Carl Muggleton

Carl David Muggleton (born 13 September 1968) is an English professional football goalkeeper who made over 550 appearances in the Football League and Scottish Premier League for a number of clubs, most notably Leicester City, Stoke City, Celtic, Chesterfield and Mansfield Town.

Playing career

Muggleton began his career in 1986 as an apprentice at Leicester City, where he made 54 first-team appearances in all competitions in seven years.^[3] He also had loan spells at Chesterfield, Blackpool, Hartlepool United, Stockport County, Liverpool, Stoke City and Sheffield United during his tenure at Filbert Street.^[3] He played for Leicester in the 1992 Second Division play-off final against Blackburn Rovers, when he saved a penalty at Wembley Stadium but finished on the losing side.^[4]

In January 1994, Muggleton was signed by Scottish club, Celtic, for whom he made 13 appearances in the remainder of the 1993–94 season, before joining Stoke City in the summer of 1994 for a fee of £150,000.^[3] In a seven-year spell at Stoke, Muggleton played more than 170 games.^[3] He was also loaned to Rotherham, Sheffield United, Chesterfield, Mansfield Town and Cardiff City.^[3][5] Muggleton was released by Stoke in the summer of 2001 and joined Cheltenham.^[6] However, he was kept out of the side by Steve Book and after a one-month loan at Bradford City, he was allowed to leave the club,^[6] and join Chesterfield in May 2002, where manager Dave Rushbury described him as, "...a mature goalkeeper who will provide the voice of experience behind our younger defenders."^[7]

Muggleton played over 120 games for Chesterfield during his four-year stay with the club.^[3] He signed a new two-year contract in May 2004,^[8] but left Chesterfield by mutual consent in March 2006,^[9] and joined local rivals Mansfield Town in July 2006 to provide cover for first-choice goalkeeper Jason White.^[10] He made 21 appearances for Mansfield in the 2006–07 season,^[11] and was offered a new contract in May 2007.^[12] After Mansfield Town were relegated to the Conference National at the end of the 2007–08 season, he was released by the club.^[13]

At international level, Muggleton played once for England Under-21,^[4] in a match against France in 1990.

Coaching career

After leaving Mansfield Town, he joined Notts County in July 2008 as a part-time goalkeeping coach.^[14] On 23 July 2012 he joined Gillingham as their goalkeeping coach,^[15] a role he then took up at Barnet in July 2016.^[16] He then took up the position of goalkeeper coach and head of recruitment at Chesterfield in May 2018, but left on 27 December after Martin Allen was sacked.^[17]

Personal life

After ending his playing career Muggleton became a driving instructor in the Leicestershire area.^[18] His son Sam is also a professional footballer.^[19]

Career statistics

Source:^[20]

1. ^ Three appearances in Football League Second Division play-offs and one appearance in Full Members' Cup
2. ^ Appearances in Anglo-Italian Cup
3. ^ Appearances in Football League Trophy

Honours

Stoke City

• Football League Trophy: 1999–2000^[21]

Cheltenham Town

• Football League Third Division play-offs: 2002^[22]

References

1. ^
2. ^ Dunk, Peter (ed.) (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
3. ^ "Carl Muggleton". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
4. ^ Smith, Martin (26 January 2008). "Carl Muggleton: Mansfield Town's old hand". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 April 2008.^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "Muggleton on loan at Cardiff". BBC Sport. 15 March 2001. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
6. ^ "Robins release Muggleton". BBC Sport. 16 May 2002. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
7. ^ "Muggleton joins Spireites". BBC Sport. 22 May 2002. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
8. ^ "Spireites keeper stays put". BBC Sport. 27 May 2004. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
9. ^ "Chesterfield seal Beckwith deal". BBC Sport. 17 March 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
10. ^ "Muggleton handed Mansfield deal". BBC Sport. 17 July 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
11. ^ "Games played by Carl Muggleton in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
12. ^ "Stags offer deals to 11 players". BBC Sport. 9 May 2007. Retrieved 16 April 2008.
13. ^ "Seven players to leave Mansfield". BBC Sport. 16 May 2008. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
14. ^ "Muggleton makes move to Magpies". BBC Sport. 11 July 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
15. ^ "Gillingham appoint Carl Muggleton as new goalkeeping coach". Kent Online. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
16. ^ Carl Muggleton to join Barnet as coach
17. ^ "Managerial departure announced". Chesterfield FC. 27 December 2018. Archived from the original on 27 December 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
18. ^ "Passion for the game is driving force for Leicester City legend Carl Muggleton". Leicester Mercury. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
19. ^ "Queniborough footballer Sam Muggleton awarded scholarship with League Two Gillingham". Melton Times. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
20. ^
21. ^ Sidaway, Jon (7 December 2017). "Stoke City FC - Looking Back Down 'Wembley Way'". Stoke City FC. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
22. ^ "Cheltenham crack Diamonds". BBC Sport. 6 May 2002. Retrieved 24 June 2025.