Peter Beadle

Peter Clifford William James Beadle (born 13 May 1972) is an English football manager and former player.

A former player, Beadle played as a forward, and he scored some 83 goals in 355 league games, mostly for the two Bristol clubs. He started his career at Gillingham in 1989 and won a £300,000 move to Tottenham Hotspur two years later; he never made a first-team appearance for Spurs, however, and was loaned out to AFC Bournemouth and Southend United, before he was transferred to Watford in September 1994. He moved on to Bristol Rovers a year later and, after 39 goals in 109 league games with the club, he was signed by Port Vale for £300,000 in August 1998. He was sold to Notts County in February 1999 for £250,000 before moving to Bristol City for £200,000 seven months later. He spent four years with the club, as City reached the Football League Trophy final twice, losing in 2000 and winning in 2003. He retired after brief spells with Brentford, Barnet, Team Bath and Clevedon Town.

He entered management with Newport County in October 2005. He kept the club in the Conference South and led the club to the FAW Premier Cup final in 2007 and 2008, losing in 2007 and 2008; however, he was sacked in April 2008, after his team narrowly missed out on the play-offs for a second successive season. He then spent a brief spell in charge at Clevedon Town in 2010, and since then specialised in training roles with younger players and was appointed director of youth football at Hereford United in April 2013. He was named caretaker manager at Hereford in March 2014 following the departure of Martin Foyle as first-team boss. In April 2015, he was named the first manager of new club Hereford. He led the club to the Midland Football League title in 2015–16, as well as the Midland Football League Cup and Herefordshire County Cup, and the FA Vase final. He then led Hereford to successive Southern League Division One South & West and Premier Division titles in the 2016–17 and 2017–18 seasons, before being sacked in September 2018. He returned to management at Barnet in August 2020, though he left the club four months later. He returned to management with Yate Town for a brief spell from May to October 2022. He took charge at Shortwood United in September 2025.

Playing career

Gillingham A striker, he made his debut at Fourth Division club Gillingham at the age of 16, against Cardiff City at Priestfield Stadium on 11 March 1989.

Spurs to Watford His promise earned him a move to Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in June 1992, who spent £300,000 to secure his services, a club record for Gillingham. He was loaned out to Tony Pulis' Second Division side AFC Bournemouth at the end of the 1992–93 season, where he scored twice in nine games. At the end of 1993–94, he joined First Division club Southend United on loan, scoring once in eight appearances for Peter Taylor's side. He never made it onto the pitch for a competitive game at White Hart Lane. In September 1994, he was allowed to join Glenn Roeder's Watford for £5,000 plus a 20% sell-on fee. who was on the sidelines recovering from a knee injury. However, Beadle underwent an operation on his knee the next month, following advice from his surgeon. The injury kept him out of action for the entirety of the 2001–02 campaign.

In September 2002, Beadle was told he could leave the club on loan. Colchester United manager Steve Whitton confirmed he was interested in signing the striker, but no deal was made. City reached Football League Trophy for a second time in three years at the end of the season. They tasted victory at the Millennium Stadium, beating Carlisle United 2–0 with goals from Peacock and Rosenior; Beadle was an unused substitute. He posted 32 appearances in 2002–03, scoring four goals. Beadle was released by the club in July 2003, with the manager Danny Wilson looking to cut his wage bill to make new signings. He then went on trial at Cheltenham Town, but was not offered a contract.

Later career Beadle signed a one-month contract with Wally Downes' Brentford in September 2003, only to be sent off twelve minutes into his debut against Tranmere Rovers. Due to his subsequent suspension and an ankle injury he never played for the club again and instead switched to Barnet of the Conference. He scored on his "Bees" debut in a win at Stevenage, he played for free and impressed enough to win a short-term contract out of manager Martin Allen. He scored five goals in 15 games in 2003–04, before joining non-League side Team Bath as a player-coach in December 2003. In June 2004 he moved from Bath to become player-commercial manager at Clevedon Town. His new club were on a run of seven successive defeats in the league, and following defeats in his first three games in charge, Beadle managed to turn the club around slowly. One of his first signings as manager was controversial striker Craig Hughes who had previously served a prison sentence for football hooliganism whilst on Cardiff City's books. By the end of the 2005–06 campaign his team went on a run of six wins in eight games, and avoided relegation by a four-point margin.

In the 2006–07 season, Newport progressed through the FA Cup qualifying rounds to face Swansea City in the FA Cup first round. 15 minutes into the match Beadle was sent off by referee Anthony Bates after Beadle disputed a free kick awarded to Swansea. As he left the field, Beadle confronted the fourth official, and a member of the crowd wounded the official by throwing a coin. In a post-match interview Beadle claimed not to have witnessed the attack and defended his 'passionate' approach to the game, claiming he did not deserve to be sent from the field for his outburst. Newport were subsequently fined a total of £3,000 after being found guilty of failing to control both their manager and their crowd. Beadle received a seven-match touchline ban after accepting misconduct charges, and was fined £1,500, half of which was suspended subject to good behaviour. He also apologised, saying, "I let not only myself and my family but my football club down."

County went on to finish 2006–07 in sixth place, missing out on the play-offs following a final day defeat at home to Cambridge City – had they won the game they would have qualified for the play-offs. They did though the reach the final of the FAW Premier Cup, where they lost 1–0 to The New Saints. During the campaign Beadle signed three veteran players: Dean Holdsworth (who would later replace him as manager), Darren Garner, and Nathan Blake. The 2007–08 season saw the last instalment of the FAW Premier Cup, and Beadle led his club to the final with shock wins over the two Welsh giants: Swansea City and Cardiff City. A 1–0 win over Llanelli in the final meant that Newport got to keep the trophy and the £100,000 prize money. However, Newport finished ninth in the league in 2007–08, once again a final day defeat at Newport Stadium cost them a place in the play-offs. Had they beaten Fisher Athletic then they would have finished fifth, and would have guaranteed themselves a play-off spot. He was succeeded by Dean Holdsworth in May 2008.

Clevedon Town In March 2010 Beadle was appointed manager of Clevedon Town. He vacated the position in the summer after failing to prevent their relegation from the Southern League Premier Division. He later worked at West Bromwich Albion's development centre, before he was recruited into Cheltenham Town's Centre of Excellence by John Brough.

Hereford In April 2013, Beadle was appointed director of youth football at Hereford United. On 20 March 2014 Beadle was named caretaker manager following the departure of Martin Foyle. The "Bulls" ended the 2013–14 season in 20th place, finishing above the relegation zone on goal difference after beating Aldershot Town 2–1 at the Recreation Ground on the final day of the season. After this success he was invited to apply for the position permanently, but was never interviewed. In May 2014, Beadle was appointed head coach at Sutton United by manager Paul Doswell.

In April 2015, he was appointed as the first ever manager of Hereford, the successor club to Hereford United. He won a treble in his first season as manager, 2015–16, as Hereford won the Midland League, Midland League Cup, and Herefordshire County Cup. He also took Hereford to the 2016 FA Vase final at Wembley Stadium, where they lost 4–1 to Morpeth Town. He achieved a second-successive promotion in 2016–17 after leading Hereford to the Southern League Division One South & West title with six games to spare. After winning 36 of their 46 Southern League Premier Division games during the 2017–18 season, Hereford again won promotion with a third consecutive promotion. He was sacked on 13 September 2018, with the club lying 12th in National League North after eight games.

Barnet On 22 August 2020, he was appointed as manager of Barnet, who had ended the 2019–20 campaign seventh in the National League. Chairman Anthony Kleanthous said that he selected Beadle over more than 100 other candidates and that he would have to work with a "leaner" squad. Beadle left the post on 13 December 2020, the day after a 6–0 defeat by Chesterfield left the "Bees" winless in nine games and just one point above the relegation zone.

Yate Town On 8 May 2022, Beadle was appointed manager of Yate Town, who had finished seventh in the Southern League Premier Division. On 23 October 2022, Beadle resigned despite receiving a vote of confidence from the board of directors after completely rebuilding the playing squad in the summer.

Shortwood United On 30 September 2025, Beadle was appointed as manager of Hellenic League club Shortwood United, who had won just one of their opening nine games of the 2025–26 season. On 22 July 2026, Beadle was sacked as manager.

Personal life He married Clare. Matt had a career in non-League football.

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Managerial statistics

+ Managerial record by team and tenureTeamFromToRecordHereford United (caretaker)Hereford20 March 201417 April 201523 May 201413 September 2018

Honours

As a player Bristol City Football League Trophy: 2002–03

As a manager

Newport County FAW Premier Cup: 2007–08; runner-up: 2006–07

Hereford Southern League Division One South & West Premier Division: 2017–18 Southern League Division One South & West Division One South & West: 2016–17 Midland League: 2015–16 Midland League Cup: 2016 Herefordshire County Cup: 2016 FA Vase runner-up: 2015–16