John Coleman is the former manager of League Two side Rochdale. Coleman was sacked on 21st January following three consecutive defeats.
John Coleman spent the large majority of his playing career in non league football with spells at clubs like Runcorn, Southport and Morecombe among many others. Coleman played for many different clubs during a long playing career but it is as a Manager where he has really made his name in the sport.
Coleman had a short spell as player-manager of Ashton United before he moved to Accrington Stanley in 1999 for what would be the defining job of his career so far. Coleman joined Stanley with the club languishing in the Northern Premier League One but after 12 glorious years in charge he had lead the club into the Football League.
In total, Coleman took Stanley to three promotions during his spell as a Manager which culminated in their return to the Football League in 2006. Coleman was the man who rightly took the credit for the resurgence of Accrington Stanley and he managed to stabilise the club in the Football League.
Coleman was finally lured away from Stanley in January of 2012 to take over the reigns at Rochdale in League One. At the time, Coleman was the third longest serving Manager in the Football League behind only Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger and had taken charge of no less than 587 games at Stanley.
