Ex-Everton, West Ham and Aston Villa star sacked from managerial role after seven-game winless run

A former Everton player and manager, who had been associated with the club for over 20 years, has been sacked from his first permanent role in management.

David Unsworth was a fan-favourite as a player who was affectionately known as ‘the Rhino’ by the Everton faithful.

He was a product of the club’s youth academy and made his first team debut in 1992 just months before the introduction of the Premier League.

Unsworth established himself as a key player within the Everton setup and he helped the club to their last major trophy when he started during a 1-0 win over Man Utd in the 1995 FA Cup final. The versatile defender, who was capable of playing at both centre back and left back, was known for his ability to score crucial goals and he was often praised for his set pieces and penalties.

Unsworth briefly left Everton in 1997 for brief spells at West Ham and Aston Villa before returning to Merseyside and was once again a crucial member of the team which avoided relegation.

He left Everton to finish his career with the likes of Portsmouth, Ipswich Town, Wigan, Burnley and Huddersfield but returned as a coach in 2014.

Unsworth worked as the coach of Everton’s U23 team for a total of eight years and also enjoyed two brief stints as interim manager of the first team after the sackings of Ronald Koeman and Roberto Martinez.

On 20 September 2022, he took on his first permanent role in football management with National League club Oldham Athletic but that came to an end almost 12 months later on 17 September after a seven game winless run.

During his time at Oldham, Unsworth is credited with leading the Latics to a 12th place finish last season, but the club claim he has failed to meet expectations this time around, despite a sizeable investment in the playing budget.

An Oldham statement said: “After a strong finish to the 2022-23 season, a sizable investment in the playing budget and some highly promising signings during the summer, the start of the current campaign has unfortunately not met the expectations of the club.

"Following the takeover of Oldham Athletic by the Rothwell family in July 2022, it has been one of their main principles to stay out of the day-to-day running of football activities within the business and provide stability for the long-term survival of the club.

"David signed for three seasons, to bring stability on the playing front, but despite the hard work and dedication of David and his coaching team, results have not worked out on the pitch."

Unsworth leaves Oldham 22nd in the National League table with just seven points from nine matches. The Latics host York City in their next fixture on Tuesday 19 September.