach after. BBC Sport . 22 March 2018. 22 March 2018.
  16. News: Derek Fazackerley moves to new Oxford United role upstairs . James . Roberts . 10 August 2020 . Oxford Mail . 8 November 2023.
  17. Web site: Oxford United CEO discusses hiring of Liam Manning as head coach . Liam . Rice . 14 March 2023 . Oxford Mail . 8 November 2023 . "What was really important to us was that we got the best of a sporting recruitment process – we had Ed Waldron and Derek Fazackerley involved – and then we also put in some what I'd say corporate discipline in that.".