Bell began his career at Leicester City, but did not break into the first team and left for Germany aged 20.

In 1999, he took on his most high-profile role to date, managing Dynamo Dresden, but was not successful – the team failed to qualify for the restructured Regionalliga, and dropped to the Oberliga (level four) for the first time.

FSV Mainz 05's reserve team, and SC Preußen Münster, he worked at TuS Koblenz as assistant manager and youth coach.

[7] On 8 February 2017, Colin Bell was appointed the Senior International Manager of the Republic of Ireland, replacing Sue Ronan.

[8] On 29 June 2019, he was appointed as the Assistant Head Coach at EFL Championship club Huddersfield Town.

This biographical article related to association football in England, about a defender born in the 1960s, is a stub.