Colin West (born 13 November 1962) is an English former footballer. He played as a forward and scored 158 goals in 555 league and cup games in the English Football League, Conference and the Scottish Football League.
He began his career at Sunderland in 1981, playing more than 100 games for the Black Cats before moving on to Watford in March 1985. He was sold on to Rangers the following year for £180,000, though made only occasional appearances as Rangers won the Scottish Football League Premier Division title during the 1986–87 season. He returned to England with Sheffield Wednesday in September 1987 for a fee of £150,000. Two years later he signed with West Bromwich Albion, before he joined Swansea City in August 1992, following a loan spell at Port Vale. He moved on to Leyton Orient in July 1993 and spent five years at the club. In 1997, he was loaned out to Northampton Town, before he switched clubs to Conference club Rushden & Diamonds. The next year he signed with Northwich Victoria, before signing with Hartlepool United in 2000. After retiring in 2001, he spent the next ten years coaching at various clubs, including: Hartlepool United, Sheffield Wednesday, Stockport County, Millwall, Southend United, Notts County, Carlisle United and Northampton Town. He served both Hartlepool United and Millwall as caretaker manager. He was most recently the assistant manager at Hartlepool United.
Playing career
Sunderland
West turned professional in July 1980, and made his debut for Sunderland on 17 October 1981 against Tottenham Hotspur in a 2–0 defeat at Roker Park under manager Alan Durban. The club narrowly avoided relegation out of the First Division in 1981–82 under new boss Alan Durban, finishing just one place and two points above relegated Leeds United. They then finished four places and three points above the drop in 1982–83. West was the club's top scorer in 1983–84 with nine goals. The next season, he scored three goals over the two legs in the League Cup semi-final win over Chelsea, but was left out of the Wembley final by manager Len Ashurst. Following this snub he joined league rivals Watford for £115,000 in March 1985. The "Black Cats" went on to lose their top-flight status in 1984–85, finishing two places and ten points short of safety. He scored 28 goals in 122 competitive appearances for Sunderland.
Watford, Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday
Following his arrival at Watford, West helped the club to a mid-table finish in the league. He was then the club's top scorer in 1985–86 with 16 goals. In total he hit 23 goals in 56 league and cup appearances for Graham Taylor's Watford. In May 1986, he became new Rangers' player-manager Graeme Souness's first signing when he moved to Scotland for a £175,000 fee. However, a serious knee injury sustained in only his fourth game restricted his impact at Ibrox, but he did manage to play 12 games in the title winning 1986–87 campaign, scoring three goals. He returned to England to sign with First Division side Sheffield Wednesday for £150,000 in September 1987. The club finished eleventh in 1987–88 under Howard Wilkinson's stewardship, before heading into a relegation dogfight under Peter Eustace in 1988–89. West made 57 league and cup appearances at Wednesday, scoring 13 goals.
West Bromwich Albion
He signed with Second Division side West Bromwich Albion in exchange for Carlton Palmer in February 1989, but was unable to fire Brian Talbot's side into the play-offs in 1988–89, as they ended up two places and four points short of their target. The "Baggies" dropped to 20th in 1989–90, and were just two places and three points above relegated AFC Bournemouth. The 1990–91 season was a disaster, and West Brom were relegated into the Third Division for the first time in their history. Not highly rated at the Hawthorns, he made 73 league appearances, scoring 22 goals, during his stay in the West Midlands. He joined Second Division club Port Vale on loan in November 1991, making five appearances and scoring one goal for John Rudge's side.
Swansea City
He was signed by Swansea City manager Frank Burrows in August 1992, and scored two goals in his first start for the club in a 2–0 win over former side Port Vale. He went on to score 12 goals in 33 Second Division appearances, as the "Swans" reached the play-offs in 1992–93, only to be sent off for fouling Ian Hamilton during a 2–0 defeat by his former club West Bromwich Albion in the second leg of the semi-finals, which left Swansea with a 3–2 aggregate loss. West later said that "I instantly thought 'why on earth did I do that?' but the referee rightly sent me off. It was a very sad way for me to end my time with the club."