Christopher John Coyne (born 20 December 1978) is an Australian former soccer player and coach who is currently head of Perth Glory Youth NPL in National Premier Leagues Western Australia (NPLWA). In a 17-year career as a player, Coyne appeared for clubs in Australia, England and China, most significantly for Luton Town for whom he appeared 221 times between 2001 and 2008. He played seven times for Australia in 2008 and 2009.
Biography
Club career
He began his career with Perth S.C. before moving to England in 1996 to join West Ham United. He made his only first team appearance for West Ham when he came on as a substitute in a league game against Leeds United on 1 May 1999; a game which West Ham lost 5-1 and had three players sent off. He spent a season at Scottish Premier League club Dundee and then joined English Football League club, Luton Town, in 2001, where he spent six and a half years, making over 200 league appearances and twice winning promotion. He joined Colchester United in 2008, leaving the club in July 2009 by mutual consent. He made his international debut in June 2008 and has made seven appearances for Australia.
Coyne, who is the son of former Brisbane City NSL player and Australian International John Coyne and older brother of Jamie Coyne of Perth Glory, started his career with Australia side Perth S.C. before a £20 000 move to England with West Ham United in January 1996, where he was part of the West Ham youth team that reached the FA Youth Cup final in 1996. After loan spells at Brentford and Southend and one appearance for West Ham against Leeds United, Coyne moved to Scottish Premier League club Dundee on a free transfer in March 2000. He made his debut for Dundee in August 2000, and made 28 appearances in all competitions during the 2000–01 season.
At the beginning of the 2001–02 season, he joined English Division Three club Luton Town for a transfer fee of £50,000. Manager Joe Kinnear described him as "22 [years old], six-foot two, an Australian international ... big and strong and uncompromising. He can pass with both feet. He reads it well, and he's young enough to improve." He scored an own goal on his debut for Luton against Lincoln City in September 2001, but successfully established himself in the first team, making 31 appearances in that season, despite suffering a knee ligament in December 2001 that sidelined him for several weeks, and helping Luton to set a club record of winning twelve successive games and to promotion to Division Two.
Coyne made almost 100 appearances for Luton over the next two seasons, and agreed a new two-year contract in May 2004. He made a further 44 appearances in the 2004–05 season, as Luton won the Football League One championship. He won a Football League's Player of the Month Award for April 2005, and was named in the PFA League One Team of the Season. Coyne struggled with injuries in the 2005–06 season, ultimately requiring knee surgery in April 2006, which ended his season. Coyne signed a new three-year contract in August 2006, and after the departure of Kevin Nicholls, was named club captain. His 2006–07 season was disrupted however by a recurrence of his knee injuries that led to further surgery in October 2006.
Luton went into administration during the 2007–08 season and Coyne was sold to Colchester United for a Colchester record transfer fee of £350,000 in January 2008 to obtain necessary funding for the club. Colchester manager Geraint Williams said: "It's great news for the club. Chris is a defender with experience and leadership qualities." However, Coyne was unable to help prevent Colchester from being relegated at the end of the season. Coyne was named Colchester United club captain for the 2008–09 season, but selection for the Australia national team, injuries and a change of management meant that he struggled to hold on to a place in the first team, and at the end of the season, he met with the club management to resolve his future. He left the club by mutual consent in July 2009, saying, "Unfortunately, after 18 months here, it's time to move on. It was made clear that I wasn't going to play week in, week out and I felt that I had to look at that and address it. Also, there isn't much of a chance for the Australian manager to watch League One football but in Australia, I'm guaranteed to play 27 games in front of him." Coyne scored once for the club, his goal coming in a 4–3 defeat against West Bromwich Albion on 29 March 2008.