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ObituariesPlease email details for the obituary section as well as additions and clarifications with source notes to enquiries@11v11.com
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CANTWELL, Noel EuchariaBorn: Cork 1932-02-28 Died: 2005-09-08Noel Cantwell, the former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland footballer, was a defender held in high esteem for his athleticism, elegance and gentlemanly disposition. From 1960 to 1967 he made 144 appearances for United, during which time he played a crucial role in rehabilitating a club that had been so devastated by the 1958 Munich disaster. He captained the side to their first post-Munich triumph, in the 1963 FA Cup final against Leicester City. Cantwell played mostly as a left-back, but, because he was so versatile, he was often placed in other defensive positions, and occasionally as a centre- forward. But his protean talents manifested themselves in other ways. He not only played for Ireland as a footballer — earning 36 caps — but he also represented his country in cricket. Cantwell was gifted with remarkable intelligence and commanded great respect on and off the field; he was frequently tipped to become Matt Busby's successor at Old Trafford. Although he served regularly as captain at Manchester United during the mid-1960s, he was in his mid-thirties by the time the nascent side of Best, Charlton and Law were beginning to make their mark, and Cantwell appeared only four times during United's First Division championship-winning campaign of 1966-67. But his acumen was subsequently rewarded in other spheres. He went on to become chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association and later managed Coventry City and Peterborough United. If, today, he is mostly forgotten by most football aficionados, Cantwell was much idolised in his day, and remains one of United's great players of their hiatus days — that period between the promising team of 1958 and the celebrated side of the late-1960s. Noel Cantwell was born in Cork in 1932 and as a youth was consumed by a passion for cricket and football. He shone more at the latter, and after spells with Western Rovers and Cork Athletic, he was signed by West Ham in 1952. During eight years with the London club he made 245 league appearances, scoring 11 goals, and helping them to win the Second Division title in 1958. He was as intelligent off the field as he was on it: in November 1957 he suspected something amiss with West Ham's captain Malcolm Allison and urged him to see a doctor. Allison subsequently had tuberculosis diagnosed and underwent treatment that saved his life Cantwell was signed by Manchester United in November 1960 for a fee of £29,500, which was then a record for a full-back. Such were his leadership qualities that he was frequently appointed team captain, and in this role he helped to guide United to the FA Cup in 1963 against the favourites Leicester, in a 3-1 victory at Wembley. During his time at United he scored eight goals. For the Republic of Ireland he netted on 14 occasions, only narrowly missing out on qualification for the 1966 World Cup. He also briefly managed the national side. He was later appointed PFA chairman, but he resigned his post and retired from the game in 1967 to take up the managerial post at Coventry City, replacing Jimmy Hill. His sporting intelligence displayed itself here. With few resources he saved the club from relegation in two successive seasons, and within three years he had guided the Midlands club to sixth position in the First Division. But such success did not last and in 1972 he was sacked, and took up the managerial post at Peterborough. In 1977 he moved to the North America Soccer League, where he managed the New England Tea Men and then the Jacksonville Tea Men, before returning to manage Peterborough in 1986. He retired three years later, but remained in the town, where he became a publican. He is survived by his wife, Margaret, and two daughters. A son predeceased him. The Times (www.timesonline.co.uk)
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CAREY William JamesDied. Colchester 9.98William, a goalkeeper, joined Aston Villa from Hereford and played 3 League and 1 F.A. Cup games for Villa in 1937/8. He made his debut at Villa Park against Newcastle United in October 1937 and saw his team win 2-0. He was on the winning side, and unbeaten, in both his other League matches that season as Villa went on to win the 2nd Division championship. He was also on the winning side in his only F.A. Cup match - a 4-1 5th round, second replay at Highbury against Charlton in front of a 64,000 crowd. He subsequently moved to Bury and faded from the scene.
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CARR Edwin MillerBorn: Wheatley Hill 1917-10-03 Died: Huddersfield 1998-06-00A centre-forward, Edwin was spotted playing for Margate when he was signed by Arsenal in May 1935. He finished on the winning side on his debut against Manchester City in the 1st Division at Maine Road in February 1938. Although he did not score that day, he went on to be something of a good luck charm for the Gunners that season. He played in 11 League games, scored 7 goals and never finished on the losing side. In the four matches that he missed during this spell the Gunners lost three and drew one! Arsenal won the Championship that season but Carr had not played enough games to qualify for a medal, despite his great contribution. The following season, he played just once for the team in a 1-2 defeat at home to Everton. He scored in his only wartime appearance for the Gunners and guested for Bradford P.A. (51 goals in 89 appearances), Newcastle United (29 goals in 39 appearances) and Darlington (2 apps, no goals). He signed for Huddersfield Town in 1945 and scored 18 goals in 33 wartime matches for the club but he managed just 2 League appearances, without scoring, for the club when normal football resumed. In October 1946 he joined Newport County and scored 48 goals in 98 League plus 6 in 7 F.A. Cup appearances. Bradford City signed him for a four-figure fee in October 1949 and he gave them a fine return with 49 goals in 94 League games and 7 in 5 F.A. Cup. In August 1953 he signed for Darlington and scored 7 goals in 53 League appearances before becoming trainer in July 1954. He stayed in that role until June 1960 when he was appointed caretaker manager a position that was made permanent five months later. He had an eventful start as manager at Feethams with the opening of floodlights, followed by a fire burning down the West Stand. Successes were rare at Darlington although the club did beat West Ham 3-2 in the League Cup. After a 10-0 defeat by Doncaster and an F.A. Cup defeat against non-League Gateshead, Carr was sacked as manager in 1964. He had a five year spell as manager of Tow Law Town from 1964 to 1969 and led them to a fine 5-1 victory over Mansfield Town in 1967 before the club’s (still) record crowd of 5,500. That season was the first time ever that the club had progressed to the first round of the F.A. Cup proper and they went on to hold Shrewsbury to a 1-1 draw before losing the replay 2-6. The following season the club reached the F.A. Cup proper once again, something they have managed just twice since but 1967/8 remains there best ever F.A. Cup season. In 1969 Carr left Tow Law Town to become a scout for Newcastle United.
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CASSIDY, NigelBorn: Sudbury 1945-12-07 Died: 2008-05-19Nigel Cassidy, Oxford United's swashbuckling striker of the early 1970s, has died at the age of 62. The former fans' favourite at the Manor Ground, who scored 33 goals in 113 League starts between 1970 and 1974, had been ill for some time. A former striking partner of Kevin Keegan at Scunthorpe, Cassidy joined Oxford United for a club record £20,000 and formed a formidable partnership up front with Hugh Curran. He moved to Cambridge four years later for £28,000 and later went to the States, where he played for Denver. advertisementAfter his footballing career, he went into the pub business at Launton, near Bicester, and was a tenant at the Black Bull for five years. With a love of the West Country, he moved to Cornwall and turned the Molesworth Arms Hotel in Wadebridge into a thriving business before selling it a year ago. Sons Darren and Stuart became good sportsmen, playing rugby for Bicester, where they reached the Provincial Insurance Cup final at Twickenham two years in succession, and for Oxfordshire. Oxford Mail (www.oxfordmail.net)
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CHARLES, William JohnBorn: Cwm-du, Glamorgan 1931-12-27 Died: Wakefield, West Yorkshire 2004-02-21The finest all-round footballer to come out of Wales is an accolade often accorded to John Charles and yet, while well intended and as meaningful as any comparison across the ages can ever be, it remains a chronic understatement. With due respect to a nation which has produced some remarkable performers - from Billy Meredith, whose international career began in the 19th century and continued until 1920, through to Ryan Giggs, currently enjoying pop- icon status - there is a plausible body of opinion which elevates "The Gentle Giant" to a yet more exalted plane. It places him, with no hint of equivocation, among the greatest players the world has ever seen. What made Charles special was his mastery of virtually every aspect of the game, his awesomely muscular physique and commanding presence matched by a nimbleness and delicacy of touch which seemed at odds with that massive frame. What caused him to be underestimated at times, when fans and pundits alike assembled lists of soccer "immortals", was that the bulk of his mighty prime was passed, between 1957 and 1962, in the service of Juventus: an era when stirring deeds on foreign fields attracted far less attention than would be the case today. The sad fact is that this amiable colossus, who was equally at home in the heart of defence or as a goal-plundering spearhead and whose only perceptible flaw was a lack of ruthlessness, spent just one season in the English top flight. That was 1956/57, when he netted 38 times in 40 League outings for Leeds United, thus making himself an irresistible proposition to the lira-laden Italians. Born and raised in the Welsh valleys where rugby was a way of life, Charles was always devoted to the round-ball code. However, on leaving school as a 15-year-old in 1946, he was on the brink of accepting a factory job when a trainer at his local professional club, Swansea Town (now City), persuaded him to join the Vetch Field ground staff. Thus the skilful youngster, then slender and showing little sign of growing into the man-mountain who would thunder across the world's football fields in years to come, found himself weeding terraces, cleaning boots and, when time permitted, playing football. As Charles filled out, and his soccer development kept pace with his physical advancement, his vast potential became increasingly apparent, yet the Swans allowed their uncut gem to slip away. The young leviathan was playing in a public park when he was spotted by a Leeds scout, and he headed north to Elland Road in 1947. After turning professional in January 1949, Charles made meteoric progress under the stern but shrewd tutelage of United's manager, Major Frank Buckley, who insisted that all his charges should labour prodigiously to hone their all-round game. Within three months the Welsh teenager was promoted to the senior side, then ensconced midway in the old Second Division, and he excelled at centre-half, a position he made his own in 1949/50, during which he didn't miss a match. By now Charles's burgeoning prowess was receiving widespread attention and that spring, still only 18, he became the youngest full international in his country's history when he was picked to face Northern Ireland at Wrexham. Though he didn't become a Wales regular until 1953, during the decade's early years he became an ever-more dominant force at the heart of the Leeds rearguard as United strove unavailingly to attain First Division status. However, the comprehensive nature of the Charles talents became apparent only after his deployment at centre-forward, a periodic arrangement which became gradually more frequent and then permanent with the emergence of Jack Charlton as a ruggedly capable stopper. In 1952/53 "Big John" played the first third of the campaign at centre- half, then switched to centre-forward and notched 26 goals in the 28 matches that remained. The following term he netted 42 times - the League's next highest scorer managed 30 - and subsequent occasional stints at centre-half served only to emphasise what the Leeds attack was missing. But, while he was a towering influence at the back, it was difficult for any manager to forego Charles the marksman. There were days when he seemed utterly unstoppable, majestic in the air and a dreadnought on the deck, capable of both subtlety and imagination with the ball at his feet, liable to unlock the most clamlike of defences with a sudden surge of destructive acceleration climaxed by a pulverising shot with either foot. Had he been born with the "devil" to complement all that power and expertise, then there can be no doubt that he would have been hailed universally as the world's most complete player. But, as he remarked when still a rookie: "If I have to knock them down to play well, then I don't want to play the game at all." For all that engaging placidity, he could look after himself, having a natural tendency to enter challenges with his arms outstretched, his immense physical presence thus rendering him a difficult man to dispossess. In 1955/56 Charles finally inspired Leeds to promotion, then hit the top flight like an irresistible force of nature, outgunning all his First Division rivals to end the season with 38 goals, the most compelling statistic behind his club's creditable sixth-place finish. Distressingly for his legion of devoted fans at Elland Road, their hero's derring-do had made him a prime target for many of Europe's leading clubs, who had been seduced by his strike-rate of a goal every two games, a ratio rendered all the more impressive because roughly half of his appearances had been as a defender. The interest came to a head in April 1957 when a fabulous display while captaining his country against Northern Ireland captivated Umberto Agnelli of the giant Fiat corporation, who also happened to be president of Juventus, then a slumbering behemoth of Italian football. A record offer of pounds 65,000 was made for his services and the cash-strapped Yorkshire club accepted with alacrity but, even at a time when Football League players were at the mercy of the iniquitous maximum-wage system, the home-loving Charles went through weeks of heart-searching before opting for a future in Turin. Despite the life of luxury that beckoned - his pay increased from pounds 20 per week to an estimated pounds 300 plus fabulous fringe benefits - it was a brave decision, as few British footballers to that point had managed to thrive overseas. After an uncertain period of acclimatisation, it was a trend he reversed to spectacular effect. In his first season in a notoriously defensive league, Charles scored 28 times and helped his new employers to lift the Championship, being voted player of the year for his pains. As a result he became the darling of fans and press alike, receiving film-star treatment every time he ventured outside either of his two capacious villas, one in Turin and the other on the Italian Riviera. Part of his appeal in his adoptive land was the vivid contrast of his modest, easy-going nature with the passionate Latin temperament. He was a magnificently built, handsome fellow blessed with boundless athletic talent, yet he refused to throw his weight around either on or off the pitch. Thus he became "Il Buon Gigante" ("The Gentle Giant") and a national idol. Ever sociable, Charles lived life to the full, investing in a restaurant and making both a film and a record with a team-mate, the Argentinian star Omar Sivori, and life, it seemed, could get no better. Come the World Cup of 1958 he was the focal point of the finest Wales team there has ever been, featuring the likes of the inside- forward Ivor Allchurch, the flying winger Cliff Jones, the goalkeeper Jack Kelsey and his own younger brother, Mel, who played at centre- half. Against most predictions they reached the quarter-finals, only for Charles to miss the clash with Brazil through injury. Pele and company triumphed 1-0 and went on to win the competition, leaving Wales to ponder on what might have been had their most inspirational contributor been fit. Back in Italy Charles helped Juventus to two more League titles and two domestic cup victories before the dolce vita began to go sour. Absences from home caused by the Italians' penchant for lengthy sojourns in training camps produced domestic strain, he grew weary of spurious reports of his night life, he ran into business problems and was worried about his children's education. As his homesickness grew, there were rumours of a move to either Manchester United or Arsenal but in 1962 he returned to Leeds, his departure sadly acrimonious, for a fee of pounds 53,000. Now 30, Charles was no longer the player who had left Elland Road five years earlier and, although his homecoming provoked untold joy among his former admirers, the move was not a success. After starring for one of the world's leading clubs, he found it hard to settle to the grind of the English Second Division and played only a handful of games before joining Roma for pounds 65,000. Poignantly, though, his former dash had disappeared and Charles failed to win a regular place, transferring instead to Second Division Cardiff City, where he joined his brother Mel, for a knockdown pounds 25,000 in August 1963. By now he was considerably slower and more ponderous, but still some of the old magic remained and the large crowd attracted by his debut was rewarded with a freak 75-yard goal from a free-kick. Once more alternating between defence and attack, Charles spent three years at Ninian Park before entering non-League ranks as player-boss of Hereford United. Though suffering from increasing weight problems, he overcame them by pure ability, scoring more than a century of goals before his retirement in his 40th year and helping to lay the foundations for the club's later successful application to join the Football League. Thereafter a figure of such vast repute and experience might have been expected to land a prestigious role, but Charles was never one for theory or tactics, preferring to rely on his instinct, and he was confined to a spell as manager of Merthyr Tydfil and a stint of coaching youngsters for Swansea before leaving the game in 1976 to run a pub in Leeds. Later there was a consultative job in Canada but that did not last and Charles, who was appointed CBE in 2001, returned to Yorkshire to live near Bradford with his second wife. Thereafter he was beset by health problems, including cancer and Alzheimer's disease, and last month he needed emergency heart surgery when he fell ill during a promotional tour of Milan. Complications set in and part of his right foot was amputated before he was flown home. In his declining years John Charles - who was voted Wales's all- time sporting hero in 2003, coinciding with the publication of an autobiography, King John - remained a genial, engaging character, perhaps rather bewildered to be no longer part of the game he had once bestrode so regally. But those who remember the big man in his prime still bear eloquent witness to his pedigree - and it was of the very highest. Ivan Ponting, The Independent, (www.independent.co.uk)
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CHEESEWRIGHT LenWe were sorry to learn of the passing of Len Cheesewright on September 25, aged 75.He served as Tottenham’s our Schoolboy Scout for twelve years until 1994 and was credited with discovering Sol Campbell, amongst many others. Born at Croydon, Len played for Surrey County and Croydon district schools serving in the Army during the war. Postwar he played for Bromley and Clapton until joining Leyton Orient in 1952. He filled the roles of Youth Coach, Youth Manager and Chief Scout at Brisbane Road until a six year stint with Leicester City from 1971. He returned to the O’s for another five years until joining Spurs in 1982. Since leaving in 1994 Len worked on the scouting staff for Millwall and Brentford until resuming Chief Scout duties with Leyton Orient in July, 1998. He retired during March this year and in July the O’s staged a testimonial match for him against West Ham United.
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CLARK Bernard “Nobby”Born. 11.3.34 Died. Solihull 27.5.99Nobby Clark is best known for managing Worcester City for nearly 10 years, from December 1974 until February 1984. He had previously achieved success in amateur football with Darlaston and Highgate and later managed Redditch United. His period at Worcester was one of great success for the club. In 1976/77 City achieved national recognition by remaining unbeaten in the Southern League until the final match of the season. Worcester were founder members of the Alliance Premier League (Conference) as Southern League Champions in 1978/9. During Clark’s period at the helm, Worcester defeated Plymouth, Wrexham and Aldershot in F.A. Cup matches and Cardiff City in the Welsh Cup. Several young City players later had long Football League careers, including John Barton, Colin Gordon, Andy Reece and Kevin Rose. Clark’s son-in-law is David Roberts, formerly a League professional with Aston Villa, Shrewsbury and Swansea.
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CLOUGH, Brian HowardBorn: Middlesbrough 1935-03-21 Died: Derby 2004-09-20No one man is bigger than the game of football, the saying goes; yet there were times when Brian Clough seemed larger than life itself. A precociously brilliant goal-scorer who became an inspirational if arrogantly idiosyncratic manager, he was a phenomenon who transcended sporting boundaries. Often Clough was dubbed the best boss England never had and certainly, during his peak in the 1970s and early 1980s, he was the people's choice. He could be arrogant and rude, pompous and conceited - he even christened himself "Old Big 'Ead" - and his name was a byword for controversy. But most fans were willing to forgive the vast ego, indeed were charmed by it; they loved him for his steadfast refusal to bow the knee before authority and for his abrasive, often outrageous outspokenness. Then, of course, there was the little matter of his success, and the attractive manner in which his teams played the game. He specialised in taking unfashionable clubs and unconsidered players by the metaphorical scruff of the neck and inspiring them to undreamed- of heights. Clough transformed Derby County, then Nottingham Forest, from comparative nonentities into League champions before, incredibly, leading the latter to two European Cup triumphs. Yet, throughout the pomp of his headline-hogging, ceaselessly stormy career, soccer's most celebrated maverick so alarmed and alienated those he delighted in calling "the grey men in grey suits" at the Football Association, the very people in whose gift was the post of England manager, that he had little realistic chance of landing the job which he craved so passionately. Brian Clough was born on a Middlesbrough council estate in 1935, the sixth of nine children and the only one to fail the 11-plus. The whole family was football-crazy. The young Brian, a bright and forthright boy despite his examination setback, flourished in the close-knit environment and on leaving school became a clerk at the local works of ICI. He displayed a rare talent for soccer, excelling as a marksman in local teams before joining Middlesbrough as an amateur in November 1951. Six months later, he turned professional and continued his success at junior level. Two years of National Service preceded Clough's senior debut in 1955, after which he grew rapidly into Second Division 'Boro's prime asset. In 1956-57, his first term as a regular, he scored 38 times in 41 League outings, after which his seasonal returns were 40, 43, 39 and 34. Strong, fearless and fast, the crew-cut spearhead became an idol on Teesside. However, not everyone at his club shared the public's affection for Brian Clough. Ever brash and opinionated, and prone to bossiness, he became frustrated with what he saw as Middlesbrough's lack of ambition, even making a transfer request (which was refused) after only nine appearances in the first team. Perhaps in part due to his prickly persona, Clough was never given an extended chance to show what he could do at international level. Such was his weight of goals for 'Boro that he was called up for the Football League against the Irish League in Belfast in September 1959 and responded by scoring five times. After that the Football Association selection committee could hardly omit him from the full England side and duly awarded him two caps later that year. But he failed to score on either occasion and thereafter was consigned to the wilderness. Clough continued to score freely at club level but became increasingly keen to leave Middlesbrough. He got his wish in July 1961 when a pounds 42,000 deal took him to Sunderland, who were also in the Second Division but were perceived as a better bet to reach the top flight. Clough maintained his fine strike rate for his new employers, who nevertheless missed out on promotion by a single point in his first season. Come Boxing Day 1962 and Sunderland's 27-year-old star had contributed 28 goals in 28 senior games that term to date. But that afternoon, in a slushy Roker quagmire, he collided sickeningly with the Bury goalkeeper Chris Harker. Lying in the mud, Clough could barely move his right leg. He had torn the cruciate ligament, an injury from which Paul Gascoigne was to recover in 1991 but which three decades earlier invariably signalled career's end. Clough worked long and ferociously to repair the knee. He was out of action for 18 months, and when he was recalled by newly promoted Sunderland in September 1964, it seemed that some sort of miracle had taken place. Alas, after three games, the only appearances he was ever to make in the First Division, it was obvious that the joint could not withstand the pressure. The bitterly frustrated Clough was forced to retire, leaving behind him the astonishing record of 267 goals in 296 senior matches. Later, in his autobiography, Clough (1994), he described himself as the finest goal-scorer in Britain and one of the best the game has ever seen. The assessment was characteristically immodest but well supported by the facts. Now Clough, unqualified for anything else, had little choice but to remain in football. The Sunderland boss George Hardwick put him in charge of the youth team and he discovered a liking for coaching and aptitude for motivation that was destined to make him a household name. In October 1965, Clough became a football manager, albeit with humble Hartlepools United (now Hartlepool United), and the die was cast. His first decision was his most important, ensuring that Peter Taylor, a former colleague and confidant from his Middlesbrough days, was appointed as his assistant. The two men complemented each other perfectly and enjoyed a seemingly telepathic understanding: Clough, blessed with charisma, flair for publicity and a gift for psychology which allowed him to extract the best from the most unlikely of individuals, Taylor the talent-finder supreme who possessed a deep, instinctive knowledge of the game. The task which faced them at Hartlepools was immense. The run- down United were viewed widely as the League's worst club but Clough set to work with almost evangelical zeal. He set out to transform the ground, the team and the image, giving the club and its fans pride and confidence. It seemed he would do anything to put Hartlepools in the headlines, even being known to drive the team coach, and one Christmas he went without his own wages so the players could be paid. Results improved dramatically, and when he and Taylor departed for Derby County in June 1967 they left behind them a revamped club destined for promotion in the coming season. At Derby, the job was on a grander scale and expectations were higher, but Clough proved more than equal to the challenge. He signed the ageing but still magnificent wing-half Dave Mackay from Tottenham Hotspur, and brought in other excellent if little-known players, and County won the Second Division title in 1968-69. More shrewd signings followed and in 1971-72 the Rams won the League Championship for the first time in their history. When that was capped by a rousing European Cup campaign which saw Derby beat Benfica before losing controversially to Juventus in the semi-final, it seemed that Clough and Taylor were on the verge of something special. Yet, behind the scenes, all was not well. There had been a succession of acrimonious disputes between Clough and the directors. He fell out with the chairman, Sam Longson, and his increasing media commitments - he became the most acerbic and watchable of television pundits - exacerbated boardroom irritation. Accordingly, outsiders but not insiders were stunned in October 1973 when Clough and Taylor announced they were leaving because of the board's attitude. Fans held protest meetings and even the Derby players threatened to strike. In the end, Mackay was installed as Clough's replacement and gradually the affair blew over, leaving him to regret his resignation at leisure. As Clough reflected later, had he and Taylor remained at the Baseball Ground, there was no limit to what Derby might have achieved. Faced with the need to work, Clough and Taylor now made a move which amazed many - they took over the reins of Third Division Brighton. Crowds doubled at the Goldstone Ground, but few observers credited that Clough would be content to operate at so low a level for long - and so it proved. After just over half a season of appalling results, he departed, minus Taylor this time, to succeed Don Revie at Leeds. His ill-fated interlude at Leeds lasted a mere 44 days and that, in retrospect, is not surprising given his personality and approach to the job. Clough had always been anti-Revie and anti-Leeds, calling them dirty and cynical and declaring that they had won their prizes by cheating. This hardly endeared him to the players at Elland Road and, when he repeated his views at his first team talk, he was met by a wall of animosity. Results proved abysmal, and after a mere six matches he left by mutual consent with the board, taking with him a massive pay-off which gave him financial security for life. In January 1975 he accepted charge of Nottingham Forest, at that time a sleepy outfit lodged in the lower reaches of the Second Division. Soon he had signed two of his most trusted players from his previous clubs, John McGovern and John O'Hare, and the revival was under way. Peter Taylor arrived to assist in July 1976, Together they recruited some unlikely characters and rehabilitated under-achievers already on the staff. Most notable of these was John Robertson, a slow, overweight, under-motivated midfielder who was soon to become one of the most bewitching wingers in the world. The results of this revolution were far-reaching. In 1976-77 Forest were promoted, although at that point their progress might have been arrested had Clough's application for the England job been accepted. However, he was considered too controversial by the FA, who put him in control of the youth team and gave the top post to Ron Greenwood. About the only fans not outraged by this decision were those of Forest, who now watched their side buck the odds to become League Champions of 1977-78 and lift the League Cup for good measure. In December Forest completed a sequence of 42 League games undefeated, a top-flight record which still stands. Incredibly, even greater days lay ahead. After making Birmingham's gifted forward Trevor Francis Britain's first pounds 1m footballer, Clough set off on the trail of the European Cup and confounded most pundits by winning it, a perfect cross from the revitalised Robertson and a lunging header from Francis being enough to defeat the Swedish side Malmo in the final. Forest retained the League Cup, too, to complete a momentous season. In 1979-80, Clough and Co continued to defy the big battalions and kept hold of the European Cup, beating Hamburg in the final. In the wake of so much glory, it was inevitable, perhaps, that the remainder of Clough's career should be something of an anticlimax. During the early 1980s he spent heavily on players who did not come up to expectation and Forest slipped from their eminent perch. There were no more titles or European trophies, and no FA Cup, although they did win the League Cup twice more, in 1989 and 1990. One of Clough's delights during this period was the development under his aegis of his son, Nigel, into a skilful forward who was to play for England. But there was abiding sadness, too, about his split with Taylor, who had resigned in May 1982, apparently having had enough of the business. However, he resurfaced as boss of Derby later that year and signed Robertson from Forest without consulting his former partner. Clough never forgave him and the pair barely spoke again. Taylor died in 1990, leaving Clough to rue the sorry ending of a sublime collaboration. Indeed, it is fair to speculate that, without Taylor, Clough might not have achieved anything like as much as he did. Taylor it was with the golden knack of unearthing gems from unlikely sources, and Clough relied heavily on his judgement. As the years passed, the Forest boss appeared ever more eccentric and stories began to circulate that he was drinking too much. These were given credence in the early 1990s by his bloated, blotchy appearance, though he admitted little more than a semblance of a problem in his book. His years of indulgence culminated in a liver transplant in January 2003. Sadly for such a remarkable figure, Clough was to retire on a low note after Forest were relegated from the Premier League in 1992-93. However, he had given the game so much that was good and uplifting, startling and downright amusing, that the charismatic name of Brian Clough was proof even against such an anticlimactic ending. Ivan Ponting, The Independent (www.independent.co.uk)
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COFFEY JimmyDied. 8.11.99Coffey was a great favourite with the Drumcondra fans in the 1940s and 1950s. A wing-half, he won a League of Ireland Championship medal in 1948/9 and a FAI Cup-winners medal in 1954. He was capped for the Republic of Ireland in a World Cup Qualifier in Helsinki against Finland. The match finished in a 1-1 draw and Coffey laid on the opening goal for Irish skipper Peter O’Farrell. He also represented the League of Ireland.
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CONNOR John "Jack" ThomasBorn. Todmorden 21.12.19 Died. 12.98A whole-hearted player who loved playing football and especially as a centre-forward, Jack Connor would almost certainly have begun his career with Rochdale had not war intervened. Whilst stationed at Carlisle he signed for Ipswich Town in 1944 and made his debut for the club in his only wartime appearance for them in the transitional season of 1945/6. He made a scoring League debut in the opening match of the 1946/7 season away to Leyton Orient in a 2-2 draw. He was a regular member of the side for the opening matches and scored 4 times in 12 League games for the East Anglian side but he lost his place and in December 1946 he moved to Carlisle United, where he had been living whilst playing for Ipswich. Unfortunately injuries restricted his League appearances at Carlisle to 39 in a two year stay. yielding 12 goals. Following a spell on loan to Ards in Northern Ireland, he transferred to Rochdale in December 1948 and at the age of 29 his career suddenly started to lift off. He scored 42 goals in 88 League appearances for Rochdale and attracted a host of League clubs and although Stockport County - with whom he was ultimately destined to enjoy great success - were amongst those interested, it was Bradford City who succeeded in signing him in April 1951. Although he scored 7 goals in 14 League games for City, Stockport maintained their interest in Jack and signed him in October 1951. An unusual story about the transfer was that Connor and his wife were at the cinema when the screen flashed the message "would Jack Connor, Bradford City’s centre-forward, please go to the foyer". Fearing bad news Jack duly went to the foyer to be met by County manager Andy Beattie and the club chairman. He signed for County for a transfer fee of £2,500 and made his debut in a home 0-0 draw with Oldham before a massive crowd of 24,473. That season County were to finish 3rd in the division but with only the champions promoted they were to remain in the 3rd division and although Jack had some great times at County over the next few seasons it was the nearest they got to promotion during his spell at the club. Connor was almost 32 when he embarked upon his career at Stockport but his best years lay ahead. In five seasons he averaged two goals in every three matches. In 217 League and cup games he scored 140 goals, including a club record 17 hat-tricks or better. He scored at least 30 goals in each of his four full seasons and in 1953 he achieved the rare distinction of scoring hat-tricks in three consecutive matches. In 1955, he was selected for the 3rd Division North XI against their counterparts in the south and scored in the 2-1 win at Accrington Stanley’s ground. In September 1956 a disagreement with manager Willie Moir saw Jack leave the club for Crewe Alexandra. Now 37, he was unable to recapture his scoring form and netted just 4 times in 27 League appearances. He left League football with a record of 201 goals in 380 games. He had one season with non-League Runcorn before retiring from playing at 38. He subsequently had two spells as pools promoter at Stockport, totalling 14 years with a four year stint at Rochdale in the same capacity sandwiched in between. He also had two very brief spells in non-League management in 1969/70 with Glossop - just 4 days and, somewhat longer at Droylsden. Naturally he was always a great favourite at Stockport County and his fame is still legendary amongst the clubs older fans.
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COOPER, David (Davie)Born: Hamilton 1956-02-25 Died: Glasgow 1995-03-23No one who saw Davie Cooper in action at the peak of his career can doubt he was one of the most gifted football players Scotland has ever seen. The former Clydebank, Rangers and Motherwell player had a balletic grace when he embarked upon one of his runs teasing opponents with that elegant left foot, and his precision at set-pieces produced vital goals. Cooper kept himself fit throughout his career and there was no hint of the tragedy that was to come on Wednesday when he suffered a brain haemorrhage while filming a training video. Davie Cooper started his playing career at humble Clydebank in 1974, lured by a signing-on fee of £200 which had been raised by emptying the slot machines in the social club. But his genius was given an appropriate platform when he joined Rangers three years later (for a fee of £100,000) and immediately he helped them win the domestic treble. He was to collect three league titles at Ibrox as well as three Scottish Cup and seven League Cup winner's medals. His ferociously struck free- kick against Aberdeen in the League Cup final of 1987 is remembered by many as one of his best goals. He moved to Motherwell in 1989 (for a fee of £50,000 - one of the great ironies of Cooper was that for all his brilliance he did not command huge transfer fees) with whom he won a Scottish cup winner's medal two years later. For a player of his enormous talent, 22 Scotland caps represented a meagre return, yet he scored vital goals for his country, none more so than the penalty which secured a draw against Wales in 1985 to take Scotland into a play-off and eventual qualification for the 1986 World Cup finals. On that night Cooper and his Scotland team-mates experienced tragedy in football with the death of the manager, Jock Stein. "It wasn't the best penalty I ever took, but to be honest everything about the night has been totally ruined," he said at the time. He moved to Clydebank on a free transfer in 1994 as player coach. He had been set to retire at the end of the season after 20 years in the game. As a person he was liked and respected by all who came into contact with him, and a future in coaching or the media seemed likely. Graeme Souness, his former manager at Rangers, rated Cooper a more naturally gifted player than Kenny Dalglish, and was convinced he could have achieved world-wide fame if he had moved to Italian football. Cooper's skills transcended the great Glasgow divide of Rangers-Celtic rivalry as even the Celtic supporters recognised a great talent. The real tragedy of the death of Davie Cooper is that at the age of 39 he was still playing the game. He wasn't a legend of yesteryear finishing his days as an old man. Cooper was revered for the player and person he was in the present. That is what makes his untimely death hard to accept. David McKinney, The Independent (www.independent.co.uk)
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COVILLE HarryBorn: Scotland 1924-12-12 Died: Scotland 1999-03-16Educated at Kirkcaldy, Colville trained as an engineer but football was his first love and after impressing with Bayview Boys he was signed by Falkirk. In 1946 he moved to Raith Rovers and with other outstanding players such as Willie McNaught, Johnny Maule and Willie Penman he was a key member of a team which was to spend an unprecedented 14 years in the top flight. In 1948/9 they won the Scottish 2nd Division title and reached the final of the Scottish League Cup, losing to the mighty Rangers 2-0. That season the team scored 131 goals in 48 matches and Harry established himself as a firm fixture in the side. After 185 League games for Raith, Harry eventually left for Dunfermline in 1955 where he became equally popular and then returned to Falkirk in 1955. He finished his playing career with Falkirk at the age of 36. An archetypal centre-half, Colville was physically imposing and not afraid to use his bulk on the pitch. He entered management with a couple of seasons in charge of Cowdenbeath but another sporting interest was beginning to take precedent. A keen curling player, he proved as adept on ice as on grass and he went on to win the British Curling Championships on three occasions. He was also proficient at badminton and golf. He went into leisure centre management and offered advice and coaching at Dundee Ice Rink, Waterstone Crook Sports Centre and, finally, the Crystals Arena Ice Rink in Glenrothes before retiring at the age of 63.
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CRAWFORD, IanBorn: Edinburgh 1934-07-14 Died: Peterborough 2007-11-30Ian Crawford, who has died suddenly at his Peterborough home, will forever be remembered to Hearts fans for his double in the Maroons' 3-1 win over Celtic in the 1956 Scottish Cup final. The victory for Tommy Walker's side ended Hearts' barren 50-year run in the competition and was one of the highlights of a golden decade at Tynecastle. But Crawford might have been a Hibs' rather than Hearts' hero. He joined the other Edinburgh side as a 17-year-old in 1951, but the teenage winger was measured against the men in possession in the first team, Gordon Smith and Willie Ormond, and found wanting. He moved on to Hamilton Academical in 1953 and in 19 first team games for the side, he caught the eye of Walker, who took him to Tynecastle a year later. Crawford scored on his debut against Cowdenbeath, but was allowed to develop in the reserve side and when, given his chance in the big team, he grabbed it with both hands, persuading Walker to allow the experienced and popular Johnny Urquhart, the former man in possession, to join Raith Rovers. The Walker-built side was an amalgam of experience - centre-half Freddie Glidden, the marvellous Conn, Bauld, Wardhaugh inside-forward trio - and promising youth - goalkeeper Willie Duff, full-back Bobby Kirk, the wonderful Dave Mackay, John Cumming, the teenage Alex Young and Crawford - and with Celtic's fortunes in something of a trough, it was from Tynecastle that the biggest threat to Rangers' dominance emerged. The cup win in 1956 was a watershed for the club. It was one thing to beat Motherwell in the League Cup final, quite another to go to a packed Hampden and outplay one half of the Old Firm. That Crawford, one of the less auspicious of the victorious XI, should be the match-winner with his brace of goals was, for the player, the icing on the cake. That double ought to have been the start of even bigger things, but somehow it didn't quite happen. He won just one Scotland under-23 cap, scoring Scotland's goal from the penalty spot in a 1-1 draw with England at Ibrox. This televised match, in front of 14,000 fans, was the first occasion in the fledgling history of under-23 matches that England had failed to beat the Scots. The home side, in fact, contained four Hearts players: Dave Mackay, wingers Johnny Hamilton and Crawford and Alex Young. Crawford scored 12 goals in 32 appearances as Hearts romped to the title that year, then scored the club's first European goal against Standard Liege the next season. Strangely, he never made the step up from the under-23 side to the full national team at a time when outside-left was something of a problem spot for Scotland. In the period between Billy Liddell's final cap in 1955 and Davie Wilson's first in 1961, nobody put down a marker on the number 11 jersey. The national selectors overlooked Crawford's consistency over that period, preferring at times to cap players out of position rather than call him up as they tried 11 different number 11s. In 1961, West Ham United came calling and for £10,000 - a reasonable fee for those days - and after 174 games and 79 goals for Hearts, scored at an average of 0.45 goals per game, Crawford, who is still one of Hearts' top 20 goal scorers, joined Roy Greenwood's burgeoning football academy at Upton Park. He later said it was the encouragement of Greenwood that caused him to join team mates such as Malcolm Allison in gaining coaching qualifications. He also played with the great Bobby Moore at the Hammers, but, by the time the London club had started to win trophies in the mid-1960s, Crawford had moved on. After two years with West Ham, he briefly served Scunthorpe, before playing out his career with Peterborough, playing 196 games for "Posh" between 1964 and 1969. His testimonial in 1970 saw Peterborough face a star-studded side, with West Ham's three World Cup winners, Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, former England skipper Johnny Haynes, Terry Venables, Derek Dougan and Rodney Marsh turning out to honour him. He had spells as a coach with Everton and Arsenal, before becoming something of a globe-trotting coach, with a period in Finland netting him a wife, Pikko, and a second home which he used for several months of each year until his death; there were also spells in Norway, the Middle East and North America. Crawford finally settled down in Peterborough, although prior to his death he had been set to relocate home to Edinburgh. He had a fierce shot, could operate equally well on either flank and latterly in his career he converted successfully to full-back. Crawford may not enjoy the fame of many of his teammates, but, for all that, he was a very good player at a great time for Hearts, the club closest to his own heart. Ian Crawford is survived by his wife, Pikko, and by two sons from his first marriage to Helen. Matt Vallance, The Scotsman (www.scotsman.com)
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CROWE, VicBorn: Abercynon 1932-01-31 Died: Sutton Coldfield 2009-01-21The Welsh international Vic Crowe was a fearless footballer, an enterprising coach and a steady manager, serving Aston Villa staunchly in all three roles for a total of 17 seasons. As a player he was a flintily resolute but by no means crude wing-half, equally ready to battle in the last ditch or to split an opposing defence with a perceptive though-pass, both of which he did routinely throughout much of the 1950s and the early 1960s. As a manager he presided over a gradual Villa renaissance from a wilderness period at the dawn of the 1970s, only to be sacked for his pains by the chairman, Doug Ellis, after a disappointing campaign in 1973-74. Crowe hailed from the South Wales coal-mining community of Abercynon but grew up in Handsworth, Birmingham, where his family moved when he was two. Football was in his blood: his father played to semi-professional standard, and soon it became clear that Crowe had both the talent and the inclination to make his own way in the game. As a teenage amateur he turned out for a West Bromwich Albion nursery side, Erdington Albion, but he failed to break through at the Hawthorns. Trials with Stirling Albion followed while on national service with the Army, but it was with Villa that he became a professional as a 20-year-old in June 1952. He made his top-flight debut in October 1954 and when Danny Blanchflower departed to Tottenham Hotspur two months later, Crowe nailed down a regular place in Eric Houghton's hard-working side, his cause aided by his ability to operate on either midfield flank. Crowe shone that season as the Midlanders finished sixth, only five points adrift of the champions, Chelsea, and he was steadfast during tougher times in 1955-56, when they escaped relegation only by goal average, the precursor to goal difference for separating clubs with equal points. But then, with the Welshman nearing his peak, he experienced a frustrating interlude. In 1956-57, knee trouble limited him to a single appearance, which meant that he missed the FA Cup final victory over Manchester United, which would have been the high point of his career. However, although it was a sore setback which irked him until his retirement and beyond, Crowe was a resilient character and a better player than his Wembley replacement, Stan Crowther. He returned to full fitness by the middle of the following term, and regained his former consistency to such effect that he was selected in the Wales squad for the World Cup finals in the summer of 1958. The exemplary form of Cardiff City's Derek Sullivan and Dave Bowen of Arsenal on the way to the quarter-finals in Sweden denied Crowe his international entrance, but only until the following November, when he helped his country draw 2-2 with England, appropriately at Villa Park, where he coped impressively with the explosive threat of his direct opponent, the young Bobby Charlton. Back at club level, though, times were more difficult. Villa, now managed by Joe Mercer, were relegated to the Second Division in the spring of 1959, shortly after losing an FA Cup semi-final to Nottingham Forest. Crowe was mortified by the club's downward spiral, but he was made of stern stuff and maintained a high level of personal performance. He was a quiet individual, not as gregarious as many of his colleagues, but he was respected for his integrity and consumed by an overwhelming drive to win. These qualities convinced Mercer that Crowe was the man to captain Villa to promotion back to the First Division at the first attempt. So it proved. The Welshman missed only one game as the Midlanders, buoyed by their star forwards Gerry Hitchens and Peter McParland, finished 1959-60 as Second Division champions, the only sour note for Crowe being another FA Cup semi-final defeat, this time at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers. His progress was underlined the following autumn when he skippered Wales for the first time, against Scotland at Ninian Park, Cardiff. Crowe's team-mates were much amused that he was the only man in the dressing room who didn't speak with a Welsh accent. For Villa, he completed his busiest campaign, playing 55 times as his team consolidated their newly-regained top-tier status with a mid-table finish and won the League Cup in its inaugural season, coming from two down to beat Rotherham United 3-2 in the two-legged final. Two years later they made it to the final again, but this time they were beaten, gallingly, by local rivals Birmingham City, who triumphed 3-1 on aggregate. By then Crowe was in his thirties and had won the last of his 16 caps, but was still performing well enough to be voted player of the year by Villa's supporters. However, after one more term of solid endeavour, and having made more than 350 appearances for Villa, he accepted a £4,000 transfer to Third Division Peterborough United. At London Road he flourished anew, captaining the Posh to the last eight of the FA Cup in his first season, a run which included a remarkable victory over Arsenal, and to the semi-finals of the League Cup a year later, overturning Newcastle and Burnley in the process. In 1967, aged 35, Crowe went to the United States and became player-coach of the Atlanta Chiefs under his former Villa team-mate Phil Woosnam, and played a prominent role as the Chiefs won the North American Soccer League championship of 1968. The following year he returned to Villa Park, initially to coach the reserves, but in January 1970 he succeeded the sacked Tommy Docherty as manager of a dispirited side at the foot of the Second Division. By then, he was unable to avoid relegation, but he launched a rebuilding programme which began to bear fruit in his first full season at the helm. Villa missed promotion narrowly, but enchanted their long-suffering fans by beating Manchester United over two legs in a League Cup semi-final, before losing to Tottenham Hotspur in the Wembley final through two late goals. Some called him dour, but Crowe earned respect as an intelligent coach and in 1971-72 he launched an exhilarating charge to the Third Division crown, getting the best from the likes of the gifted midfielder Bruce Rioch, the flying winger Willie Anderson, the rugged spearhead Andy Lochhead and the long-serving full-back Charlie Aitken. There followed a commendable third place in their first term back in the Second Division, but after an unexpected slump to 14th in 1973-74 Crowe was dismissed. It was a harsh exit for a man who had laid the substantial foundations for a team that would rise to the top division and lift the League Cup under their new manager Ron Saunders only a season later. In 1975, Crowe returned to the United States to become the inaugural coach of the Portland Timbers of the North American Soccer League. He brought a cast of English players with him, many of them young players from the Midlands area. Among them were Willie Anderson, Brian Godfrey, and Peter Withe. They proceeded to win the Western Division championship and advanced all the way to the NASL final, losing 2-0 to Tampa Bay Rowdies. In their two home playoff games, their success forced the club to add temporary seating to accommodate their fans, and the team played before two crowds in excess of 30,000, totals unheard of in American soccer at the time. Crowe stayed in Portland through the 1976 season before returning to England. In 1980 Crowe returned to the Timbers to replace fired coach Don Megson. He coached three more seasons in Portland before returning to England to lend his experience to several non-League clubs as an advisor. Although The Timbers never captured the success of that first year, Crowe left an indelible mark on soccer in the Pacific Northwest by introducing thousands of Portland area residents to the joys of the game. Today, Portland is a soccer hotbed. The Timbers still live as members of the professional USL First Division, and they play in the same stadium where Crowe and the boys excelled that first year in 1975. Some former players are now coaching at high schools and colleges in the Portland area. Vic Crowe's death was announced only 24 hours after that of Johnny Dixon, another long-serving Aston Villa stalwart in the 1950s. Victor Herbert Crowe, footballer and manager; born Abercynon, Glamorgan, 31 January 1932; played for Aston Villa 1952-64, Peterborough United 1964-67, Atlanta Chiefs 1967-69; capped 16 times by Wales 1958-62; managed Aston Villa 1970-74, Portland Timbers 1975-76 and 1980-82; married (two sons); died Sutton Coldfield 21 January 2009. Compiled by Donald Hall, formerly of Portland, Oregon.
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CULLIS, StanleyBorn: Ellsmere Port 1916-10-25 Died: Malvern 2001-02-28Not only was Stan Cullis one of the best ever Wolverhampton Wanderers defenders, but he was also the man who led the team to their greatest glories when he became manager of the side in 1948. Under his reign Wolves won the League Championship three times (1953/4, 1957/8 & 1958/9) and the FA Cup twice (1949 & 1960). As a player, between the years of 1934 and 1947, he gained an FA Cup runners-up medal (1939) and was twice a member of the Wolves side who were League runners-up (1937/8 & 1938/9). He captained the Wolves side at just 19 years of age, and became England skipper when he was 22. It total he won 12 senior caps. Stan, who passed away in February, 2001, and his late wife Winifred, had two children, a son (Reverend) Andrew and daughter Susan. Wolves announced plans to erect a statue of Stan outside the ground in November 2000. He was born on 25 October 1916 in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire and attended Cambridge Road School in Ellesmere. In the summer of 1930 he joined local league side Ellesmere Port Wednesday. Although the young Cullis had made his mind up that he wanted to become a journalist, his interest in football began to flourish and several clubs monitored his progress. He was invited for a trial with Bolton Wanderers but luckily for Wolves, a friend of the manager, Major Buckley, had noticed the youngster's skills and Stan, on his father's advice, travelled to Wolverhampton for talks with the Major. Within a week he had signed for the club on professional terms. He was immediately made captain of the third team and, as he was only 17, it shows how highly rated he was by the Molineux management. The following year he was skipper of the reserves and then he made his full debut, at the age of 19, when Wolves took on Huddersfield Town at Molineux. It was not to be a happy debut for Stan as The Terriers won by 3-2. A defeat at The Hawthorns the following week and a home draw with Sheffield Wednesday was the final first team game that he participated in that season. Stan was made club captain and although he only made 12 appearances in 1935/6 season, the following year he began to establish the centre-half position as his own. The two years leading up to the outbreak of war were to prove disappointing for him as Wolves twice finished as runners up in the league and also lost the FA Cup Final to Portsmouth in 1939 after being tipped as hot favourites. During the war Stan served as a PT instructor both in Britain and in Italy before he returned to Molineux after the hostilities had ceased. He was to play just one more season in League football before hanging up his boots. In the final game of 1946/7 Wolves needed just a point from their home game with Liverpool to secure their first title. Sadly, they went down 2-1, and the title went to the men from Merseyside. One of their goals was scored by Albert Stubbins. He got goalside of Stan, and although the Wolves defender had plenty of opportunity to fetch Stubbins down, he allowed the forward to go on and score. Although criticised for not fouling his man, Stan always maintained that he did not want to be known as the man who won a medal by cheating. In international football he captained his country, winning 12 full caps and 20 more in wartime football. Stan was approached by Hull City to take over as manager at Boothferry Park on his retirement from playing but Wolves' chairman, Jimmy Baker, persuaded him to stay on at Molineux as assistant to Ted Vizard. It proved to be a wise move. The following summer (1948), Vizard was dismissed by the club and Cullis took over the managership. In his first season in charge, Stan took the club to Wembley and the FA Cup Final which they won beating Leicester City, by 3-1. Then in the 1953/4 campaign Cullis guided Wanderers to the First Division title for the first time. Wolves began to capture the headlines nationally when they invited some of the world's finest teams to Molineux for a series of friendly floodlit matches in which the men in old gold and black excelled. Sides like Moscow Spartak, Moscow Dynamo and Honved, were all laced with international stars, and all tasted defeat at Molineux. Twice more in the 50s Wolves lifted the Championship and in 1960 they triumphed again in the FA Cup, this time Blackburn Rovers were the victims. But the 60s saw a decline in the fortunes of the club culminating in relegation in the spring of 1965. Stan Cullis was sacked by the board in the September of that dire season, a move that was met with disapproval from the vast bulk of the Wolves support. Stan then spent five years managing neighbours Birmingham City before he retired from the game in 1970. His skill in the art of football, both on and off the park, was second to none. He left football to work in the photography business and then lived in retirement in Malvern. In 1992 Sir Jack Hayward and Aston Villa chairman Doug Ellis arranged a testimonial game at Molineux. The match marked the opening of the new North Bank stand named after Stan. Source: Wolverhampton Wanderers official site
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CUMNER Reginald HoraceBorn: Aberdare 1918-03-31 Died: 1999-01-00Like all players of his generation, Horace Cumner lost his best years to the second world war but he still managed a long career in the game although not as much of it as should have been was played at the top level. He was a Welsh schoolboy international who came to the attention of Arsenal in his teens and he joined the Londoner’s groundstaff as an amateur player in 1935. Primarily an outside-left with a direct style, he was loaned to Margate, Arsenal’s junior side for two seasons and once scored 6 goals in a game for the seasiders. Next he was loaned to 3rd Division (North) Hull City and he impressed whilst scoring 4 goals in 12 matches at the end of the 1937/8 season for the Tigers. He was recalled to Highbury and finally made his Gunners debut away to Wolves in the 1st Division in September 1938 and scored the only goal of the game. He played 12 League games that season (2 goals) but with the outbreak of war the following term, they were to be his only official Arsenal League appearances. However in that one season that he enjoyed before the hostilities, he won a place in the Welsh international side and was capped in all three home internationals that season and scored in his final appearance against Ireland, having made his debut earlier in the season in a 4-2 victory over England. During the early part of the war he served in the Royal Marines and was seriously burned in action but recovered sufficiently to play in 10 wartime internationals, scoring 3 goals. He played only 25 wartime appearances during the war for the Gunners, scoring 6 goals, including scoring in an F.A. Cup match during the transitional 1945/6 season. After the war he served a succession of smaller clubs as follows: Notts County July 1946 - 66 League apps/10 goals, Watford July 1948 - 62 /8, Scunthorpe Utd September 1950 104/22, Bradford City August 1953, Poole Town close season 1954 and finally Bridport. When he was signed by Les Jones, the Scunthorpe manager and former Arsenal colleague, described him as "a direct style of player who does not fiddle with the ball at all, but beats his man and swings across a well-placed centre and he is not afraid to come into the middle, when the occasion demands it."
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CURRAN Terence WilliamBorn. Staines 29.6.40 Died. Berkshire 5.00An inside forward who joined Brentford in September 1957 after having been on Tottenham’s books as an amateur. After just 5 League appearances for the Bees, he moved into non-League football. He starred in Kettering’s 3-0 win over Swindon Town in 1961/2, scoring twice. He spent three seasons with the Poppies and also played for Corby Town and Sittingbourne. He died just days before he was due to visit Wembley to watch Kettering in the 2000 F.A. Umbro Trophy final.
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