Chris Coyne

Personal Details Date of Birth: 20 December 1978 Place of Birth: Brisbane, Queensland Height: 185cm (6' 1") Position: Centre Back Club Summary Club Games Goals Sorrento (juniors) Kingsway Olympic (juniors) Perth SC (1995-1996) ? ? West Ham United (1996-2000) 1 0 Brentford (1998, on loan) 8 0 Southend United (1999, on loan) 1 0 Dundee (2000-2001) 28 0 Luton Town (2001-2007) 253 16 Colchester United (2007-2009) 37 2 Perth Glory (2009-) 32 0 Liaoning Hongyun (2010, on loan) 20 0 Total (as of end June 2011) 380 18 International Summary Games Goals Australia 'A' (2008-) 7 0 Australia Under-17 (1995) ? ?

Career Brief

Coyne began his career with Perth S.C. and in January 1996 moved to England at the age of 17 to join West Ham United. Part of the Hammers team that reached the FA Youth Cup final in 1995/96, Coyne made his English league debut against Brighton and Hove Albion in August 1998 while playing on loan to Brentford. His only West Ham first team appearance arrived in May 1999 against Leeds United, and also sampled first team football on loan to Southend United later that same year.

In March 2000 Coyne joined Scottish Premier League club Dundee on a free transfer, making his Dundee debut in August 2000 against St Mirren and by seasons end had played 28 times for the club. At the beginning of the 2001/02 season Coyne transferred to English Division Three club Luton Town for a transfer fee of £50,000. He scored an own goal on his debut against Lincoln City in September 2001, but successfully established himself in the first team and, despite suffering a knee ligament injury just before Christmas, helped Luton set a club record of winning twelve successive games and to promotion to Division Two.

Over the next two seasons Coyne made almost 100 appearances for the Hatters and in May 2004 was rewarded with a new two-year contract. Luton won the League One championship in 2004/05 with Coyne instrumental, the defender winning the Football League's Player of the Month for April 2005 and at seasons' end he was named in the PFA League One Team of the Season. Coyne struggled with injury the following season and in April 2006 underwent knee surgery. He signed a new three-year contract in August 2006 and was soon after named club captain, however, his knee problems soon re-surfaced and further surgery was required in October 2006.

Luton were placed in administration during 2007/08 and Coyne was sold to Colchester United in January 2008 for a club record transfer fee of £350,000. Unfortunately, he was unable to prevent his new club from being relegated at the end of the season. Coyne was called up for national team duty in June 2008 and turned in a polished defensive performance on debut against Iraq. His first Socceroos start came against South Africa two months later with further appearances against the Netherlands, Uzbekistan and Bahrain before the year was out.

Named Colchester captain for 2008/09, Coyne struggled to hold on to a first team place due to a combination of Socceroos selection, injury and a change of management. He met with club management at the end of the season and agreed to leave Colchester by mutual consent. He took his national team appearances to seven with World Cup qualifier outings against Qatar, where Australia secured their place in the 2010 finals tournament, and Bahrain.

Coyne returned to Australia in July 2009 on a three-year contract woth Perth Glory. Following a strong debut season for his new club Coyne was loaned to Chinese outfit Liaoning Hongyun in an unsuccessful bid to force his way into Australia's 2010 World Cup finals squad. A contract irregularity with Liaoning Hongyun meant Coyne did not play for Glory in 2010/11 and he was limited to just seven outings the following campaign due to an Achilles tendon injury suffered in November 2011 against Melbourne Victory. Coyne was released by Glory in April 2012.

Socceroos Game by Game

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This page was last updated on the 7th September, 2012.