Ernie Coleman’s rise from the Shay to the top-flight
THE REMARKABLE rise of Jamie Vardy just about overshadows the career of a Halifax Town player from a much earlier age, one who holds a unique place in the annals of the club.
For Ernie Coleman, his rise to the top was as fleeting as it was remarkable, yet nevertheless, he trod a path that only Vardy would come to appreciate.
Ernest Coleman was born in Nottinghamshire, on 4 January 1908. His 68 goals during the 1925-26 season for Hucknall Church Boys led to an unsuccessful trial with Nottingham Forest, after which Halifax Town boss Joe McClelland stepped in for him.
Coleman would spend much of his first season at The Shay in the reserve side, although he did grab a hat-trick against Barnsley at The Shay on December 27.
With McClelland and the selection committee scratching their heads over how to overcome the first team’s slump in form, they decided on major changes for the New Year’s Day match with Rochdale, with Coleman coming in to score the winner.
Coleman scored twice in a 3-0 win at Wigan Borough in his next first-team outing, but was back in the reserves as the season drew to a close.
But Coleman’s form was always a threat to any forward who might show a slump in form, indicated by his hat-trick in the 5-0 defeat of Chesterfield, then a nap-hand in the 10-1 demolition of Rotherham United on 5 November 1927.
When the first team fell off the pace, Coleman was promoted once more, though not with any degree of success.
It was a different story back in the reserves, however, where there was no let-up. And when Coleman was again called up for the first team, now he was there to stay. Adept at either leading the line or out on the right wing, Coleman added two more goals to his tally, and by the start of the 1928-29 campaign, he was first team material.
Coleman enhanced his growing reputation for the most part playing on the wing, netting in the season’s opener to earn Town a point in a 2-2 draw with Crewe Alexandra.
His next came in the derby in front of the biggest crowd seen at The Shay that term, 14,609 witnessing Coleman equalise within seconds of Tom Moon putting the visitors ahead.
He hit a rich vein of form throughout late January and February which saw him score four goals in a five-match spell.
Yet his goal in Town’s 3-1 defeat at Hartlepools on 23 February 1929 was his last. Four days later Coleman was sold to Second Division Grimsby Town for what was described as a ‘substantial fee’, the figure of £1,250 bandied about. He left The Shay with 16 goals from 50 league and cup and appearances.
His seven goals in eight league games helped Grimsby to promotion, and he went on to write his name into Mariners’ folklore, netting 35 goals in 38 league games during the 193031 season.
In another echo of Vardy and his record-breaking run of scoring in 11 consecutive Premier League games, Coleman hit 19 goals in a spell of, you’ve guessed it, 11 consecutive matches, though one of those in that sequence was in an FA Cup defeat at Everton.
Coleman moved to Herbert Chapman’s Arsenal in March 1932 and his 24 goals in 27 league games helped them win the championship the following season, although he had fallen out of favour by the time they lifted the title.
He joined Middlesbrough for £4,000, where he spent three seasons, and finished his playing days with Norwich.
In July 1957 he succeeded Eddie Lowe as manager of Notts County, albeit in a caretaker capacity, then had two spells in the job full-time.
In 1962-63 he took County close to promotion from the Fourth Division, and after stepping down, returned in April 1965 to aid a financial crisis, eventually leaving the club in March 1966.
He continued to reside in Nottingham, and died on 20 January 1984, aged 76.
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