He spent a year-and-a-half at league champions Blackburn Rovers before signing for Fulham in 1997, helping the team to two promotions from the third tier to the top flight.

After leaving Fulham, Coleman was appointed manager of Real Sociedad, where he resigned in January 2008 due to differences with the incoming president.

[8][9] After spending four years with Swansea, Coleman was signed by Crystal Palace in 1991 for a transfer fee set by a Football League tribunal at around £270,000, plus a percentage of any future sale.

After making 143 appearances, scoring 16 goals in that period – a 1 in 9 record explained by the fact that manager Steve Coppell often used Coleman as a makeshift centre forward.

Coleman made 28 league appearances over his season-and-a-half at the club, and when he found himself out of the starting line-up too often (not helped by a persistent Achilles injury), he took the gamble to further his career by dropping two divisions to join Fulham.

Fulham, at the time in the third tier, were financed by wealthy businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed, and were able to spend a record transfer fee for the division and club, of £2.1 million for Coleman in late 1997.

However, Coleman's career was effectively ended midway through the season, after he broke his leg in a car crash near Bletchingley in Surrey on 2 January 2001, just days before an FA Cup tie against Manchester United.

[2][13] His only competitive football appearance after his leg injuries came for Wales on 14 May 2002, when he was called up to the squad as a replacement for Danny Gabbidon,[14] and then came on as a late substitute for goalscorer Robert Earnshaw in the 1–0 win over Germany at the Millennium Stadium.

[17] His first full season in charge saw Fulham finish a surprise ninth place, as many pundits tipped them to struggle and for Coleman to be sacked.

He was sacked on 10 April 2007 in a move that caught some observers by surprise, after a seven-game winless run that left the club four points above the relegation zone.

[31] Wales' first match in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was on 7 September at home to Belgium, with centre back James Collins sent off for a late lunge on Guillaume Gillet in the 25th minute of an eventual 2–0 loss.

[34] On 26 March 2013, in a qualifier against Croatia at the Liberty Stadium, Wales led 1–0 for the majority of the game through a Gareth Bale penalty, but two late goals from the opponents ended any hopes of qualification.

[38] On 23 May 2016, it was announced at a Football Association of Wales press conference that Coleman had signed a two-year contract extension to take in the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign.

[42] He replaced the dismissed Simon Grayson, who had left the Black Cats third from bottom of the league table in twenty-second place and within the relegation drop zone.

[44] By the conclusion of 2017, Sunderland had collected eleven points, out of a possible twenty-four, under Coleman's guidance, briefly lifting out of the relegation zone into twenty-first place, following a satisfactory run of form.

[46] Joining the club for free of charge included the loan signings of Jake Clarke-Salter from Chelsea, Ovie Ejaria from Liverpool, Lee Camp from Cardiff City and Ashley Fletcher from fierce rivals Middlesbrough; Kazenga LuaLua was the only permanent transfer that window, joining from Brighton & Hove Albion on a free transfer.

[50] On 10 June 2018, Coleman was appointed as the head coach of Chinese club Hebei China Fortune, as successor to Manuel Pellegrini,[51] who left the side to return to the Premier League with West Ham United.

[52] The club had become notable during the year for completing the high-profile signing of Javier Mascherano from Spanish La Liga giants Barcelona.

[56] Coleman's side struggled to adapt in the 2019 league campaign, with the club sat in fifteenth place, in the relegation zone, following nine games.