Alan Fettis

Alan William Fettis (born 1 February 1971) is a Northern Ireland former professional footballer and goalkeeping coach at Championship side Middlesbrough

Alan Fettis
Personal information
Full name Alan William Fettis[1]
Date of birth (1971-02-01) 1 February 1971[1]
Place of birth Newtownards, Northern Ireland
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Middlesbrough
(Goalkeeping Coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
000?–1988 Glentoran 0 (0)
1988–1991 Ards 42 (0)
1991–1996 Hull City 135 (2)
1995 → West Bromwich Albion (loan) 3 (0)
1996–1997 Nottingham Forest 4 (0)
1997–2000 Blackburn Rovers 11 (0)
1999 → Leicester City (loan) 0 (0)
2000–2003 York City 125 (0)
2003–2004 Hull City 20 (0)
2003–2004 → Sheffield United (loan) 3 (0)
2004 → Grimsby Town (loan) 11 (0)
2004–2006 Macclesfield Town 61 (0)
2006–2007 Bury 9 (0)
Total 424 (2)
International career
Northern Ireland U16 1 (0)
Northern Ireland U17 1 (0)
Northern Ireland U18 1 (0)
1994–1998 Northern Ireland B 3 (0)
1991–1998 Northern Ireland 25 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

As a player, he was as a goalkeeper from 1988 to 2007. He notably played for Hull City and York City having also had spells with Glentoran, Ards, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City, Sheffield United, Grimsby Town, Macclesfield Town and Bury.

Club career

Born in Newtownards, County Down,[1] Fettis started his career with Glentoran before playing for Ards from 1988 to 1991, making 65 appearances in all competitions for the club.[2] He was a firm fans' favourite whilst at Hull City, and on occasion found himself playing as a striker due to injuries at the club, and bagged himself a couple of goals in the process. He later rejoined his manager at Hull, Terry Dolan at York City, where his saves were credited by many fans with keeping York in the league during a period in which they struggled financially. He was sold back to Hull by new manager Chris Brass in 2003; York dropped out of the league a year later, returning for the 2012–13 season.

Fettis was signed by Bury on a 12-month deal in June 2006,[3] but broke his right arm in a League Cup defeat against former side Sheffield United on 19 September. He was released by Bury at the end of the 2006–07 season.[4]

Coaching career

Fettis was appointed as assistant goalkeeping coach at Derby County in July 2007.[5]

In November 2008, Fettis became the new goalkeeping coach and chief scout at Cheltenham Town.[6] In July 2009, Fettis became the new goalkeeping coach at Sunderland.[7] He joined Manchester United in January 2011 as a goalkeeping coach for the club's Academy teams.[8] In July 2011, Fettis made an appearance for Manchester United Reserves after both reserve keepers fell ill before a match against Shrewsbury Town.[9]

In August 2016, former Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés stated that without Fettis' help he would have given up on football in 2015. "It's difficult to explain, but it was hard being alone. The easy way out would have been to end my career." "I want to say in a public way thank you to the U21 coach Alan Fettis – without him I may have given up football. He made me keep going and stopped me when I was thinking about bringing my career to an end." "I feel like a professional goalkeeper again after all those hard days in Manchester," he added. "But I don't have any bad words for Van Gaal or Manchester United".[10]

In 2019, after the sudden departure of Emilio Alvarez from the club, Fettis temporarily stepped up to first team duties to support senior goalkeeping coach Richard Hartis. Fettis returned to his role in the academy after the appointment of Craig Mawson from Burnley.

In July 2022, he joined Middlesbrough as goalkeeping coach under Chris Wilder.

International career

Fettis was capped by Northern Ireland at schoolboy, under-16, under-17, under-18, B and senior levels.[2]

Honours

Individual

References
  1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2005). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 206. ISBN 1-85291-665-6.
  2. "Alan Fettis". NIFG. 22 November 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  3. "Goalkeeper Fettis seals Bury move". BBC Sport. 27 June 2006. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
  4. "The Retained List". Bury F.C. Retrieved 9 May 2007.
  5. "Billy Will Not Take Risks With Injured Keeper". This is Derbyshire. 16 July 2007. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
  6. "Fettis takes on dual role at club". BBC Sport. 21 November 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
  7. "Robins lose Fettis to Sunderland". BBC Sport. 1 June 2009.
  8. "Former Town stopper Fettis joins coaching staff at Manchester United". Grimsby Telegraph. 22 January 2011. Archived from the original on 31 May 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  9. "Manchester United Reserves keeper crisis forces Alan Fettis back into fray". Manchester Evening News. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  10. "'Lonely Man Utd days the hardest of my career' – Valdes refuses to blame 'father figure' Van Gaal for Old Trafford nightmare". Goal. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  11. David McKechnie (28 April 2003). "Henry lands PFA award". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
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