David Platt

Manchester United and Crewe Alexandra

Platt signed for Manchester United as an apprentice on leaving school in 1982, having been spotted playing for Chadderton. He accepted manager Ron Atkinson's offer of a professional contract at the start of the 1984–85 season, but was given a free transfer on 23 February 1985 without ever playing for the Manchester United first team. Dario Gradi then signed Platt for Crewe Alexandra in the Fourth Division. He quickly established himself in the first team at Gresty Road as a strong-running, free-scoring midfielder. He played 134 games in the Fourth Division, scoring 55 goals, over the next three years. In the FA Cup, he played three games, scoring one goal. In the League Cup he played four games, scoring four goals.

Aston Villa

In February 1988, Platt left Crewe—then still a Fourth Division side—to join Second Division Aston Villa for £200,000. He helped his new club earn an instant return to the First Division that season, as runners-up in the Second Division. He was a frequent goalscorer for Villa, helping re-establish them in the First Division at the end of the 1980s, and in 1989–90 took them to the brink of the league title. Although they had to settle for runners-up spot behind Liverpool, Platt was voted PFA Players' Player of the Year. The next season, 1990–91, he continued where he left off. In a game against Arsenal he famously went in goal when Nigel Spink was injured in a 5–0 defeat to Arsenal. Platt's success…

1990 World Cup

Platt was given his first England cap by Bobby Robson in a friendly against Italy in November 1989, and was then included in the England squad when Robson named his 22-player squad for the 1990 World Cup. England had been drawn in Group F with Ireland, the Netherlands and Egypt. Platt came on as a substitute against the Irish and the Dutch but remained on the bench for the game against Egypt. England won the group after a 1–1 draw with Ireland, a 0–0 draw with the Dutch and a 1–0 win against Egypt. England qualified for the knockout stage and were drawn against Belgium. The Belgians dominated the game, hitting the post twice through Enzo Scifo, The game ended 0–0 after ninety minutes. Platt was sent on as an extra-time substitute. In the 119th minute, he scored a volley on the turn from a Paul Gascoigne free-kick, his first goal for his country. Afterwards, and in reflection he said,

"I started as a substitute. I can remember little snatches of the game: John Barnes having a volleyed goal harshly disallowed, Belgium hitting the woodwork twice, I can still see Enzo Scifo hitting the post with a tremendous strike from 25 yards. I was at the other end of the bench from Bobby Robson and didn't have much contact with him. Having since been a manager I now know that the emotions he must have been going through were far more intense than mine. I came on for Steve McMahon [in the 71st minute]." I had an eye for getting on the end of that sort of ball and the…

Within months of leaving Arsenal, Platt returned to Sampdoria as manager, a controversial stint which ended prematurely, with other clubs protesting that Platt did not have the appropriate coaching qualifications for managing in Serie A. Platt resigned before Sampdoria were relegated to Serie B. In July 1999, Platt was appointed manager of Nottingham Forest, who had just been relegated from the Premier League. He actually made a playing comeback in the 1999–2000 season, playing three Division One games and scoring once against Crystal Palace at the start of the following season. He was manager at the City Ground for two seasons, but had little success despite spending several million pounds on players who did not perform well and plunging the club into large sums of debt. Platt's tenure at Forest was marred by disagreements with several experienced, long-serving players, leading to them being isolated from the first-team picture and subsequently being released by the club. Platt was appointed manager of the England U21 on 17 July 2001, which brought a little more success than his stint at Forest. He guided them to qualification for the U-21 European Championships in 2002. He left this role after failing to qualify for the 2004 tournament and was succeeded by Peter Taylor. Platt is now seen as a media pundit often for England U21 matches. On 1 July 2010, Platt was hired as first-team coach at Manchester City alongside manager (and former teammate) Roberto Mancini, a decision…

Platt is fluent in Italian owing to his time playing there. He is married to Rachel, with whom he had a son in 2006. In 1993, he shared the cover of FIFA International Soccer with Piotr Świerczewski, in the first game in this videogame series.