Editing Chris Waddle (section)

==Club career==

===Early career===
Waddle began his footballing career with Pelaw Juniors, moving on to Whitehouse SC, Mount Pleasant SC, HMH Printing, Pelaw SC, Leam Lane SC and Clarke Chapman before joining [[Tow Law Town F.C.|Tow Law Town]] before the start of the 1978–79 season.<ref name="goal">[http://www.goal.com/en/news/2274/goalcoms-top-50-english-players/2009/05/12/1260468/goalcoms-top-50-english-players-chris-waddle-35 "Top 50 English Players: Chris Waddle (35)"]. ''Goal.com. 12 May 2009.</ref>

===Newcastle United===
While working in food processing (a seasoning factory), Waddle had unsuccessful trials with [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]]<ref>[http://fourfourtwo.com/interviews/one-on-one/221/article.aspx "One-on-One with Chris Waddle"]. ''[[FourFourTwo]]''. October 2008.</ref> and [[Coventry City F.C.|Coventry City]].<ref name="toon">[http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Club/History/Legends/0,,10278~2375614,00.html "Newcastle Legends – Chris Waddle"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403143901/http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Club/History/Legends/0,,10278~2375614,00.html |date=3 April 2018 }}. Newcastle United.</ref> He joined [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United]] as a 19-year-old in July 1980 for £1,000.<ref name="goal"/>

He made his [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]] debut for them in a 1–0 home win over [[Shrewsbury Town F.C.|Shrewsbury Town]] on 22 October 1980<ref name="toon"/> and quickly established himself as an effective attacking midfielder, playing alongside [[Kevin Keegan]] and [[Peter Beardsley]] as Newcastle won promotion to the [[Football League Division One|First Division]] at the end of 1983–84 season.

In one of his first games in the top flight, against [[Queen's Park Rangers F.C.|Queen's Park Rangers]] at [[Loftus Road]] on 22 September 1984, Waddle scored a first half hat-trick for Newcastle, who had a 4–0 lead at half time. However, a fight back by QPR saw the game end 5–5.<ref>[http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/archive/Chris-Waddle-article1303.html "Chris Waddle"]. ''[[Daily Mirror]]''.</ref>

===Tottenham Hotspur===
After 46 goals in 170 league games for Newcastle, Waddle joined [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]] on 1 July 1985 for a fee of £590,000 (decided by a [[tribunal|transfer tribunal]]).<ref name="sh">[http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=44281 "Chris Waddle"]. ''Sporting Heroes.net''.</ref> He scored twice on his league debut, a 4–0 home win over [[Watford F.C.|Watford]] on the opening day of the league season, although Spurs had a disappointing season where they finished tenth a year after finishing third, resulting in the dismissal of [[Peter Shreeves]] as manager and the appointment of [[David Pleat]] from [[Luton Town F.C.|Luton Town]] as his successor.

He won an [[FA Cup]] runners-up medal in 1987 when Spurs were beaten by Coventry, while they also finished third in the [[Football League First Division|League]] and got to the semi-finals of the [[EFL Cup|League Cup]].

===Marseille===
On 1 July 1989, after scoring 33 times in 138 league appearances for Tottenham, Waddle moved to French club [[Olympique de Marseille]] for a fee of £4.5&nbsp;million; the third highest sum ever paid for a footballer at the time.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://thefootballfaithful.com/chris-waddle-tribute-legend-marseille-spurs/|title=Chris Waddle: The easy going showstopper with continental class | website=thefootballfaithful.com|date=7 February 2019|access-date=14 March 2019}}</ref> During his time in France the club were French champions three times (1990, 1991 and 1992). They were also on the losing side to [[Red Star Belgrade]] in the [[1991 European Cup Final]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-team-dismantled-by-war-red-star-belgrades-final-european-triumph/ |title=The Team Dismantled by War: Red Star Belgrade's Final European Triumph |publisher=Vice.com |last1=O'Connor |first1=Robert |date=5 June 2015 |access-date=19 December 2020 }}</ref> In 1991–92, he also played alongside fellow England midfielder [[Trevor Steven]], who spent a year in France after signing from [[Rangers F.C.|Rangers]], only to return to Scotland after a single season there.

During his years at Marseille, the fans gave him the nickname "Magic Chris".<ref name="ginnell" /> He was known as the successor to former Marseille player [[Roger Magnusson]]. Waddle was also voted second best OM player of the century behind [[Jean Pierre Papin]] for the club's century anniversary in 1998.  Waddle and Marseille reached the [[1991 European Cup Final]]. Although he did not take a penalty, Waddle ended up on the losing side in a penalty shoot-out once again, after the game had ended 0–0 in normal time.

===Sheffield Wednesday===
Waddle returned to England in July 1992 in a £1&nbsp;million move to [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]], then managed by [[Trevor Francis]].<ref name="sh"/> The club reached both domestic cup finals in the 1992–93 season (losing both to [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] – Waddle scored Wednesday's goal in the FA Cup final replay) and Waddle was voted the [[FWA Footballer of the Year|Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year]] in 1993.

He helped Wednesday reach the semi-finals of the League Cup in the 1993–94 season, but this latest attempt at winning silverware was foiled by [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]], and the next two seasons brought bottom-half finishes in the league for Wednesday. Waddle's past also came back to haunt him in Wednesday's exit from the [[1994–95 FA Cup]], when a tie against [[Wolverhampton Wanderers]] was decided on a penalty shoot out, Waddle again missing an attempt. Francis was axed in 1995 and Waddle's former Tottenham manager [[David Pleat]] took over.

In January 1996, [[Kevin Keegan]] attempted to re-sign Waddle for Newcastle United as cover for [[David Ginola]] during a suspension, but Keegan's £500,000 bid to re-sign the player who had played alongside him in the Newcastle team more than a decade earlier was rejected and Keegan was unwilling to meet manager [[David Pleat]]'s £1million asking price for the 35-year-old.<ref>[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Owls+block+Waddle+move.-a061311707 "Owls block Waddle move"]. ''Daily Mirror'' ([[The Free Library]]). 23 January 1996.</ref> Around this time, [[Celtic F.C.|Celtic]], [[Leeds United A.F.C|Leeds United]] and [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]] were also interested in signing Waddle, but none of these transfers ever happened.<ref>[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/CHRIS+CROSSING%3b+Yanks+tempt+Waddle.-a061326494 "Yanks tempt Waddle"]. ''Daily Mirror'' (The Free Library). 9 January 1996.</ref> [[Burnley F.C.|Burnley]] also expressed an interest in appointing him as their player-manager – a role he would finally take the following year – but Waddle saw out the season at Hillsborough.<ref>[http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Burnley+eyes+on+Waddle.-a061158024 "Burnley eyes on Waddle"]. ''[[The Sunday People|The People]]'' (The Free Library). 18 February 1996.</ref>

Waddle's later career at Hillsborough was marred by injuries and he was released 5 games into the 1996–97 season (when the Owls were top of the premiership and having taken young sensation [[Ritchie Humphreys]] – 4 goals in 5 games – under his wing) after being frozen out of the team by David Pleat, having played 109 games and scored 10 goals with many more assists.

===Falkirk and Bradford City===
Waddle joined [[Falkirk F.C.|Falkirk]], in the Scottish First Division, in September 1996, but returned south of the border to play for Division One strugglers [[Bradford City A.F.C.|Bradford City]] the following month. Although short, his time at City was a success and he was a firm fans favourite. In a match away to [[Huddersfield Town]] he scored direct from a corner in a 3–3 draw live on TV. He also scored a goal in a 3-2 [[FA Cup]] win against [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] at [[Goodison Park]] which came second in the February 1997 Match of the Day Goal of the Month. His efforts with Bradford contributed to their survival in Division One, although he did not complete the season there.

===Sunderland===
Waddle moved to [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]], the side he had supported as a boy, for a nominal fee of £75,000 in March 1997, but could not help Sunderland from being relegated from the Premier League at the end of the season, despite scoring once against Everton and providing the assist for all other Sunderland goals scored in that period.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-reid-responds-to-the-last-of-the-roker-roar-1259816.html|title=Reid responds to the last of the Roker roar |work=[[The Independent]]|date=5 May 1997 |access-date=23 March 2012}}</ref>

===Burnley===
In May 1997 Waddle was appointed player-manager of [[Burnley F.C.|Burnley]], moving from Roker Park on a free transfer. Burnley had a disappointing season, only just avoiding relegation at the end of the season. He scored once during his spell at Burnley, the goal coming in a 2–2 draw with [[AFC Bournemouth]] in October 1997.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.clarets-mad.co.uk/feat/edx9/a_day_of_first_goals_for_two_burnley_managers_622362/index.shtml|title=A day of first goals for two Burnley managers|work=clarets-mad.co.uk|date=20 January 2011 |access-date=23 March 2012}}</ref>

===Torquay United===
Waddle left Burnley in the summer, and in September 1998 joined [[Torquay United F.C.|Torquay United]]. He played just 7 times for Torquay, before returning to Sheffield Wednesday as a coach. He was appointed reserve team coach in July 1999, and played for a local pub side, but left in June 2000 on the appointment of [[Paul Jewell]] as manager, just after the club (now blighted by financial problems) suffered relegation from the Premier League.

===Non-League career===
Following his departure from Torquay United, Waddle enjoyed two seasons with non-League [[Worksop Town F.C.|Worksop Town]] making 60 appearances and scoring 3 goals. His most notable appearance was in a 12–0 Northern Premier League record win against Frickley Athletic. He also had a brief spell with [[Glapwell F.C.|Glapwell]] and one appearance for [[Stocksbridge Park Steels F.C.|Stocksbridge Park Steels]] in the Northern Premier League First Division, continuing his playing career at non-League level into his early forties. Waddle later played regularly for Brunsmeer Athletic in the [[Sunday league football in England|Meadowhall Sheffield & District Sunday Football League]].

===Hallam===
Having played at amateur level in the [[Sheffield]] Wragg Over-40s league for Hallam during 2012–13 season<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hemsworthandsouthelmsallexpress.co.uk/sport/local-sport/chris-waddle-inspired-hallam-prove-too-strong-for-minsthorpe-1-4295628 |title=Chris Waddle-inspired Hallam prove too strong for Minsthorpe – Hemsworth and South Elmsall Express |publisher=Hemsworthandsouthelmsallexpress.co.uk |date=29 February 2012 |access-date=6 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212132/http://www.hemsworthandsouthelmsallexpress.co.uk/sport/local-sport/chris-waddle-inspired-hallam-prove-too-strong-for-minsthorpe-1-4295628 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> he came out of retirement after 11 years on the sidelines and signed for [[Sheffield]] based non-League side [[Hallam F.C.|Hallam]] in the [[Northern Counties East Football League Premier Division|Counties East League]] (tier 10 of the pyramid) on 22 July 2013. He made his debut against [[Chesterfield F.C.|Chesterfield]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ryan147.com/2013/07/27/hallam-2-6-chesterfield-xi-pre-season-friendly/ |title=Hallam 2–6 Chesterfield XI – Pre Season Friendly |publisher=ryan147.com |date=27 July 2013 |access-date=6 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hallamfc.co.uk/article.php?news_article_id=166 |title=Waddle on Hand at Hallam |publisher=Hallamfc.co.uk |date=17 July 2013 |access-date=6 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171221065735/https://www.hallamfc.co.uk/article.php?news_article_id=166 |archive-date=21 December 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> in a pre-season friendly, coming on as a substitute at half time. The game ended in a 6–2 defeat for Hallam FC. Waddle signed a one-year deal on 1 August 2013, committing to Hallam for the 2013–14 season promotion push while remaining part of the ESPN commentary team. He later rejoined in 2023.