Sluffy Posted March 12, 2007 Posted March 12, 2007 (edited) A look back at the managers we have had in my time 1951 ? 1968 Bill Ridding The manager of my youth, so I don?t really remember much about him. I do recall for some strange reason after all those years ? the chants of the fans who wanted him out ? it went something like ? Resign Ridding, resign. Resign Ridding, resign. You dirty old ?twot? so think about that! Resign Ridding, resign. They don?t write them like that anymore ? thank goodness! Mr Ridding was actually a physiotherapist, who happened to be in the right place at the right time ? I seem to remember he was the physio for Lancashire cricket club whilst at the same time being our manager (I don?t think I?m making that bit up!) He was the last manager we had that actually won something big ? the 1958 FA Cup. The following is what Bryan Edwards of the 58 team recalls about Bill ? ?He was a very good rubber downer. He was a physiotherapist. Bill Ridding when we had our talks on Friday he used to come over with the salt cellar and pepper, and move them on the table to show us tactics. He had a good coach, a very good defensive coach in George Taylor. T'other coach was the best ball carrier in the world. Six balls in a bag every morning. George was excellent and a good man. He didn't allow swearing.? http://www.boltonrevisited.org.uk/328.html Obviously Mr Ridding did not make such a big an impression on him than some bloke who could carry six balls in a bag! One curious record that Mr Ridding holds is that as former Tranmere manager, he managed them for only 20 matches in his six-year spell in charge! That was not that no one wanted to play the boys from the Wirral ? I guess no one really wants to play them these days either ? but that his managerial career started just before World War two started and ended just after the war finished! 1968 ? 1970 Nat Lofthouse He may have been one of the great?s as a player ? but he was very ordinary as a manager. However we loved him so much we kept asking him to manage us time and time again ? as you will see. After retiring from playing football, Nat became the assistant trainer at Burnden on 10th July 1961 and was then appointed chief coach at the club in1967. In1968, he spent a brief time as caretaker manager of the club and took over the job full-time on18th December. Before becoming Bolton's chief scout, he became an administrative manager at Burnden. In1978, he became the club's executive manager. In1985, at the age of 60, Nat became caretaker manager at the club again and became president in 1986. Nat has been the recipient of various honours since retiring from the game. On2nd December 1989, he was made a Freeman of Bolton. On1st January 1994, he received an OBE and on 18th January 1997, Bolton decided to name their East Stand after him. Tributes were recently paid to Nat as he celebrated his 80th birthday, including a party at the Reebok. A campaign, backed by Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the PFA, has started, aiming to get Nat Knighted (whatever happened to our campaign?) . Nat was an Inaugural Inductee into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002. 1970 ? 1970 - Jimmy McIlroy One of the true grate?s of Northern Ireland and Burnley football ? (don?t get him confused with Sammy McIlroy who played for United). Jimmy only stayed with us for 18 days in November of that year ? winning two games and losing two ? before deciding he wasn?t cut out to be a football manager ? and who could blame him! 1970 ? 1971 - Jimmy Meadows Next to take a turn at the top was Jimmy Meadows. Jimmy was a former England international and has also been caretaker manager of a number of football clubs, notably Blackpool. He had a bizarre 81-day spell in charge of Bolton in 1971 as team manager to Nat?s general manager. This spell saw the club virtually condemned to their first-ever period in the third Division. When Jimmy left us Nat took full command of us again until?. 1971 ? 1974 - Jimmy Armfield Armfield was the first ?great? manager that I knew at Bolton. Jimmy had previously won 43 caps for England between 1959 and 1966 and captained his country. He played in the 1962 World Cup in Chile where he was acclaimed as the best right back in the world. He was also in the 1966 World Cup squad but missed out on the tournament through injury. A very clever man in my opinion ? he turned Bolton around and set us back on course to the top again. He created a team of old heads ? like Warrick Rimmer, John Byrom and John Ritson with some canny signings like Peter Thompson and Tonny Dunne ? whilst at the same giving youth a chance with the likes of Neil Whatmore and a young Sam Allardyce, etc. It was not long before bigger clubs came knocking on the door for Jimmy and it was no surprise to see him end up in the European Cup Final with Leeds (where they were robbed of victory over Bayern Munich due to a corrupt referee ? who never refed another game in Europe after his performance in that match!) 1974 ? 1980 Ian Greaves First at Bolton as assistant to Armfield and then took over when Jimmy took the vacant manager's position at Leeds. Greaves inherited a squad that included Paul Jones and Peter Reid. In his time there he again won promotion to the top division and also reached the League Cup semi-final against Everton while the club were still in the second division. Ian signed some good players such as Frank Worthington, Willie Morgan and Alan Gowling but he also bought some right dross such as Len Cantello and Dave Clements. Unfortunately, Bolton's First Division performance was disappointing and Greaves was sacked in early 1980. 1980 ? 1981 Stan (the man) Anderson Stan had quite a colourful career before becoming our manager ? unfortunately his stay with us put him off football for life! Stan was a England international who earned two caps while at Sunderland , he also played for Newcastle and Middlesbrough, becoming the first player to captain all three big north-east clubs. He succeeded Raich Carter as Middlesbrough manager in April 1966 and remained at the club until resigning in April 1973 to be replaced by Jack Charlton. In his time the club were relegated from and promoted to the Football League second division. After leaving Middlesbrough he managed in Greece for AEK Athens and Panathinaikos and in England, where he became boss at QPR, Doncaster Rovers and Bolton Wanderers before giving up management after resigning in 1981. 1981 ? 1982 - George Mulhall George had been coach under Greaves and when he left us to go to Bradford as manager our team went down hill fast ? prompting many to think that George was really the tactical genius that got us promoted rather that his boss. It was assumed that his return would make things better for us again ? wrong! George did not really last long with us and was fired after one season amidst rumours that he was to be replaced by of all people Pele!!! 1982 ? 1985 - John McGovern Or to give him his full name - John Prescott McGovern! McGovern was Brian Clough?s captain ? and followed him from Derby to Leeds and then Nottingham Forrest. After a marvellous playing career in which he won a League Championship medal at Derby County, and a League Championship again along with two League Cups and two European Cups with Forrest he became Bolton?s first player manager. However ? a bit like Nat ? he was a far better player than manager. 1985 ? 1985 Charlie Wright Born in Glasgow who went on to represent Honk Kong international level - former Bolton keeper Charlie was caretaker manager and then manager of Bolton Wanderers in the 1984/1985 season. His first game as full time manager was a 2-0 win against Plymouth Argyle. However the good times did not last long and Wright was quickly replaced. 1985 ? 1992 - Phil Neal Another great footballer who came to manage the club. He first arrived as a player manager but his best days had already long gone. I have to give Neal a lot of credit in what he did. The club was already in decline and during Phil?s time hit rock bottom ? defeat to Scarborough in Division 4!!! Phil however slowly began to turn the ship around. He left to become assistant Manager of England to Graham Taylor ?Do I not like that!? 1992 ? 1995 - Bruce Rioch Rioch's become manager in May 1992 after fairly successful spells at Torquay, Middlesborough and Millwall. In his first season, they finished runners-up in Division Two and won promotion to Division One. Two seasons later they were League Cup losing finalists to Liverpool and beat Reading 4-3 in extra time in the Division One playoff final after being 2-0 down at half time. The playoff final victory was Rioch's last game as Bolton manager. A few weeks later he accepted the Arsenal manager's job. Bruce led us through one of our happiest times and brought ledgens to the club such as Andy Walker, John McGinlay and Keith Branigan. 1995 ? 1996 - Roy McFarland and Colin Todd (joint managers) Daft idea really. They may have made a dream centre back pairing but joint managers!!! Todd should have been given the job outright in the first place. Bolton had just been promoted to the Premiership under previous managerRioch, and McFarland was unable to establish them at this level despite making several new signings. He was dismissed in January 1996 after just six months in charge, with Bolton bottom of the Premiership and heading for relegation. 1996 ? 1999 - Colin Todd McFarland's men were unable to adjust to the pace of the Premiership football and he was dismissed after the turn of 1996 with the Trotters rooted to the foot of the division. Todd, assisted by Ian Porterfield, took over the reins but was unable to prevent relegation. Bolton began the 1996-97 Division One campaign in a determined mood and were leaders virtually all season long, clinching the championship with 100 goals and 98 points. This ensured that Burnden Park received the best possible send-off, and the new Reebok Stadium would host Premiership football. Todd made several big-name signings, including Newcastle's Robbie Elliott and Wimbledon's Dean Holdsworth, to bolster Bolton's squad for the 1997-98 campaign but from day one it was a struggle. They went down on the last day of the season on goal difference and Todd quit seven games into the 1999/2000 Season following a poor start to the season and the sale of star midfielder Per Frandsen 1999 ? to present - Sam Allardyce Well what can I say ? we all know about Sam Instead I give you details of his managerial career before Bolton ? After retiring as a player, Allardyce was named as assistant manager to Brian Talbot at West Bromwich Albion in February 1989 - ironic as he was a supporter of Wolverhampton Wanderers, one of Albion's deadliest rivals. His spell at the Hawthorns lasted two years before he and Talbot were sacked as the club slid towards the Second Division trap door for the first time. He then took up the role of player/manager of Limerick and guided the League of Ireland team to promotion by topping the first division with a number of points to spare in 1991-92 in his only season at the club. After his one successful season in Ireland Allardyce returned to England and to Preston North End for the start of the 1992-93 season to take up the role of coach/assistant manager under Les Chapman. Ten games into the season however Chapman was sacked and Allardyce given the role of caretaker manager.His short spell in charge was an impressive one with Preston putting in some fine performances, picking some much needed league points along the way.The clubs board though felt that Allardyce's managerial inexperience at league level worked against him and opted in December 1992 to appoint the more experienced and charismatic John Beck who in turn appointed Gary Peters as his assistant. Allardyce carried on with the club in his original coaching capacity for another 18 months but the disappointment of missing out on the Preston job spoke volumes and when in July 1994 arch rivals Blackpool offered him the managers job Allardyce jumped at the chance. Allardyce's spell at Bloomfield Road however was a strange one for despite leading the club to their most successful season in years he was at the end of the season sacked as he failed to guide them to Division One after leading the league all season. Blackpool finished third, missing out on automatic promotion on the last day of the season, and were then beaten in the play-off semi-finals to Bradford after winning 2-0 away, only to lose 3-0 in the reverse leg at home. Allardyce was sacked that summer. In January 1997, Sam Allardyce made his return to football as manager of Division Two basement club Notts County. He arrived too late to save them from relegation, but they won promotion at the first attempt by finishing top of Division Three at the end of the 1997-98 season. Notts County broke several club and national records, winning the title by 19 points and becoming the first post-war side to win promotion in mid-March. He remained in charge at Meadow Lane until September 1999, when he returned to Bolton Wanderers in Division One and became their new manager (we didn't tap him up - honest gov!!!). And the rest as they say is history!!! Big thanks as usual to the Manny Road site - http://www.sportnetwork.net/main/s474/st80524.htm Edited March 13, 2007 by Sluffy
Happy Wanderer Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 Charlie Wright was born in Glasgow and began his career with Rangers, I'd think again where you source your information from
SatanGreavsie Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 Charlie Wright was born in Glasgow and began his career with Rangers, I'd think again where you source your information from and if memory serves: "Blackpool finished third, missing out on automatic promotion on the last day of the season, and were then beaten in the play-off semi-finals to Bradford after winning 2-0 at home, only to lose 3-0 in the reverse leg. " is wrong as I believe they won the away leg then screwed it up at home...
Sluffy Posted March 13, 2007 Author Posted March 13, 2007 (edited) Charlie Wright was born in Glasgow and began his career with Rangers, I'd think again where you source your information from and if memory serves:"Blackpool finished third, missing out on automatic promotion on the last day of the season, and were then beaten in the play-off semi-finals to Bradford after winning 2-0 at home, only to lose 3-0 in the reverse leg. " is wrong as I believe they won the away leg then screwed it up at home... Thank you both for your help. - I have now amended Charlie's entry, and also the Blackpool home / away scores. Edited March 13, 2007 by Sluffy
bolty58 Posted March 13, 2007 Posted March 13, 2007 Sluffy, this throws the veracity of all of your previous works into doubt. Are you the font of all knowledge or fanciful knowledge? BWFC fans have a right to know
Sluffy Posted March 13, 2007 Author Posted March 13, 2007 Sluffy, this throws the veracity of all of your previous works into doubt. Are you the font of all knowledge or fanciful knowledge? BWFC fans have a right to know Whoops my cover has finally been blown! It is true, I am only a mere mortal after all! (and someone who copies and paste's a great deal of other people's work! )
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