Southern League Managers (Part Three)

The third batch of renowned bosses.

JOHN MURPHY was a defender who began his career with Bristol City without managing to break into the senior side.

After leaving Ashton Gate, he had spells with Bishops Cleeve, Forest Green Rovers and Cinderford Town before signing for his home-town club Cheltenham Town in August 1974.

He made 222 appearances in his first spell before work commitments took him to Yorkshire earlier and he played for Scarborough in the early days of the Alliance Premier League and captained Harrogate Town to the Yorkshire League Division Two title.

He returned to Whaddon Road and was an ever-present when Cheltenham won the Southern League Midland Division championship in 1982.

He took over as player-manager initially in December 1983 and in his first full season in football management, guided the Robins to the Southern League championship in 1984/85, claiming the manager of the year award in the process and also to two FA Trophy Quarter-Final places.

He had a couple of seasons in charge of Trowbridge Town and then Gloucester City from 1994 to 1996 before joining the Cheltenham Town Board of Directors.

CHARLIE FLEMING (pictured), Bath City`s all-time record goalscorer, began his career with East Fife and became an integral part of their successes in the 1940s and 1950s.

Fleming won the League Cup with East Fife in 1949 and 1953 and was part of the side that reached the 1950 Scottish Cup Final.

During his time with East Fife, he won his only international cap, scoring twice for Scotland in a 3–1 win against Northern Ireland in October 1953 at Windsor Park – the match counting for both the 1953/54 British Home Championship and 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification.

He moved to English club Sunderland in January 1955 for £20,000 where he remained for three seasons.

After another 71 goals in just 122 games, Fleming made the surprise move to Bath in July 1958 with City taking advantage of the maximum wage rule not applying to non-League football, although they did have to find £10,000 to lure him away from Roker Park.

He scored an incredible 48 goals during his first season with Bath, falling just one short of this amount the next year but leading City to their first-ever Southern League title.

The goals continued to flow and by the time he left the club to become player-manager at Trowbridge Town in 1965, he had scored 216 goals in just 300 games.

He went on to coach and manage in Canada, Australia and the USA before retiring back to Fife in Scotland.

TREVOR GOULD won England schoolboy honours before joining his home-town club Coventry City in 1967, where his chances as a right-sided midfield player were limited to 9 first-team appearances in three seasons.

Moving to Northampton Town in October 1970, he found a more regular berth at right-back and went on to play 102 times in the next three seasons before becoming one of Jim Walker's first signings for Southern League Premier Division Bedford Town in the summer of 1973.

After suffering relegation in his first season, Gould became a key player in the team that won promotion from Division One North in 1974/5 as well as reaching the semi-final of the FA Trophy.

He gradually became as much part of the Eyrie scene as David Skinn or Norman Cooley - the only players to have made more first-team appearances than Gould for the club since 1945.

Appointed captain and then player-coach by Barry Fry in the dismal relegation season of 1977/78 when the Eagles finished second-bottom of the Premier Division, he was the obvious choice to succeed Fry when he left in August 1978, with Skinn and Cooley now both retired.

By now, managing the Eagles was a desperately thankless task, with very little cash and gates measured in three figures, but Gould made the best he could of it.

In each of his first three seasons, his team edged closer and closer to promotion, but each time they expired in the last few matches-most agonisingly in 1980/81, when they were second to Alvechurch only on goal difference.

Except in 1979/80, when he was restricted by injuries, he still played regularly and formed an effective back line with Ken Goodeve, former Northampton stalwart Billy Best and, eventually, Kevin James.

He was able to develop promising young players such as Nicky Platnauer, John Glover and Tony Luff who compensated for the lack of funds to sign more experienced men.

There was some compensation for the league disappointments in 1980/81 when Gould led his team to a trophy that had eluded all his predecessors, the Southern League Cup.

But by this time his task had been made even harder by the impending expiry of the lease on The Eyrie and the club's increasingly fraught search for a new ground: if they had possessed a secure home, the disappointment of the near-miss in 1980/81 would have been forgotten following promotion to the new Alliance Premier League.

The following season, the departure of George Cleary and the loss of form of Cliff Campbell meant that the goals dried up and the squad seemed to lose its way amid all the off-field uncertainties and failed to make the cut for the new Premier Division. It would, of course, all have been in vain because by mid-summer the club was forced to close its doors.

Gould, who had by now clocked up some 450 senior appearances, saw his players depart one by one until he was the club's last remaining employee.

In November 1982 he joined Rushden Town as a player but was back in Southern League management by the following summer at Aylesbury United, where he spent nine seasons - the first four of them as player-manager; he led them to promotion from the Midland section in 1984/85, and to the Premier Division title in 1987/88, earning promotion to the Alliance, which makes him Aylesbury's most successful manager to date.

They also reached the competition proper of the FA Cup in every season of his reign until he left in 1992.

Subsequently, he has worked on the coaching staff at Coventry and Northampton and until 1998, was academy manager at the Cobblers.

Under NOBBY CLARK, Worcester City were champions of the Southern League Division One North in 1976/77 and just two years later, were crowned as winners of the Premier Division.

Clark joined Worcester from Highgate United in December 1974, and stayed until February 1984, presiding over nearly 10 years of success on the pitch.

This included two league titles and three memorable FA Cup runs.

Clark had previously managed Highgate when they knocked City out of the FA Cup in 1973.

In 1978/79, Clark`s Worcester side also enjoyed a good run in the FA Cup which included a 2-0 First Round win at St George`s Lane against as Plymouth Argyle side managed by Malcolm Allison before bowing out in a replay to Newport County in round two.

The run inevitably attracted interest with John Barton and Jimmy Williams sold for large transfer fees to Everton and Walsall, respectively.

Nevertheless, Worcester would go on to top the pile by four points having beaten their only rivals for the crown, Kettering Town, 3-0 in the penultimate match of the season, with midfielder Barry Williams bagging two goals with future City and Kidderminster Harriers boss Graham Allner netting the other in front of a crowd of 7,386.

City sought to gain election to the Football League, but St George's Lane was deemed to be short of the ground grading requirements and runners-up Kettering were put forward for promotion alongside Northern Premier League champions Altrincham.

Neither was successful, receiving 25 votes between them while Halifax Town retained their place with 37, despite being the Football League's worst-supported club.

Along with league rivals Kettering, Telford United, Maidstone United, Bath City, Weymouth, AP Leamington, Redditch United, Yeovil Town, Nuneaton Borough, Gravesend & Northfleet, Barnet and Wealdstone, Worcester became founder members of the Alliance Premier League in 1979 and finished a very creditable third in its inaugural season behind champions Altrincham and runners-up Weymouth.

After Clark`s departure in 1984, Worcester had a succession of managers.

In June 1996, George Rooney became the latest victim of the 'Nobby Clark factor' at Worcester.

Rooney's departure meant he was the 11th manager to try but fail to recreate the glory days that the club experienced under Clark's management.

Rooney almost matched Clark's period of service, having spent nine years in total at City in two spells - but like others before him, he was unable to awaken the 'sleeping giant'.

Apart from Rooney, none of Clark's successors - Bobby Shinton, former Arsenal star George Armstrong, Ian Cooper, John Jones, Tony Larkin, Doug Griffiths, Steve Fergusson, ex-West Brom favourite Ally Robertson, Phil Lines and Martyn Bennett - spent more than a season in charge, although Larkin only held the job for four games as caretaker between Jones and Rooney's first spell as manager.

Of those, only Robertson, who led City to sixth place in 1990/91, achieved a respectable finish - although that was after spending much of the season at the top.

It was only after the return of John Barton (featured in this section as well) as manager in 1999 that City began to enjoy success once more.

TED BALLARD was a decent full back in his day, starting out at Hayes in the Athenian League before the Second World War and then signing for Third Division South side Leyton Orient upon cessation.

He played 26 games for the O`s before joining Second Division Southampton in 1947, making 46 appearances in five years at The Dell before returning briefly to Orient.

However, he failed to break into the first team at Brisbane Road under Alec Stock and spent three years in the Kent League with Snowdown Colliery Welfare before finishing his playing days at Hastings United.

In 1958, Ballard was appointed manager of Ashford Town and, apart from reaching the Second Round of the FA Cup in 1961 when over 6,000 turned up at Essella Park to see Queens Park Rangers win 3-0, and gaining a place in the Southern League from the Kent League in 1959, there was little else to cheer about in his tenure in Kent.

And when he returned to take the managerial post at league rivals Hastings in April 1962, he looked as though he had jumped out of the frying pan into the fire!

The Sussex coastal outfit had finished the 61/62 season second-from-bottom and were suffering from over-stretching themselves financially.

A rash bid for glory in 60/61 had saddled Hastings with an unaffordable annual wage bill of almost £13,000 (around £300,000 today).

They were able to attract players of the calibre of former Spurs centre-forward Len Duquemin and ex-Northern Ireland World Cup goalkeeper Norman Uprichard.

The average home gate of 1,600 wasn`t enough to balance the books and fifteen professionals were released at the end of the season, leaving Hastings with a handful of amateurs.

The cost-cutting measures worked financially, and the deficit was reversed. However, Hastings paid for this on-the-field as they managed just five wins and four draws against 29 losses in 61/62.

Tim Kelly, who had seen the club through those tough times, finally paid with his job and Ballard took over.

Used to managing on a shoestring at Ashford, Ballard set about re-building the team with winger Gordon Burden proving to be one of his best signings, following him from Ashford.

Burden joined Hastings in October 1962 and went on to become a hugely popular figure, going on to be player of the year in 64/65 after scoring 31 goals in 69 appearances and eventually became as big a favourite with league rivals Margate after moving to Hartsdown Park in March 1966 for £250.

Results went well for Ballard`s Hastings and five successive wins and 22 goals running into the busy Christmas period left supporters feeling that their team was on course to seize the First Division title.

Then on Boxing Day 1962, a massive blizzard swept across Britain and from late December until March, all football came to a halt.

It left everyone, including Hastings, facing a big backlog of fixtures and some suffered from the break more than most, probably including Ballard`s side.

The title was eventually won by Margate, but it was an exciting finale as only four points separated the champions from sixth-placed Dover, with Hastings finally finishing third, three points adrift of Gate and one of runners-up, Dudley Kernick`s Hinckley United.

Ballard led Hastings to a very creditable sixth place in their first season at the top level.

However, their second season was awful as only nine games were won and they finished second-from-bottom, ending as the lowest scorers, 58.

That saw the end of Ballard as a manager, and he retired to run a pub in the town.

JACK TRESADERN spent his playing career as a full-back, notably with West Ham United where he made 150 appearances, also representing the Hammers in the 1923 FA Cup Final - the first to be played at Wembley Stadium.

He actually joined West Ham in their Southern League days in 1913. However, his football career was badly interrupted by two World Wars – the first with his playing days at West Ham and the second his managerial career.

After leaving the Hammers in October 1924 he signed for Burnley when he made 22 appearances.

His next move was as player-manager of Northampton Town. But he retired from playing in December 1926 after breaking his leg.

He continued as manager of the Cobblers until October 1930 when he became returned to London to manage Crystal Palace.

In June 1935 he left Palace to manage Tottenham Hotspur, but had little success at White Hart Lane, resigning to take over at Plymouth Argyle in April 1938 rather than wait to be sacked.

The Second World War interrupted his time at Plymouth, but he remained at Home Park until November 1947.

Tresadern became a scout for Aston Villa in 1948 before becoming manager of Southern League side Chelmsford City in June 1949.

The Clarets finished the 49/50 campaign fourth. However, a run that saw City win just one of his last seven matches in charge, conceding 17 goals in his last five, saw Tresadern depart.

He left Chelmsford in November 1950, resigning to concentrate on his pedigree pig and poultry business - before signing as a player with Burnley, Tresadern had also owned a poultry farm in Essex.

But in December 1951, he became manager of Hastings United.

By the time Tresadern took over, the club had won one game in 21 league matches and had just lost 7–0 to Kettering Town.

In his first game in charge, Hastings won 3–0 at the Pilot Field, against sixth-placed Yeovil Town. However, the club were already in a cash crisis, having to rely on donations from supporters to pay the players and travel to away games and they finished bottom of the table.

Tresadern improved Hastings to twelfth place in 52/53 and the 53/54 season saw United reach the Third Round of the FA Cup, beating Shoreham, Horsham, Eastbourne, Ashford Town and Hounslow in the preliminary rounds, before beating Guildford City 1–0 in the First Round proper.

December 1953 saw Swindon Town from the Third Division South visit the Pilot Field, in which a record crowd of 9,917 saw United win 4–1, the first time Swindon had lost to a non-League side since World War Two.

The Third Round saw United face Norwich City at the Pilot Field in front of 12,727 - a record that still stands - the game ended 3–3. The replay at Carrow Road saw Hastings lose 3–0.

He became manager of Tonbridge in April 1958 and remained in post until he suffered a heart attack at his home in the town on Christmas Day 1959 and sadly died the following day at the age of 67.

GEORGE ROONEY started his playing career at Everton when he was 15.

He then joined Coventry City, where he suffered a broken leg, before moving to Southport before being forced to finish playing at the age of 28.

He managed one of his local sides, North West Counties Leaguers Burscough, before joining Altrincham where he was assistant manager/coach to John King, who he had helped transform South Liverpool earlier.

After a very brief spell in caretaker charge at Altrincham after King`s departure, Rooney branched out on his own again by taking over as manager of Southern League Premier Division club Worcester City in 1986.

City had been relegated from the Alliance Premier/Conference and Rooney helped stabilise them until moving to league rivals Bath City in May 1989.

And in his first season in charge, he took the Romans back up into the Conference with a record haul of 98 points, although it wasn`t enough to win the title as Dover Athletic achieved a marvellous 102 points from 42 games.

In August 1991, Rooney took over as manager of Nuneaton Borough and appointed ex-Everton full-back John Barton as his new player-coach.

Rooney, who lived in Worcester at the time, succeeded Paul Sugrue, who took over the reins on a caretaker basis after Les Green was dismissed in January 1991 as part of a cost-cutting exercise by the liquidator.

Barton has a pedigree in non-League football and represented Worcester before joining Everton.

He made 20 appearances for Everton’s first team before joining Derby County, who he represented on 69 occasions.

In November 1992, Rooney quit Nuneaton to return to former club Worcester City.

Rooney led Boro to one of their best-ever starts to a season as the side notched up a run of 21 games without defeat until defeat against Woking in the FA Cup.

His second spell as manager at Worcester lasted until 1998, but he did return for a third time in January 2010 as a liaison officer.

After leaving Worcester in 1998, Rooney concentrated on scouting and worked for several top clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Burnley, Bolton Wanderers, Queens Park Rangers and Cheltenham Town, where he was appointed chief scout in the summer of 2010.

Central defender PAUL PARKER started his career with Fulham before joining Queens Park Rangers, where he made his name as a nippy and incisive defender.

His prowess was noticed by England coach Bobby Robson who, establishing he could also play at right-back, gave him his international debut against Albania in 1989.

Parker continued to play centrally for his club while deputising for the first-choice Gary Stevens on the right side of defence for country.

He was selected as Stevens’ back-up for the 1990 World Cup in Italy and, with Stevens putting in a disappointing display in the opening 1-1 draw with the Republic of Ireland, Parker was put in the team, just five caps into his career.

He stayed there, playing comfortably behind Chris Waddle as England progressed through their group and as far as the semi-finals, where they met West Germany. Here two incidents would define Parker’s career.

With the score at 0-0, the Germans won a free-kick just outside the England penalty area early in the second half and as the ball was tapped to Andreas Brehme, Parker sprinted from the defensive wall to try to block the shot. Instead, it clipped off him at such an angle that the ball looped high into the air and swirled around and over goalkeeper Peter Shilton and into the net.

The goal was credited to Brehme, but Parker managed to make amends with fewer than 10 minutes to play. Collecting the ball down the right flank, he looked up and sent a high and dangerous ball towards Gary Lineker.

The German defenders got in each other’s way and Lineker found room to score with a far-post shot.

The game ended 1-1 and England departed on penalties. Parker emerged from the tournament as one of England’s many successes.

He was sold by QPR to Manchester United for £2 million in August 1991, and he made his debut against Notts County the same month.

He won a League Cup winners medal in 1992, a Premiership title medal a year later, and another Premiership title medal and the FA Cup a further year on.

Injury-hit spells with Derby County, Sheffield United, Fulham and Chelsea followed before, after a brief period with Isthmian League side Heybridge Swifts and Conference outfit Farnborough, he hung up his boots.

In June 2001 he was appointed manager of Southern League Premier Division club Chelmsford City.

However, City finished fifth-from-bottom in his first season in charge and then eighth in his second before he switched to another Southern Premier outfit, Welling United in the summer of 2003.

He led the Wings to the top half of the table and therefore eligible to become founder members of the new Conference South.

After one season in that division, he left Welling, replaced by former Republic of Ireland defender Liam Daish, and finished his non-League spell with a short stint as assistant-manager at Isthmian Leaguers Folkestone Invicta in September 2005.

REG DAVIES started his playing career in non-League football with Cwm Athletic near Swansea and signed amateur forms for Southampton in the mid-1940s.

After National Service he joined Southend United in 1949 and then signed for Newcastle United for £9,000 in October 1951, making a scoring debut for the Magpies in a 3-1 home victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

During his time at St James`s Park he scored 50 goals in 170 games and also earned six full international caps for Wales.

In October 1958 Davies returned to Wales and joined Swansea Town and subsequently went on to play for Carlisle United and then Southern League First Division side Merthyr Tydfil.

In December 1965, Davies was appointed as player-manager of Southern League Premier Division club King`s Lynn.

As a player for Lynn, he made 217 appearances, scoring 29 goals and during his time in the hot-seat, the club won the East Anglian Cup three times and the Eastern Floodlit League and finished fourth in 1968/69.

He was succeeded by former Tottenham and Arsenal defender Laurie Brown on 30 November 1970 and the club awarded a testimonial match against a Cambridge United XI in February 1971.

In 1971 he emigrated to Perth, working as player-coach with Bayswater United and Ascot, guiding them both to major trophies.

He appeared for Western Australia against New Zealand when he was 47 and played at a high standard well into his 50th year!

ALAN GILZEAN enjoyed a wonderful playing career. However, his one and only taste of management was not quite as successful!

Rated as one of the greatest strikers of his generation, Gilzean scored 133 goals in 439 appearances in all competitions for Tottenham Hotspur between 1964 and 1974.

Signed from Dundee in December 1964, Gilzean helped Spurs win the FA Cup in 1967, the League Cup in 1971 and 1973 and the UEFA Cup in 1972.

Inducted into the `Hall of Fame` in December 2013, he remains ninth in the club`s all-time goalscoring list and seventh in terms of appearances.

He made his senior debut for Dundee in a League Cup tie against Motherwell during August 1959 whilst still based at Farnborough whilst doing National Service.

Dundee won the Scottish title in 1961/62, reached the European Cup semi-finals the following season and were runners-up in the 1964 Scottish Cup.

And Gilzean scored 165 goals in 185 games before joining Spurs for a £72,500 fee in December 1964.

An FA Cup winner in 1967, he also featured in both of Spurs` League Cup triumphs and the inaugural UEFA Cup success in 1972.

Gilzean gained the first of 22 full caps for Scotland versus Norway in November 1963 and his last against Portugal in April 1971. He scored 12 goals on international duty.

His last competitive game for Spurs was against Newcastle United in May 1974.

He had a three-month spell in South Africa with Highlands Park before being awarded a testimonial match against Red Star Belgrade in November 1974.

In May 1975 Gilzean was appointed manager of then-Southern League Division One North club Stevenage Athletic.

The club was formed in 1968 after the dissolution of Stevenage Town.

The new club joined the Metropolitan League and finished second in 1969/70 and were promoted to the Southern League.

Before Gilzean arrived, the club had applied to drop down to the Eastern Counties League but were rejected.

However, even the Spurs legend couldn`t prevent the club from finishing bottom of the table and they resigned from the league in August 1976 and Gilzean left – never to manage again - and it was four years before yet another Stevenage side appeared on the scene – Borough – who are still going today, having reverted back to their original title of simply Stevenage FC.

LES GREEN was one of those many goalkeepers in the 1950s, 60s and early 70s who was on the small side.

It seems like managers in those days weren`t so bothered about size, more about agility as even international keepers tended to be around or below 6 feet tall.

However, Green was deemed to be too small for Arsenal, even back then, when their manager at the time, George Swindin - a former keeper of note with the Gunners himself of course - turned down the chance to sign him in 1959.

So, Green went back to his local club, Birmingham League Atherstone Town, determined to prove the Gunners boss wrong, and duly he moved up to Third Division Hull City in August 1960.

Green made little impact at Boothferry Park, playing only a handful of games before returning to non-League circles with Nuneaton Borough in 1962; but a June 1965 switch to Southern League Burton Albion turned out to be a career crossroads.

The Burton boss was Peter Taylor, destined for serial glory as Clough's long-term working partner, and when the pair took over at Fourth Division Hartlepool United that autumn, they lost no time in recruiting Green.

The 24-year-old's stay at Victoria Park proved to be turbulent, disagreements with the management offsetting his footballing progress, and he was transferred to Rochdale in April 1967. However, a year later, when Clough and Taylor, by then at Derby's helm, were searching for a successor to veteran keeper Reg Matthews, it was to their former employee they turned.

Now, lining up behind the exceptional central defensive partnership of Roy McFarland and Dave Mackay, Green excelled and ended his first term as a Ram with a divisional title medal.

In 1969/70 he remained on splendid form as Derby finished fourth in the top tier and reached the quarter-finals of the League Cup.

At the outset of 1970/71, Green appeared set for a lengthy tenure between County's posts, but then his star plummeted. Instead of keeping pace with Clough's rampant ambition, the team was in the wrong half of the table during the autumn, the keeper's consistency declined – and after conceding the four against Manchester United, he was replaced by the younger, less experienced, but slightly taller Colin Boulton.

Boulton flourished immediately, then went on to shine throughout what remains the most glittering period in Derby's history, being the only man to be ever-present as they became champions in both 1971/72 and 1974/75.

Even before those twin peaks, Green, seeing no future for himself at the club, emigrated to South Africa in August 1971, signing for Durban City, with whom he won a league title in 1972. Soon, though, his luck ran out again as his career was ended by a broken leg.

Green went on to become City's assistant boss before returning to England and Southern League Midland Division club Nuneaton Borough, initially as marketing manager, then, in August 1989, as manager after Kirk Stephens resigned just before the start of the season.

Striker Bobby Vincent took over as caretaker boss and was keen to take over on a permanent basis.

He was furious when the club decided to give the post to Green.

Green has had a sensational clear-out of the playing staff at Manor Park, releasing seven members of the first-team squad.

And Green pulled off something of a coup when, amongst his several new signings, he captured experienced midfielder or left-back Bobby McDonald, the former Villa, Manchester City and Coventry City player, from Burton Albion.

He also signed strikers Kim Green and Martyn Twigger from VS Rugby as he bid to end the Manor Park club’s goal drought and pulled off another major scoop when he signed Tony Simpson from Grantham Town.

The diminutive winger was highly rated in non-League circles and had been
closely watched by several clubs from the Football League.

The changes worked as Boor finished third in Green`s first season in charge, but there were signs of strain as the manager wanted to improve his squad but was thwarted by the Board of Directors.

And it came to a head when Howard Kerry quit as chairman after reportedly receiving an ultimatum from Green. But within days, the rift was settled, and both stayed on in their posts.

However, after a takeover by local businessman Joe Shooter it seemed as though Green was on borrowed time and, despite a decent start to the 1990/91 season, he was sacked in January 1991

Officially he was the first man to come under the financial axe being wielded by the liquidator at financially troubled Boro.

Striker and skipper Paul Sugrue took over the Nuneaton hot seat after the shock sacking of Green.

He had a short spell with two other Southern Midland Division sides in Hinckley Town and Tamworth before he was diagnosed with cancer and sadly died in July 2012 aged 70.