Vince Overson

Vince Overson
Personal information
Full name	Vincent David Overson
Date of birth	15 May 1962 (age 62)
Place of birth	Kettering, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s)	Central defender
Team information
Current team	Carlisle United (Coach)
Youth career
	Corby Town
	Long Buckby
1978–1979	Burnley
Senior career*
Years	Team
1979–1986	Burnley
1986–1991	Birmingham City
1991–1996	Stoke City
1996–1998	Burnley
1997	→ Shrewsbury Town (loan)
1998	Halifax Town
Total
Managerial career
2003	Padiham
2003–2004	Ramsbottom United
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Vincent David Overson (born 15 May 1962) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He made nearly 600 appearances in the Football League for Burnley, Birmingham City, Stoke City and Shrewsbury Town over a 20-year career.^[1]^[2]

Career

Overson was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, and followed his brother Richard to Burnley after playing non-league football with Corby Town and Long Buckby.^[1] He turned professional in November 1979 and spent seven seasons at Turf Moor making 254 appearances scoring seven goals. During that time Burnley suffered relegation three times whilst they won the Third Division title in 1981–82.^[1]

He joined Birmingham City in June 1986 and captained Birmingham to success in the 1991 Football League Trophy where they defeated Tranmere Rovers.^[2] After making 213 appearances for Birmingham in five seasons he followed manager Lou Macari to Stoke City with a fee of £55,000 being decided at a tribunal.^[1] He fitted in well with fellow defenders John Butler, Ian Cranson and Lee Sandford and in 1991–92 Stoke reached the play-offs where they lost to Stockport County although they did beat County in the 1992 Football League Trophy Final.^[1] Stoke won the Second Division title in 1992–93 after going on a club record unbeaten run of 25 games.^[1] Overson played in 52 matches in 1993–94 and 43 in 1994–95. After playing in the first 22 matches in 1995–96 he sustained a calf injury against Sunderland and was released by the club at the end of the season after making 215 appearances.^[1]

Overson then made a return to Burnley and also had short spells with Shrewsbury Town and Halifax Town. He played for non-League team Padiham in 2002 before managing them the following year.^[3] He then managed Ramsbottom United while working with Burnley's Football in the Community scheme and coaching at their Centre of Excellence,^[4] and in 2004 was appointed head of youth development and Centre of Excellence manager at that club.^[5] He left Burnley in 2012.^[6] He then joined Bury as head of coaching.^[7]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[8]
Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Burnley	1979–80	Second Division	22	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	24	0
	1980–81	Third Division	39	1	3	0	1	0	2^[a]	0	45	1
	1981–82	Third Division	36	4	6	0	1	0	3^[b]	0	46	4
	1982–83	Second Division	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
	1983–84	Third Division	38	0	5	0	1	0	4^[c]	0	48	0
	1984–85	Third Division	42	1	3	0	4	1	4^[c]	0	53	2
	1985–86	Fourth Division	28	0	0	0	2	0	2^[c]	0	32	0
	Total		211	6	19	0	9	1	15	0	254	7
Birmingham City	1986–87	Second Division	34	1	0	0	3	0	2^[d]	0	39	1
	1987–88	Second Division	37	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	40	0
	1988–89	Second Division	41	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	45	0
	1989–90	Third Division	30	0	3	0	4	0	1^[c]	0	38	0
	1990–91	Third Division	40	2	2	0	1	0	8^[c]	1	51	3
	Total		182	3	8	0	12	0	11	1	213	4
Stoke City	1991–92	Third Division	35	3	2	0	2	0	7^[c]	0	46	3
	1992–93	Second Division	43	1	2	0	3	1	4^[c]	0	52	2
	1993–94	First Division	39	2	4	0	4	0	5^[e]	0	52	2
	1994–95	First Division	35	0	2	0	1	0	5^[e]	0	43	0
	1995–96	First Division	18	0	0	0	3	0	1^[e]	0	22	0
	Total		170	6	10	0	13	1	22	0	215	7
Burnley	1996–97	Second Division	8	0	0	0	1	0	1^[c]	0	10	0
Shrewsbury Town (loan)	1997–98	Third Division	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Halifax Town	1998–99	Third Division	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Career total			573	15	37	0	36	2	49	1	695	18

^ Appearances in Anglo-Scottish Cup
^ Appearances in Football League Group Cup
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Appearances in Football League Trophy
^ Appearances in Full Members' Cup
^ ^a ^b ^c Appearances in Anglo-Italian Cup

Honours

Burnley

Football League Third Division: 1981–82

Birmingham City

Football League Trophy: 1990–91

Stoke City

Football League Second Division: 1992–93
Football League Trophy: 1991–92

Individual

PFA Team of the Year: 1991–92 Third Division,^[9] 1992–93 Second Division^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Stoke City 101 Golden Greats. Desert Islands Books. 2002. ISBN 1-874287-55-4.
^ ^a ^b Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
^ "Overson in charge of Rams". Lancashire Evening Telegraph. 1 December 2003. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
^ "Overson calls time on Rammy hot seat". Lancashire Evening Telegraph. 14 May 2004. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
^ "Vince back to oversee youth drive". Lancashire Evening Telegraph. 10 December 2004. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
^ "Vince Overson leaves Burnley". Burnley Express. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
^ "Depleted youths lose as Big Vince gets the last laugh". Clarets Mad. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
^ The English National Football Archive (subscription required)
^ Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 149.
^ Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 149.