Tommy Coyne

Irish footballer (born 1962)
other people

Thomas Coyne (born 14 November 1962) is a former football player and manager. Coyne played for several clubs, mostly in Scotland, including Clydebank, Dundee United, Dundee, Celtic and Motherwell. He was the top goalscorer of the Scottish Premier Division three times, a feat he achieved with three clubs (Dundee, Celtic and Motherwell). Coyne played international football for the Republic of Ireland, qualifying due to his Irish ancestry. Towards the end of his playing career he was also the manager of Clydebank, a position he left after six months.

Coyne was raised in Govan as a supporter of Celtic and attracted the attention of their scouts in his teens, though no move materialised. He had already turned down Dundee United in the hope of joining Celtic. Coyne has stated that he would never have signed for Rangers, whose stadium was very close to his home and school, as he was a Catholic, which contravened their signing policy of the time. He played for Hillwood Boys Club However, Coyne failed to reproduce his Clydebank form at Tannadice and scored only 9 goals in 62 league games, though he did score a few goals in the UEFA Cup, one of which came in the club's run to the 1987 final. Halfway through the 1986–87 season he was transferred to city rivals Dundee for £75,000 Coyne was allowed to transfer to Tranmere Rovers in March 1993 for a fee reported at £400,000, a record outlay for the Birkenhead club. After a short spell in England, Coyne returned to Scotland to join Motherwell in November 1993 for £125,000. They challenged for the title in his first campaign, eventually finishing third, and in 1994–95 he was again the Scottish Premier Division's top scorer (16 goals) as the club finished runners up – he is the only player to achieve that feat with three clubs. Performing well alongside Dougie Arnott and fellow Glasgow born Irish international Owen Coyle, he scored 61 goals in 156 games for Motherwell in all competitions. and picked up the Scottish Second Division Manager of the Month award a month later. However, he was sacked after six months after the club had entered administration despite being near the top of Division Two. Soon after leaving Clydebank he joined Albion Rovers, where he ended his playing career.

In his international career, Coyne won 22 caps for the Republic of Ireland and scored 6 goals. He made his international debut at the age of 31 The club won the West Division One in 2003–04, but Coyne left the job in July 2005.

Coyne's attempt to establish himself in English football in 1993 ended abruptly when his wife Alison died after consuming alcohol and painkillers. She had been suffering from post natal depression following the birth of their third son. Coyne temporarily stopped playing football and had to return to Scotland to seek support from relatives in caring for his young children. Tranmere only recouped around a third of his transfer fee outlay from his next club Motherwell. His eldest son, also named Tommy, also became a footballer and striker who played for clubs in the lower senior leagues in Scotland and for Linlithgow Rose in the Junior grade, where he has gained a 'player of the year award' and scored 38 goals in the 2009–10 season, eventually going on to break scoring records at the club. Another son, Bradley, played for Stirling Albion in the Scottish Third Division. He has a third son from his first marriage and two younger children with his second wife Anita.