Guys in Disguise; Robert Codner

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Robert Codner might not be the first player you would call on when talking about your favourite Leicester men during the years. That is no surprise, but the honest truth is that the former Leicester City reserve team player, being overlooked by Gordon Milne, went on to a brilliant career at a lower level, in between a bit of humps.

Codner, born in 1965, joined Leicester in 1983 from Spurs, after being a young up and coming player in their set up, but with Osvaldo Ardiles and Glenn Hoddle among his competitors, surely the move to Leicester made sence.

At 18, Tottenham told Codner they wouldn’t put him on a professional contract, so he ended up at Leicester under Gordon Milne for about 18 months. At the end of his contract he (Milne) didn’t offer Codner another one. After a spell working on a building site, he tried to get fixed up with Luton Town but their manager, David Pleat, urged him to get experience playing non-League football while they kept tabs on him.

Codner then joined Dagenham for four or five months, and then a good offer from Barnet appeared. His form for Barnet brought him selection for the England semi-professional side; Wimbledon showed some interest but in a pre-season game in August 1988, as a triallist for Millwall, he played against the Albion. He later became Brighton’s first black captain in the early ‘90s, was an enigma for plenty of managers throughout his playing days but, by his own admission, the much-maligned Barry Lloyd got the best out of him. A dynamic midfielder with a terrific shot in his locker, Codner made way more appearances for the Albion than any other club he went to and his attachment to the Seagulls continued into the modern era when he was Solly March’s agent.

Brighton boss Lloyd was sufficiently impressed that he was prepared to fork out what at the time seemed like an amazing sum of £115,000 for a non-league player to give him another chance to make it as a professional. The ebullient Barry Fry, Barnet manager at the time, said: “Codner is a super athlete with two good feet, pace and an ability to score goals.” The conundrum at the time was that away from football Codner had begun to pursue a successful career in the City, having turned the tables on a would-be finance salesman suggesting he could do a better job. The salesman’s employers agreed and Codner was suddenly thrust into the world of advising on unit trusts, pensions, mortgages and insurance. Several clubs were interested in Codner during his time with The Seagulls, including West Ham, who were reported to have bid £500,000 for the player in 1991.

Codner was almost a permanent fixture in the no.10 shirt Brighton reached the 1990-91 end-of-season play-offs with the chance to return to the top tier. He scored in the away semi-final leg at Millwall as Brighton guaranteed a place in the Wembley final v Notts County with a 6-2 aggregate win. Robert Codner appeared in new manager Liam Brady’s first game in charge, a 1-0 defeat at home to Bradford City, his off-field demons caught up with him when he had to serve three weeks in Lewes Prison for driving offences. Codner was restored to the side towards the end of January and retained his place through to the end of the season.

A subsequent matchday programme noted: “He emerged from prison a more focused player, but, after an alleged bust-up with (Liam) Brady, was dropped in early 1995 and then released at the end of the season.” Although Codner had been a regular under Brady in the first half of the 1994-95 season, he didn’t play for the first team again after being part of the side thrashed 4-0 at Crewe Alexandra on 14 January. Brady maintained in his programme notes: “The attitude on the day was not what we were looking for and that’s what contributed largely to losing as badly as we did.” After finally leaving Brighton with more than 260 appearances for the club under his belt, Codner popped up at a multitude of clubs, playing a handful of games for Reading, Peterborough and Southend United, and having a slightly longer spell back at Barnet in the 1996-97 season.

Codner now operates his own Epsom-based football agency, RC Ballers Ltd.

FACTFILE

Full Name: Robert Andrew George Codner
Position: Midfielder / Forward
Date of Birth: 23.01.1965
Birthplace: Walthamstow
Nation: England
Caps / Goals: -/-
Major Career:
- 1983-84, Leicester City (0/0)
- 1988-95, Brighton (266/39)
- 1995, Reading (5/0)
- 1996, Peterborough United (2/0)
- 1996-97, Barnet (32/1)
- 1997, Southend United (4/0)
Links: Wikipedia