On This Day – 27th December
Tony Coton made an instant impact on his professional debut on this day in 1980. The Birmingham City goalkeeper was making his First Division debut at the age of 19 against Sunderland. Within two minutes of the kick-off, Coton had won the home fans over at St Andrew’s with a penalty save!
Sunderland were awarded a penalty after just 54 seconds when Birmingham defender Joe Gallagher gave away a penalty.
The visitor’s penalty was taken by striker John Hawley and Coton saved the spot kick with his first touch of the ball!
Coton became the regular number one by the 1982/83 season and won the Birmingham City Player of the Year award that season.
He left The Blues in 1984 after they were relegated from Division One. He went straight back to the top flight and joined Watford, where he stayed for six years.
Coton joined Manchester City in 1990 and he spent six years at Maine Road. In that time, he made a single appearance for the England B team and was also called up as David Seaman’s understudy for the World Cup qualifier against San Marino.
Many fans believe that Coton was very unlucky when it came to international football as he played during a time where there were some top-class goalkeepers.
The final club in Coton’s career was Sunderland, the same club that he played against on his first team debut back in 1979. In all, he made 500 Football League and Premier League appearances in his career.
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