Brian Little (born on 25 November 1953, Horden, County Durham) is an English football player and manager. November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1953 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Horden is a village in County Durham, in England. ... County Durham is a county in north-east England. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Religion... Football is a ball game played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more goals than their opponent. ...

On leaving school in 1970 he signed for Aston Villa which had just been relegated to the Third Division for the first time in its history. He made 247 appearances for the club and scored 60 goals, and made one full international appearance for England in 1975. At club level Aston Villa was the only team he ever played for, and he was in their League Cup-winning teams of 1975 and 1977 as well helping the club climb from the Third to First Division in the early part of the decade. His playing career came to a halt in 1979 when he retired at the age of 26 due to a knee injury. 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Aston Villa Football Club play at Villa Park in Birmingham, England. ... Until the 2004/05 season, the Football League Third Division was the third-highest division of The Football League and the fourth-highest division in the overall English football league system. ... First International Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Largest win Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Northern Ireland; 18 February 1882) Worst defeat Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) World Cup Appearances 11 (First in 1950) Best result Winners, 1966 European Championship Appearances 7 (First... 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup, is an English football competition. ... 1977 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar). ... From the 1992-1993 to the 2003-2004 season, the Football League First Division was the highest division of The Football League and the second-highest division in the overall English football league system. ... 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ...

Although his playing career was over, Brian Little remained on the Aston Villa payroll as youth team coach. When manager Tony Barton was sacked in the summer of 1984, Little's contract was also terminated and he became first-team coach of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Tony Barton (1936-1993) was an English football manager. ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. is a Wolverhampton-based football club playing at the Molineux. ...

When Little arrived at Wolverhampton Wanderers, the club was in the middle of three consecutive relegations and by 1986 was in the Fourth Division for the first time, with huge debts. When manager John Barnwell resigned, Little became manager on a temporary basis but resigned in late September to be replaced by Graham Turner, who had been sacked as Aston Villa manager earlier that month. 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Fourth Division or Division Four of The Football League was the fourth highest league division in the English football league system from 1958 until the creation of the FA Premier league prior to the 1992/93 season. ... Graham Turner (born 1947) is an English football manager who began in 1977 at the age of 30 with Shrewsbury Town F.C. in the Third Division. ...

Shortly after leaving the Molineux club, Little was recruited as a first team coach by Middlesbrough manager Bruce Rioch. Like Wolves, Middlesbrough were a financially troubled club and had narrowly escaped bankruptcy. Brian Little was an important part of the club's coaching staff as Middlesbrough pulled themselves together and with two successive promotions they were in the First Division for the 1988-89 season. The season ended in relegation for Middlesbrough but in February Brian Little left the Ayresome Park coaching staff and became manager of Darlington, who were bottom of the Football League in the Fourth Division. He was unable to prevent them from getting relegated to the GM Vauxhall Conference but got them promoted back into the League at the first time of asking. 1990-91 brought more success for Brian Little and Darlington as they won the Fourth Division championship. Middlesbrough F.C. are an English football team, commonly known as The Boro. They are currently in the Premier League. ... Bruce Rioch (born September 6, 1947) is a former football player and coach. ... Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their creditors. ... Darlington F.C. are an English football team based in the English town of Darlington, currently playing in Football League Two. ... The Football League is an organisation representing 72 professional football clubs in England and Wales, and runs the oldest professional football league competition in the world. ... The Football Conference is a football league at the top of the National League System of so-called non-league football in England. ...

By this time, bigger clubs were taking an interest in the 37-year-old and in June 1991 Leicester City appointed him as their replacement for Gordon Lee. The Foxes had just avoided relegation to the Third Division for the first time in their history and Little was seen as the right man to turn the club's fortunes around. 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Leicester City F.C., nicknamed the Foxes, are an English football team, playing in the Football League Championship. ...

At the end of 1991-92, Leicester City came fourth in the Second Division and qualified for the promotion playoffs, the winners of which would secure a place in the new Premier League. They overcame Cambridge United in the semi-finals after an impressive 6-1 aggregate victory and were drawn with Blackburn Rovers in the final at Wembley. But their promotion hopes were dashed when Blackburn striker Mike Newell (a former Leicester player) scored a penalty which took the Lancashire side into the new super league. The FA Premier League (often referred to as the Barclays English Premier League for sponsorship reasons) comprises the top 20 football clubs in the league system of English football. ... Cambridge United Football Club are a professional football club from Cambridge, England. ... Blackburn Rovers is an English Premier League football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. ... Old Wembley Stadium (1923-2000) New Wembley Stadium (2006) England captain Bobby Moore with the Jules Rimet trophy. ... Michael Cormac Newell (born 28 March 1942) is an English director and producer of motion pictures for the screen and for television. ...

At the end of the 1992-93 season, Leicester City qualified for the promotion playoffs again in the new Division One. They overcame Portsmouth in the semifinals but in the final were 3-0 down at half time to Swindon Town. In the second half they clawed back to bring the scoreline to 3-3 but then Swindon defender Paul Bodin scored a penalty and the Wiltshire side won promotion to the top division for the first time. Founded in 1898, Portsmouth Football Club are an English association football club, based in the south coast city port of Portsmouth. ... Swindon Town F.C. are an English football team. ...

In 1993-94, however, Leicester City made it third time lucky in the playoffs and Brian Little's hard work finally paid off with a 2-1 win in the Division One playoff final against East Midlands rivals Derby County. But Leicester's first Premier League season was a difficult season and they were relegated in second from bottom place, with just six league wins all season. Brian Little, however, had moved back to Aston Villa as manager in November 1994 to replace Ron Atkinson. 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Ronald Frederick Big Ron Atkinson, born 18 March 1939 in Liverpool, England is a British former football player and manager. ...

Eighteen months earlier, Aston Villa had finished runners-up in the first Premier League. Now they were near the foot of the division and staring relegation in its face. Previously excellent players like Mark Bosnich, Earl Barrett, Shaun Teale, Ray Houghton, Garry Parker, Dalian Atkinson and Dean Saunders were starting to lose their flair. But a 1-1 draw with doomed Norwich on the last day of the season meant that Brian Little had been successful in his bid to keep Villa in the Premiership. Now it was time for him to build a new team so Villa could take on the best once again. Mark Bosnich (born January 13, 1972 in Fairfield, New South Wales), is Australias best ever association football (soccer) goalkeeper, representing his country on many occasions and playing for English Premier League clubs Aston Villa, Manchester United, and Chelsea. ... Ray Houghton (born Glasgow, January 9, 1962) was an industrious footballer best known for his spell with the last great Liverpool team of the 1980s and his goals in big international fixtures for the Republic of Ireland. ... Dalian Atkinson (born 21 March 1968) is an English footballer. ... Dean Saunders (born 21 June 1964 in Swansea) was a Welsh footballer. ... Norwich City Football Club is a football club based in Norwich, England. ...

In the place of the fading stars came a whole set of new players in the Villa line-up. Young players like Mark Bosnich and Ugo Ehiogu were now getting more first team chances, but Villa also made a large number of new signings between November 1994 and August 1995, including Gary Charles, Ian Taylor, Mark Draper and Savo Milosevic. The new look Villa team gelled well, and 1995-96 was the most successful season at Villa Park in years. The club finished fourth in the Premiership, reached the F.A. Cup semi finals and won the League Cup with a 3-0 win over Leeds at Wembley. Trinidad and Tobago striker Dwight Yorke had now firmly established himself as a world-class goalscorer. Ugo Ehiogu (October 6, 1972 ) is an English association football player. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... . Savo Milošević (born September 2, 1973 in Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia) is a Serbian football striker, the all-time leading scorer and cap leader for the Serbia and Montenegro national football team. ... The FA Cups trophy is also known as the FA Cup. ... Leeds United F.C. is the only professional association football club in Leeds. ... Dwight Yorke (born November 3, 1971 in Canaan, Tobago) is a Trinidad and Tobago football player. ...

Aston Villa qualified for the 1996-97 UEFA Cup and although they were knocked out at the first stage by Swedish part-timers Helsingborg, they qualified for the 1997-98 competition after finishing fifth in the Premiership. UEFA Cup logo The UEFA Cup is a football competition for European club teams. ... Helsingborgs IF is a Swedish football (soccer) team, based in Helsingborg. ...

In February 1998 Brian Little resigned after just over three years as Aston Villa manager, with the club now in the bottom half of the Premiership. But the club's next manager John Gregory turned results around and they finished high enough for a UEFA Cup place. John Charles Gregory (born November 5, 1954 in Scunthorpe) Former player and football manager of Plymouth Argyle, Portsmouth F.C., Aston Villa, Derby County and other clubs. ...

Little, meanwhile, was appointed manager of Stoke City in May 1998. The Staffordshire club had ended their first season at the new Britannia Stadium with relegation from Division One, and were looking for a new manager to put the club back on track. Brian Little seemed the right man after all the success he had enjoyed in turning around the fortunes of Darlington, Leicester City and Aston Villa. And by the middle of the 1998-99 season he looked to be delivering the goods: Stoke looked to be well on course for automatic promotion back to Division One. But a drastic loss of form in the second half of the season meant that Stoke did not finish high enough to even qualify for the Division Two playoffs. So Brian Little handed in his resignation and left Stoke. Stoke City F.C. (known as Stoke F.C. until 1925) is a football club from Stoke-on-Trent in England. ... The Britannia Stadium is the home of Stoke City Football Club. ...

Before the 1999-2000 season was underway, Brian Little was back in employment as manager of West Bromwich Albion, who were languishing in Division One and had been outside the top division since 1986. He brought in Italian midfielder Enzo Maresca, who gave some excellent performances, but the rest of the team did not have the same effect and in January 2000 Maresca was transferred to Juventus for £4 million as Albion battled against relegation. Little was sacked in March 2000 after just eight months in charge and replaced by Gary Megson, who saved Albion from relegation at the expense of their near neighbours Walsall. West Bromwich Albion Football Club is an English football club formed by workers from Salters Spring Works in West Bromwich, West Midlands in 1878. ... 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Juventus F.C. (Latin for Youth) is one of Italys oldest and most successful football clubs, based in Turin. ... Gary Megson (born May 2, 1959) is a former association footballer and manager of Nottingham Forest F.C. Playing career Megson was born in Manchester and established himself as a tough-tackling midfielder, playing for: Plymouth Argyle F.C., (1977-1979); Everton F.C.; Sheffield Wednesday F.C.; Nottingham Forest... Walsall Football Club are an English football club which will play the 2004/05 season in Football League One, having been relegated from the First Division at the end of the 2003/2004 season. ...

In April 2000, just one month after leaving The Hawthorns, Brian Little was appointed manager of Division Three strugglers Hull City. The Tigers were hit by huge debts and following a dispute with landlord David Lloyd they were locked out of Boothferry Park for one game and had to play over the river at Grimsby Town's Blundell Park. By the end of the 2000-01 season, Hull City had been saved from closure by new owner Adam Pearson, and the club's future looked brighter. They reached the Division Three playoffs and lost to eventual winners Blackpool in the semi finals, but the club was glad to be in existence at all at the end of Brian Little's first season. Hull City Association Football Club are an English football team based at the Kingston Communications Stadium in Hull. ... Cover art for the collected edition of V for Vendetta by David Lloyd David Lloyd (born 1950) is a British comics artists best known as the illustrator of the graphic novel V for Vendetta, written by Alan Moore. ... Grimsby Town F.C. are an English football club in Football League Two, who in 2004 finished towards the bottom of the league. ... Adam Pearson is the chairman of Hull City A.F.C. Pearson left his position as Leeds Uniteds commercial director in 2001 to take over at Hull. ... Blackpool Football Club is an English professional football club. ...

By February 2002 Hull City looked well on course for automatic promotion from Division Three. But Brian Little dropped a bombshell on the club by announcing his immediate resignation, and under his successor Jan Molby the club's fortunes slipped dramatically and they could not even finish high enough for a playoff place. 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jan Molby is a former Danish football player who spent much of his career at Liverpool. ...

In October 2003 Brian Little made a return to football management with Division Two side Tranmere Rovers and his first season with the Cheshire club was a success. When he took over they were battling against relegation. But by the end of the season they had climbed up to eighth place and had reached the quarter finals of the F.A. Cup, giving a lot of hope for the club's future. In his first full season as manager, Brian Little looks almost certain to secure Tranmere at least a play-off place in the Coca-Cola League One final table. 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Between the 1992-93 and 2004-05 season, the Football League Second Division was the second-highest division of The Football League and the third-highest division in the overall English football league system. ... Tranmere Rovers Football Club are an English football club, based in Birkenhead, Merseyside. ...