Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 21 June 1959 | ||
Place of birth | Leeds, England | ||
Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||
Position(s) | Centre back | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1977–1978 | Middlesbrough | 0 | (0) |
1978–1989 | Oxford United | 420 | (18) |
1989–1995 | Blackpool | 137 | (4) |
1995–19?? | Chorley | ? | (?) |
Total | 557 | (22) | |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Gary Briggs (born 21 June 1959) is an English retired professional footballer. He made over 500 league appearances in an eighteen-year playing career, during which he became known as a no-nonsense, tough-tackling defender, hence his "Rambo" nickname.
In the 1977–78 season, at the age of eighteen, Briggs signed for Middlesbrough but didn't make any first-team appearances for the club. Later that season, he moved to Oxford United. The fee was settled at the Football League's first-ever transfer tribunal. [1] Briggs spent eleven years at the Manor Ground, where he received the nickname "Rambo" and became a cult hero, winning the club's "Player of the Year" accolade three times. He formed a successful central-defensive partnership with club captain Malcolm Shotton as United won three trophies between 1984 and 1986: the Division Three championship in 1983–84, the Division Two championship the following season, and the League Cup in 1986. [2]
In May 1989, after 418 league games and 18 league goals for Oxford, Briggs moved back north to Blackpool, where he saw out the rest of his career. "Blackpool looked a club going places – and I want to go with them," he said at the time. [3] In the 1991–92 season he made 26 appearances in a start-stop season, and was voted the club's Player of the Month for September, October and November 1991. [4] The 1993–94 campaign ended in nail-biting fashion: a final-day 4–1 victory over Leyton Orient at Bloomfield Road meant the Seasiders avoided relegation by one point. [5]
In 2002, Briggs played for Bispham Juniors, [6] whom he later managed. [7]
In March 2005, Briggs unveiled Executive Box 28 at Oxford United's Kassam Stadium in his name.
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● Playfair football annuals 1978-79 to 1995-96