Nicholas Jeremy Eaden (born 12 December 1972) is an English football coach and former professional footballer, he is a senior professional development coach at EFL League One side Barnsley.

Nicky Eaden
Personal information
Full name Nicholas Jeremy Eaden[1]
Date of birth (1972-12-12) 12 December 1972 (age 51)[1]
Place of birth Sheffield, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Full-back
Team information
Current team
Barnsley
(senior professional development coach)
Youth career
Barnsley
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–2000 Barnsley 293 (10)
2000–2002 Birmingham City[a] 74 (3)
2002Wigan Athletic (loan) 5 (0)
2002–2005 Wigan Athletic 117 (0)
2005–2007 Nottingham Forest 28 (0)
2006Lincoln City (loan) 17 (0)
2007Lincoln City (loan) 16 (0)
2007 Halesowen Town 1 (0)
2007 Solihull Moors 1 (0)
2007–2009 Kettering Town[b] 28 (0)
Total 580 (13)
Managerial career
2016 Rotherham United (caretaker)
2018 Nuneaton Borough
2018–2019 Hednesford Town
2019 Kettering Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

As a player he was as a full-back who accumulated 550 appearances in the Football League. He was part of the Barnsley team who played in the Premier League during the 1997–98 season. He also won promotions to the top flight with both Birmingham City and Wigan Athletic, also playing professionally for Nottingham Forest and Lincoln City. He rounded his career off with spells with non-league sides Halesowen Town, Solihull Moors and Kettering Town.

Eaden moved into coaching during his final playing stint with Kettering and was appointed assistant manager, a position he also held at Peterborough United and Rotherham United. He has also held various coaching positions at Leicester City, Tamworth, Coventry City and Chesterfield, as well as spells as manager of non-league sides Nuneaton Borough, Hednesford Town and Kettering Town.

Playing career

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Eaden was born in Sheffield,[1] and began his playing career with Barnsley as a youngster. He was initially not taken on when he left school in 1989, but was given a deal later that year, and turned professional in 1991.[6] Manager Mel Machin was critical of the player, and listed him among the players to be released at the end of the 1992–93 season.[6] However, he gave Eaden his club and Football League debut as a substitute away to Brentford on 1 May.[3] Four days later, Machin pre-empted the board's rumoured intention of sacking him by resigning.[7] Eaden started the last match of the season,[3] and the decision to release him was reversed on the recommendation of coach Eric Winstanley.[6][8]

Under the management of Viv Anderson and Danny Wilson, Eaden became a regular in the side and contributed to their promotion to the Premiership,[6][8] but after Barnsley would not meet his wage demands when his contract was due to expire in 2000, he left. A proposed move to Bolton Wanderers in late 1999 did not materialise,[9] and Eaden joined First Division club Birmingham City in July 2000 on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling.[10] While at Birmingham he played in the 2001 Football League Cup Final[11] and made 29 league appearances in the 2001–02 season as Birmingham were promoted to the Premier League via the play-offs.[3][12]

Eaden also had a successful spell with Wigan Athletic, winning promotion from the Second Division and then into the Premier League.[13][14]

He joined Nottingham Forest in 2005. Despite being successful with most of his previous clubs, caretaker managers Frank Barlow and Ian McParland did not include him in the first matchday squad in the 2006–07 season after an indifferent debut season in the East Midlands, although he had been promoted with every club he had been at prior to joining Forest.

On 31 August 2006, Eaden joined League Two side Lincoln City on loan, initially for a month,[15][16] which was later extended to the maximum 93-day total.[17] He then returned to Forest, but was again loaned to Lincoln in January 2007, this time for the rest of the season.[18]

Released by Forest, Eaden signed for Halesowen Town of the Southern League, making just one appearance.[19] He signed for Solihull Moors of the Conference North in September 2007, and again made a single appearance before leaving,[20] this time for divisional rivals Kettering Town, for whom he made his debut in a 1–1 draw away to Nuneaton Borough on 20 October.[21]

Coaching career

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Eaden, initially a player-coach at Kettering, became assistant to manager Mark Cooper after the 2008–09 season.[22][23] In November 2009, Cooper was appointed manager of Championship club Peterborough United, and Eaden accompanied him, again as assistant manager.[24] A year later, he left the club by mutual consent.[25]

On 22 March 2011, Eaden joined the coaching staff of Rotherham United on a contract until the end of the season, working under his one-time Barnsley teammate Andy Liddell.[26] After Liddell lost out to Andy Scott for the full-time manager's role at the club, Eaden departed at the end of his contract,[27] but was quickly back in work agreeing a two-year contract to become assistant manager to Marcus Law at Tamworth.[28] However, just a week later Eaden announced he had "had a change of heart" and would not be taking up the post,[29] instead taking up the same role at Kettering Town.[30]

During the 2012–13 season, Eaden worked alongside Steve Beaglehole for Leicester City under-21s as a coach, and was named on the bench for a game against Huddersfield Town as one of three over-aged players.[31][32] He left in 2016 to join Rotherham United as assistant manager to Neil Redfearn, and signed a contract until the end of the 2017–18 season.[33] Five days later, Redfearn was dismissed, and Eaden took on the role of caretaker manager. Before their next match, Rotherham appointed Neil Warnock as manager; Eaden was kept on the staff as first-team coach, but had little input to the first team. After Alan Stubbs' appointment as manager at the start of June, Eaden left the club by mutual consent.[34][35]

In July 2016, Eaden was appointed as senior development coach at Coventry City under Tony Mowbray.[36] He also briefly acted as first-team coach under Mark Venus's caretaker managership, before leaving in September 2017 to become Jack Lester's assistant manager at Chesterfield.[37][38] Lester and his staff left the club after Chesterfield were relegated from the Football League at the end of the 2017–18 season.[39]

National League North club Nuneaton Borough appointed Eaden as manager on 15 June 2018.[40] He left the club on 22 November 2018.[41] The following month he was appointed manager of Hednesford Town of the Northern Premier League.[42] He left the club in April 2019.[43] In June 2019 he was appointed manager of National League North club Kettering Town, but was sacked in September.[44]

In August 2022, after spending a year coaching at Jamaican club Mount Pleasant, Eaden returned to Barnsley as senior professional development coach.[45]

Honours

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Barnsley

Birmingham City

Wigan Athletic

Kettering Town

Individual

Notes

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  1. ^ Soccerbase attributes Birmingham's goal against Portsmouth in October 2000 to Eaden,[2] where other sources, e.g. the English National Football Archive,[3] Tony Matthews' Birmingham City Complete Record[4] and the BBC match report[5] give it to Dele Adebola.
  2. ^ The Kettering Town appearances and goals only include the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons in the Conference National, not the 2007–08 season in the Conference North, which Soccerbase does not cover.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Nicky Eaden". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Games played by Nicky Eaden in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d "Player search: Eaden, NJ (Nicky)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  4. ^ Matthews, Tony (2010). Birmingham City: The Complete Record. Derby: Derby Books. p. 436. ISBN 978-1-85983-853-2.
  5. ^ "Portsmouth 1–1 Birmingham". BBC Sport. 28 October 2000. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d "Oakwell legends: Eaden was released twice before playing 339 games". Barnsley Chronicle. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  7. ^ "Defiant Clough says he will not now retire until suspended director is removed". The Guardian. London. 6 May 1993. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b O'Kane, Doug (28 May 2021). "Barnsley heroes pay tribute to club legend Eric Winstanley". Barnsley Chronicle. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Sam's player search goes on". The Bolton News. 10 November 1999. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  10. ^ Griffiths, Alex (4 July 2000). "Blues take on Eaden". Birmingham City F.C. Archived from the original on 17 February 2001.
  11. ^ "Blues shot down as Liverpool lift cup". BBC Sport. 25 February 2001. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Birmingham reach Premiership". BBC Sport. 12 May 2002. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Wigan 1–0 Barnsley". BBC Sport. 3 May 2003. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  14. ^ a b Shaw, Phil (9 May 2005). "After 27 years and Whelan's £75m, Wigan cruise to the promised land". The Independent. London. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Lincoln seal loan deal for Eaden". BBC Sport. 31 August 2006. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
  16. ^ "Forest's Eaden stays at Lincoln". BBC Sport. 3 October 2006. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
  17. ^ "Macclesfield vs Lincoln City". Lincoln City F.C. 1 January 2007. Archived from the original on 12 January 2008.
  18. ^ "Imps land Forest's Eaden on loan". BBC Sport. 31 January 2007. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
  19. ^ "Statistics". Halesowen Town F.C. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
  20. ^ "Solihull Moors 0–1 Blyth Spartans". BBC Sport. 25 September 2007. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
  21. ^ "Poppies pegged back at Nuneaton Borough". PoppiesFans.com. 20 October 2007. Archived from the original on 23 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  22. ^ "Nicky Eaden". Kettering Town F.C. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
  23. ^ "Sinclair leaves Poppies but two set to sign". Northants Telegraph. 14 May 2009. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  24. ^ "Cooper confirmed as Posh manager". BBC Sport. 14 November 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  25. ^ "Assistant manager Eaden carries the can for poor defensive form". Peterborough Telegraph. 26 November 2010. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  26. ^ "Millers add Eaden to coaching staff". Rotherham United F.C. 22 March 2011. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011.
  27. ^ "Scott praise for departing Liddell". Rotherham United F.C. 7 June 2011. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011.
  28. ^ "Eaden is new Tamworth assistant". NonLeagueDaily.com. 16 June 2011. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  29. ^ "Eaden does a U-turn". Pitchero Non-League. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  30. ^ "Kettering Town appoint Morell Maison and Nicky Eaden". BBC Sport. 24 June 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  31. ^ "City staff scale the peaks". Leicester City F.C. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  32. ^ "Under-21s lose to Terriers". Leicester City F.C. 9 May 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  33. ^ "Nicky Eaden: Rotherham United appoint new assistant manager". BBC Sport. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  34. ^ Davis, Paul (12 February 2016). "Rotherham United: Eaden confident Millers can beat the drop". The Star. Sheffield. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  35. ^ "Rotherham United: The end of Eaden and Best and the beginning for Stubbs". The Star. Sheffield. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  36. ^ Hunter, Laura (19 July 2016). "News: Nicky Eaden is appointed as Coventry City's Senior Professional Development Phase Coach". Coventry City F.C. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  37. ^ Marshall, Billie (29 September 2017). "News: Coventry City can confirm that Nicky Eaden has left his role at the Club". Coventry City F.C. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  38. ^ "Nicky Eaden appointed Jack Lester's assistant at Chesterfield". Derbyshire Times. Chesterfield. 29 September 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  39. ^ "Breaking: Chesterfield management team depart in wake of relegation from Football League". Derbyshire Times. Chesterfield. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  40. ^ "Nuneaton appoint Nicky Eaden as manager". The Non-League Paper. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  41. ^ "Nicky Eaden leaves Nuneaton Borough by mutual consent". The Non-League Paper. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  42. ^ Hatfield, Luke (27 December 2018). "Hednesford Town appoint Nicky Eaden as manager". Express and Star. Wolverhampton. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  43. ^ Judah, Nathan (17 April 2019). "Nicky Eaden leaves Hednesford Town". Express and Star. Wolverhampton. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  44. ^ "Eaden sacked by Poppies". Northamptonshire Telegraph. 25 September 2019. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019.
  45. ^ "Latest additions to Academy setup". Barnsley F.C. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  46. ^ "Blues shot down as Liverpool lift cup". BBC Sport. 25 February 2001. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  47. ^ "Wigan dominate PFA team". BBC Sport. 28 April 2003. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
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