Brian Lopes

Lopes at the World Championships in Fort William
Personal information
Full name	Brian Thomas Lopes
Born	(1971-09-06) September 6, 1971 (age 40) Mission Viejo, California, United States of America
Height	5'9"
Weight	160 lbs
Team information
Current team	Oakley
Discipline	MTB–Four-cross
Role	Rider
Major wins
Norba National Championship (9 Wins) UCI World Cup (6 Wins) UCI World Championship (4 wins)
Infobox last updated on June 26, 2007

Brian Thomas Lopes (born September 6, 1971 in Mission Viejo, California) is a professional mountain bike racer who specializes in four-cross. Lopes started riding BMX in his childhood and turned professional at seventeen years old.^[1]

He started mountain biking in 1993 and has since won a total of 18 titles – 9 NORBA National Championships, 6 UCI World Cup wins and 4 UCI World Championship titles.^[2] Lopes has also held world records in bunny hopping, in terms of both distance and height.^[1]

He was nominated in 2001 for an ESPY "Action sport Athlete of the Year"^[3] and won two NEA (World Extreme Sports Award) for "Mountain Biker of the Year" in 2000 & 2001.^[4] Lopes has also co-written a book, Mastering Mountain Bike Skills with Lee McCormack. Lopes has also been featured in a videogame; Downhill Domination on the Sony PlayStation 2.

Lopes is currently sponsored by Ibis, Oakley, Lazer, X-Fusion, SRAM, Kenda, ENVE Composites, WTB, ODI, & MRP.^[4]

On April 13th 2012 Lopes won the first race of the new cross-country eliminator World Cup series in Houffalize, Belgium.

External links[link]

• brianlopes.com
• uci.ch

References[link]

Chris Powell

Personal information
Full name	Christopher George Robin Powell
Date of birth	(1969-09-08) 8 September 1969 (age 42)
Place of birth	Lambeth, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Left back
Club information
Current club	Charlton Athletic (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1987–1990	Crystal Palace	3	(0)
1990	→ Aldershot (loan)	11	(0)
1990–1996	Southend United	248	(3)
1996–1998	Derby County	91	(1)
1998–2004	Charlton Athletic	200	(1)
2004	→ West Ham United (loan)	13	(0)
2004–2005	West Ham United	23	(0)
2005–2006	Charlton Athletic	27	(0)
2006–2007	Watford	15	(0)
2007–2008	Charlton Athletic	17	(1)
2008–2010	Leicester City	19	(0)
Total		667	(6)
National team
2001–2002	England	5	(0)
Teams managed
2010	Leicester City (caretaker)
2011–	Charlton Athletic
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Christopher George Robin "Chris" Powell^[1] (born 8 September 1969) is an English football manager and retired player, who had a long career as a left back, crowned by five caps for the English national team. He is currently manager of Charlton Athletic, where he had three successful spells as a player over eight seasons.^[2]

He served as chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association from November 2005 until he retired. He finished his playing career at Leicester City where he then became a first team coach. In October 2009 he was named as one of 50 ambassadors for England's 2018 World Cup bid.^[3] In April 2012, Charlton Athletic were promoted to The Championship as League One Champions in Powell's first full season as a manager.

Playing career[link]

Early career[link]

After leaving Raynes Park High School, Powell spent the 1985/86 season playing for the Epsom & Ewell youth team alongside a young Matt Elliott. He began his professional career in December 1987 as a trainee at Crystal Palace with Ian Wright but failed to become a regular with the first team. He spent time on loan at Aldershot, where he made 11 appearances, before moving on a free transfer in August 1990 to Essex club Southend United. In six years at the club Powell made 288 first team appearances. In November 2004 a BBC poll of Southend United supporters voted Powell their all-time cult hero. One fan described him as "A very skilled, left-footed defender, who could quite possibly be considered one of the nicest men in football, a true gent."^[4]

Derby County[link]

In January 1996 Powell moved to Derby County for a fee of £750,000. He made 99 first team appearances before being transferred to Charlton Athletic in June 1998 for a fee of £825,000. Powell was a favourite of the Derby fans, and won the Supporters' Player of the Year award for season 1996/7. He scored twice during his spell at Derby with both goals coming in the 1997/98 season against Everton in the league^[5] and Southampton in the FA Cup.^[6]

Charlton Athletic[link]

While at Charlton, he made 206 first team appearances, and evidently caught the eye of Sven-Göran Eriksson, who picked him for the England team in 2001, at the unusually late age of 31. He was the oldest England debutant since Syd Owen in 1954. At Charlton he delighted the crowds after each home victory with his exuberant leaps of celebration. Powell scored twice during his first spell with the Addicks, with both goals coming against Tottenham Hotspur; once in the league^[7] and once in the FA Cup.^[8]

Shortly after the start of the 2004–05 season, Powell was allowed to move to West Ham United, where he played a major part in their successful promotion campaign. However, during the summer of 2005 he and West Ham were unable to agree terms for a further contract and he returned to Charlton on a one year contract, with a suggestion that he would develop his coaching skills.

Typically consistent performance belying his years throughout 2005–06 saw Powell regain his place as Charlton's first choice left back, rotated with loanee Jonathan Spector, due to Hermann Hreiðarsson's move to the centre of defence. On 1 July 2006 he signed a one year contract with Premiership newcomers Watford as Aidy Boothroyd looked to add some experience to his youthful squad. He was released by the club after one year.^[9] In July 2007, Powell returned to Charlton for a third spell, primarily as a coach.^[10] He made his last appearance for Charlton on 4 May 2008, coming on as substitute for the last five minutes in the final game of the season, against Coventry, and scoring only his third goal for the club to seal a 4–1 victory.^[11]

Leicester City[link]

Powell joined League Two side Bournemouth on a trial basis in July 2008.^[12] whilst the club looked to see if he could bring much needed experience to their defence.^[13] He joined Leicester City on a six-month contract on 23 August 2008.^[14] He made his debut against Fulham in Leicester's League Cup second round 3–2 defeat, playing the full 90 minutes.^[15]

On 6 December 2008 Powell started his 750th career appearance against former club Southend; Leicester won the game 3–0.^[16] He signed a contract extension that would see him stay at the club intil the end of the 2008–09 season on 5 January 2009.^[17]

In July 2009, Powell signed a contract to be a player-coach at Leicester City, becoming first team development coach, and also re-registering himself as a player.^[18] With teammates Bruno Berner out with a calf injury and Ryan McGivern struggling with form, Powell played his first league match on 26 January 2010, in a 1–0 defeat to Barnsley.^[19] He retired from playing at the end of the 2009–10 season; his final appearance came on 27 March 2010 against his former club Derby County.^[20]

Coaching career[link]

Having served as a player coach under Nigel Pearson, Powell was retained by incoming Leicester manager Paulo Sousa in the summer of 2010. In October, Powell was named caretaker manager with Mike Stowell of the Foxes after Sousa was sacked. Their first, and only, game in charge came against Scunthorpe United; Leicester won the game 3–1. After Leicester's third goal, Powell showed his excitement by running down to the corner flag to celebrate with the players.^{[citation needed]} He remained a coach at the club after Sousa's replacement, Sven-Göran Eriksson, was appointed. Eriksson—who selected Powell for his England caps—commented in December 2010 that Powell "will be a very good manager in the future".^[21]

Management career[link]

On 14 January 2011 Powell was appointed manager of Charlton Athletic,^[22] who were by now languishing in League One. He signed a three and a half year contract^[23] following the sacking of Phil Parkinson.

His first signing of his managerial career was Bradley Wright-Phillips, who went on to score on his debut on 1 February 2011, against Colchester United. Wright-Phillips then progressed to score in all of the next 3 games. Powell won his opening four games at Charlton, but then went 11 games without a win, falling out of the play-off places and leaving the Addicks in mid-table by the end of the season.

Powell signed 19 new players in summer 2011, including midfielders Danny Green, Danny Hollands, Dale Stephens, defenders Matt Taylor (footballer), Rhoys Wiggins and goalkeeper Ben Hamer. Bradley Pritchard was signed from non-league Hayes & Yeading United Football Club and has excelled in midfield, with Yann Kermorgant forming a formidable strike partnership alongside Wright-Phillips. Captain Johnnie Jackson has been a talisman all season despite numerous injuries, and Chris Solly, a product of the youth academy has made the right back berth his own. Clever loan signings were made throughout the season including Hogan Ephraim, Darel Russell, Dany N'Guessan and the return of Lee Cook. Charlton powered strongly into the second half of the 2011/12 season and sealed promotion back to the Championship as Champions of League One.

Managerial statistics[link]

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				P	W	D	L	Win %
Leicester City (caretaker)		1 October 2010	3 October 2010	1	1	0	0	100
Charlton Athletic		17 January 2011	Present	76	39	18	19	51.32
Total				77	40	18	19	51.95

As of 5 May 2012

Career statistics[link]

Correct as of 17 May 2009 (2009 -05-17)^[update]

• NOTE teams in italics indicate loan period

Honours[link]

Derby County

• Football League First Division runners-up (1): 1995–96

Charlton Athletic

• Football League First Division Winner (1): 1999–2000

West Ham United

• Football Championship play-off winner: 2004–05

Leicester City

• Football League One Winner: 2008–09

Managerial Honours[link]

Charlton Athletic

• Football League One (1): 2011–12
• Football League One Manager of the Month (1): November 2011, January 2012, February 2012.
• League Managers Association League One Manager of the Year (1): 2011–12

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chris Powell

• Chris Powell career stats at Soccerbase
• Chris Powell Official Website at officialplayerwebsites.com