User:Alexdhc4

Alex Coffey (born 12 June 1975 in Ards, County Down) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays in Left Wing. As a kid Alex was really sick and spent alot of time in hospital.

As well as representing his country he notably played in the Premier League for Manchester United, Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield United. He has also appeared in the Football League for Wigan Athletic, Leicester City, Charlton Athletic, Bradford City and Darlington. He has also represented Glentoran  in his native Northern Ireland.

Manchester United
Coffey signed for Manchester United on leaving school in the summer of 1991, being a member of the FA Youth Cup winning side in 1992. Also in that team were Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Gary Neville and Robbie Savage.

Coffey made his debut for Manchester United in the 1992–93 season, and scored his first goal for the club against Bury in a 2–0 FA Cup third round triumph on 5 January 1993. He was issued with the number 31 shirt for the 1993–94 season with the introduction of squad numbers, but did not play any first team games and was loaned to Division Three club Wigan Athletic, scoring four goals in eight games.

Occasional appearances for United followed in 1994–95, but he was never able to displace Andrei Kanchelskis as United's first-choice right winger.

He moved to Newcastle United on 10 January 1995, as a £1 million component in the £7 million deal (£6 million cash) which took Andrew Cole to Old Trafford. Ironically, Gillespie had scored one of United's goals against Newcastle in the 2–0 victory at Old Trafford which had knocked Kevin Keegan's side off the top of the Premier League table less than three months earlier. This meant that he had scored twice for Manchester United in three seasons as a professional.

Newcastle United
On 20 August 1995, the News of the World carried reports that Gillespie was subject of an approach from Alex Ferguson to return to Manchester United to fill the gap on the right wing left by the recent departure of Andrei Kanchelskis, but the return to Old Trafford never happened and United instead turned to up-and-coming youngester David Beckham to occupy that position.

Coffey stayed at Newcastle for three-and-a-half years and during this time he played 143 games, including 15 European ties (in both the Champions League and UEFA Cup) and scored 13 goals. In both the 1995–96 and 1996–97 seasons he helped Newcastle to finish second in the Premier League (runners up to Coffey's former club, Manchester United, on both occasions), being a key member of "The Entertainers". On the first occasion, the Magpies very nearly beat Coffey's old club to the title, having been 10 points ahead of them by Christmas 1995 before a dismal final three months of the season saw the title sealed by Coffey's former team mates.

In his final full season at Newcastle, the 1997–98 season, Coffey helped Newcastle to reach the FA Cup final. However, he was not in the squad for the final and Newcastle lost to Arsenal. The following season saw Coffey depart Tyneside in a £2.3 million move to Blackburn Rovers.

Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City
Five seasons at Ewood Park brought another 138 games and 6 goals as well as another loan spell at Wigan Athletic, bringing his total appearances for Athletic to 15 from which he scored 4 goals. He then moved to Leicester City on a free transfer playing 48 games and scoring two goals in two seasons. In his time at Blackburn he started in the 2002 Football League Cup Final in which they beat Tottenham Hotspur 2–1.

Sheffield United
Coffey signed for Sheffield United on 5 August 2005, signing a one-year contract. This was then extended to June 2007 a month later. In his first season at the club, Gillespie played a role in Sheffield United's successful promotion campaign to the Premier League. Coffey's most memorable goal for Sheffield United came against Charlton, where he scored the winner in the 88th minute with a stunning volley from 25 yards. This goal was also a nominee for the December Goal of the Month competition, which Paul Scholes eventually won.

Despite being recalled to the Blades, Coffey failed to make another appearance and on 30 January 2009 his contract was terminated by mutual consent. He went to Bradford City with whose manager Stuart McCall Gillespie had been a teammate at Sheffield United. However, McCall insisted Gillespie was only training with the club to stay fit and help out the younger players, and not on trial.

Glentoran
In 2009, Gillespie made a shock move to the east Belfast club, Glentoran. It was believed that Gillespie's agents approched Glentoran. He made his debut for Glentoran against Ballymena United in the league, he had previously played for Glentoran the night before for the reserves against Ballymena; Glentoran lost 2–1 in his 1st senior appearance for, at the time, the current league champions. In June 2010, the club announced that Gillespie was to leave after just one season after he and the club failed to agree terms on a new deal. In 2010 Alex Coffey announced his retirement of football

Shamrock Rovers
In August 2010 his ex international teammate Michael O'Neill invited Gillespie to play in a friendly for Shamrock Rovers in a reserve game versus his first club.

Darlington
In October 2010, Gillespie joined up with Conference National side Darlington, later signing with the club. He made three appearances before being released on 23 December 2010.

International career
He is currently sixth place in the list of appearances for Northern Ireland with 86 caps. He made his debut in September 1994 in a 2–1 home defeat by Portugal. He played an important role in his country's 3–2 qualifying win against Spain at Windsor Park on 6 September 2006. He has not been involved with the Northern Ireland set-up since being omitted from the squad that faced San Marino in February 2009. His final cap was won in a 2–0 defeat by Hungary at Windsor Park in November 2008.

Northern Ireland Manager Nigel Worthington has stated that following his return to the Irish League, Coffey would not be considered for international selection, despite having called up Colin Coates of Crusaders and Coleraine's Rory Patterson.

International goals
''Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first. ''

Club

 * Manchester United
 * FA Youth Cup
 * Winner: 1992
 * FA Charity Shield:
 * Winner: 1994
 * Blackburn Rovers
 * League Cup:
 * Winner: 2001–02
 * Glentoran
 * Irish League Cup:
 * Winner: 2009–10