Kit Symons

Christopher Jeremiah "Kit" Symons (born 8 March 1971) is a professional association football manager and former Welsh international footballer. As a professional player, he had lengthy spells at Portsmouth, Manchester City and Fulham as well as earning 36 caps for the Wales national football team. He is currently the assistant manager of Hebei China Fortune.

Kit Symons
Symons (front) as manager of Fulham in 2015
Personal information
Full name Christopher Jeremiah Symons[1]
Date of birth (1971-03-08) 8 March 1971[1]
Place of birth Basingstoke, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1]
Playing position(s) Defender
Youth career
Portsmouth
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1995 Portsmouth 160 (10)
1995–1998 Manchester City 124 (4)
1998–2001 Fulham 102 (13)
2001–2005 Crystal Palace 49 (0)
Total 435 (27)
National team
1992–2001 Wales 36 (2)
Teams managed
2003 Crystal Palace (caretaker)
2007 Crystal Palace (caretaker)
2008 Colchester United (caretaker)
2014 Fulham (caretaker)
2014–2015 Fulham
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club playing career

Symons was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire.[1] He made more than 100 League appearances for each of his first three clubs – Portsmouth, Manchester City and Fulham. He played for Fulham until December 2001, when he was signed by Crystal Palace for £400,000, the club at which he finished his playing career after 60 senior appearances.[2][3]

International career

Symons won 36 caps for Wales, scoring twice.[4] His first appearance was against the Republic of Ireland on 19 February 1992[5] and his last appearance was on 6 October 2001 against Belarus.[6] Symons qualified to play for Wales because his father was from Cardiff.[5]

Coaching and management

He became caretaker manager at Palace, and following the subsequent appointment of Iain Dowie he combined the roles of player and assistant manager, as the club gained promotion to the Premier League.[7]

After Peter Taylor was dismissed as Palace manager on 8 October 2007,[8] Symons was confirmed as caretaker manager before the appointment of Neil Warnock three days later.[9] Palace did not play during this time.[10] Following Warnock's appointment, Symons stepped down from his position of assistant manager and left the club on 15 October 2007.[11]

Symons joined Colchester United on 16 January 2008 following Micky Adams' resignation as assistant manager the previous week.[12] He was appointed as Colchester's caretaker-manager on 22 September 2008 after the departure of Geraint Williams.[13] He led the club to two wins in five games,[14] in the process becoming the bookie's favourite to get the job full-time.[15] However, he left the club after Paul Lambert took over as manager on 9 October 2008.[16]

Symons was subsequently employed by Fulham as Senior Scout and Academy Coach.[17]

In January 2012 Symons was appointed to the Wales national team coaching staff under team manager Chris Coleman.[18]

On 18 September 2014, Symons was confirmed as caretaker manager of Fulham following the departure of Felix Magath.[19] On 29 October 2014, after a string of good results (5 wins in 9 games), Symons was announced as the full-time manager of Fulham.[20] Symons stated that it was "no secret this is a club that is very close to my heart and this is a job I've always really wanted to do."[21] Khan also stated that Symons' "passion for everything that Fulham represents came through loud and clear."[21]

In July 2015, Symons resigned his position with the Wales national team to concentrate on his role with Fulham.[22]

Symons was sacked by Fulham on 8 November 2015 the day after a 5–2 defeat by Birmingham City at Craven Cottage.[23]

Symons rejoined Wales as coach in August 2016.[22] On 17 November 2017, Symons left his coaching role with Wales following the resignation of Chris Coleman.[24] On 19 November 2017, Symons was announced as assistant manager at Sunderland following Coleman's appointment as manager.[25] Both were released from their contracts after Sunderland's relegation to League One was confirmed.[26] In June 2018, after Coleman's appointment as manager of Hebei China Fortune, Symons again joined him as assistant.[27]

Managerial statistics
As of 8 November 2015
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref.
PWDLWin %
Crystal Palace (caretaker) 3 November 2003 22 December 2003 9 3 3 3 033.3 [28][29]
Crystal Palace (caretaker) 8 October 2007 11 October 2007 0 0 0 0 !— [8][9][10]
Colchester United (caretaker) 22 September 2008 11 October 2008 5 2 0 3 040.0 [13][14][30]
Fulham 18 September 2014 8 November 2015 64 22 17 25 034.4 [29]
Total 78 27 20 31 034.6
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References
  1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2004). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2004/2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 392. ISBN 9781852916602.
  2. "Kit Symons". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  3. "Kit completes switch". Fulham F.C. 7 December 2001. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  4. Kit Symons Holmesdale Online
  5. S4C Sgorio On this day in history: 19 February, 19 February 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
  6. Wales international line-ups 2000 to 2005 Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
  7. "Kit Symons: Under-21 Coach". Academy Staff Profiles. Fulham F.C. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  8. "Crystal Palace boss Taylor sacked". BBC Sport. 8 October 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  9. "Warnock aims to fly high with Eagles". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 11 October 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  10. "Results/matches: 2007/08". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  11. Symons leaves Crystal Palace post BBC Sport, 15 October 2007
  12. "Exclusive: Symons Is U's Number Two". Colchester United FC. 17 January 2008. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  13. "Exclusive: Kit Takes Caretaker Role". Colchester United F.C. 22 September 2008. Archived from the original on 15 April 2012.
  14. "Managerial Record". Colchester United Day by Day. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  15. "Symons is favourite for U's top job". Green Un. Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  16. "Lambert Brings In Number Two". Vital Colchester. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  17. Senior Scout and Academy coach Kit Symons discusses his return to the Club and his targets for the future… Fulham FC.com
  18. "Symons joins Wales staff". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  19. "Felix Magath: Struggling Fulham sack manager after poor start". BBC Sport. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  20. "Kit Symons Appointed First Team Manager". Fulham F.C. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
  21. "Kit Symons: Fulham appointment a 'fantastic opportunity'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  22. "Kit Symons: Former Fulham manager returns to Wales coaching role". BBC Sport. 26 August 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  23. "Kit Symons: Fulham sack manager after Birmingham defeat". BBC Sport. 8 November 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  24. "Chris Coleman leaves Wales role for Sunderland job". BBC Sport. 17 November 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  25. "Chris Coleman: Sunderland name ex-Wales boss as manager". BBC Sport. 19 November 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  26. "Club Statement: Chris Coleman". Sunderland A.F.C. 29 April 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  27. Rayner, Stuart (29 April 2018). "Sunderland 'the right club at the wrong time,' says Chris Coleman". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  28. "Dowie handed Palace reins". BBC Sport. 22 December 2003. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  29. "Managers: Kit Symons". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  30. "No job for Symons at Colchester". BBC Sport. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
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