They Have Managed in the Southern League (7)

Former managers in the Southern Football League.

Tommy Elliott was born in Glasgow and was playing for Morton reserves as a 14-year-old when he was scouted by Leicester City.

He spent four years as Filbert Street, before being released.

He stayed in Leicestershire though, playing for Wigston Town and Oadby Town in the Leicestershire Senior League - eventually managing both with a good deal of success.

In the summer of 1977, Enderby Town, who had won promotion from the Leicestershire Senior League back in 1969, approached Elliott to take over the now Southern League Division One North club from Vernon Chapman.

Elliott was instrumental in attracting popular players such as John Lane, Roger Cooper and Steve and Malcolm Potter to Enderby.

He left Enderby in December 1980 but returned to manage the club for a short time (when known as Leicester United) after Leigh Talton left the club in the summer of 1993.

After finishing his managerial career, Elliott retired to Spain for ten years, before returning to live in Melton Mowbray.

Harry Thompson (pictured) was a former Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sunderland first-team player who became Headington United`s first professional manager in July 1949, in time for their first season in the Southern League.

He was born in Mansfield in 1915 and played for local side Mansfield before joining Wolves.

He then signed for Sunderland in a deal worth £7,500 - an enormous fee for the 1930s.

His two years at Roker Park included an appearance in an FA Cup semi-final in 1938.

When he moved to Headington he brought success to the club as it won the rare double of Southern League championship and League Cup in 1952/53.

Headington were now one of the best (if not the best) non-League clubs in the country.

This was confirmed the following season when they reached the Fourth Round of the FA Cup and beat Stockport County and Millwall in Manor Ground replays. They also retained the Southern League Cup.

Despite United ending in ninth place in both 1957 and 1958, the ambitious Board of Directors sacked the 43-year-old Thompson in November 1958.

He continued to live in Oxford until his death in early 2000 at the age of 84, a few days before that of his great friend Sir Stanley Matthews.

Born in South Yorkshire, Ernie Morgan worked as a coalminer from the age of 14 but made a big impression playing for the Royston Colliery Football team who he helped win the Sheffield Senior Cup in 1948/49.

Morgan’s performances for the colliery side earned him professional recognition but he surprisingly turned down the opportunity of contracts with Barnsley and West Bromwich Albion to sign a part-time deal with Lincoln City.

He spent three seasons at Sincil Bank, largely as a reserve team player and had only made 3 League appearances when Gillingham came calling in 1953.

The move was a great success for all concerned as Morgan made an instant impact at Priestfield, scoring 21 times in his first season with Archie Clark's side.

He went 10 better the following year, setting a new club record by netting 31 Football League goals in a single campaign - a record that remains unbeaten to this day, equalled only by another Priestfield legend and close friend of Morgan’s, Brian Yeo.

Unfortunately, Morgan’s playing days came to a premature end in 1957 as a cruciate ligament injury forced the striker to hang up his boots at the age of 30, leaving Gillingham with an impressive record of 73 goals from just 155 appearances.

His first managerial post came at Chatham Town in 1962, who were then in the Aetolian League.

Morgan led the Chats to second place in his first season and then to the title in his next, as they moved up to the Metropolitan League.

He moved to Dartford in 1967 and helped stabilise the club before, in 1973/74, he steered the club to the Southern League title and a place in the FA Trophy Final at Wembley where they lost 2-1 to Morecambe.

He went on to manage Maidstone United, where he tasted Southern Division One South title success during his one season with the Stones.

He returned to Dartford in 1973 and immediately weaved his magic once again as the club won the Southern Premier Division title in 73/74.

However, they were relegated the following season and Morgan left Watling Street again.

His next port of call was to Tonbridge and although titles and cups eluded him, this was a difficult period for the club off-the-field, and it was generally agreed that Morgan did an excellent job under the circumstances.

He returned to Dartford for the third and final time in 1982 for just once more season, finishing sixth in the Southern Premier.

Les Henley had a terrific record as manager of Wimbledon, initially as amateurs in the Isthmian League and then when they turned `professional` by joining the Southern League in 1964.

A former wartime wing-half with Arsenal, he played 181 games for Reading before a spell managing Irish club Bohemians.

He returned to England in 1955 and took over as manager of Wimbledon.

Although Wimbledon were technically still an amateur side, Henley’s professional outlook was massively influential in an era when club benefactor Sydney Black transformed the club into a powerful force.

Four Isthmian League titles were won in six seasons between 1959 and 1964, but the jewel in the crown came in 1963 when the Dons defeated Sutton United 4-2 to lift the Amateur Cup at Wembley.

There was an irresistible (though not universal) desire for a fresh challenge though and Wimbledon joined the professional ranks of the Southern League in the summer of 1964, winning an immediate promotion to the Premier Division at the first attempt.

A run of twelve games without defeat earned them the runners-up spot behind Hereford United and under Henley, the team lost only five of their 42 games, four away from home, with only Hereford losing fewer.

They averaged around the 3,000-mark for home games.

That title would elude Henley’s side – still with many of the Isthmian League side who’d remained loyal to him – but they did win the Southern League Cup in 1970.

Yet at the end of the following season, his 16-year tenure was ended as the club sought to move forward once more – this time with a younger player-manager in former Northampton Town stalwart Mike Everitt, and Henley was awarded the proceeds of a testimonial game against Oxford United.

Harry Richardson is probably the only former Southern League manager to have been charged with murder!

Richardson had a modest career as a player, local teams in Kent along with a spell at Greenwich Town was about the sum of the big centre-back`s CV on the pitch.

But he was a successful manager, taking over at then-Kent League side Cray Wanderers in 1979.

Cray had decided to return to the Kent League from the London League in 1978/79.

And success came quickly for Richardson as Cray won the Kent League championship in 1980/81, having been runners-up the year before.

Their powerful new team under Richardson reached the FA Vase quarter-final and Fifth Round in those two seasons.

They were beaten 1-0 by then-United Counties League side Stamford, who went on to reach the final, in 19879/80 and the following season shared a 0-0 draw with another UCL outfit, Irthlingborough Diamonds, before being hammered 6-0 in Northamptonshire in the replay.

Richardson went on to manage Erith & Belvedere in the Southern League in 1991, having the unenviable task of replacing the long-serving Peter Peters, who had been in charge of the Deres for seventeen and a half years!

The Deres had joined the Southern League in 1982 as Kent League champions and League Cup finalists.

But they found it hard going, with a best placing of seventh under Richardson in 1993.

But he will always be credited for introducing the likes of prolific non-League marksman John Bartley, ex-Millwall and Gillingham midfielder Dave Mehmet and one-time Charlton Athletic and Maidstone United defender Mark Penfold to the Deres` ranks.

However, Richardson faced an off-the-field `trial` of a different kind when he was accused of ordering the fatal shooting of 63-year-old George Francis, a former associate of the Krays, who is believed to have helped dispose of a large part of the Brinks-Mat gold bullion heist in 1983.

The robbery occurred at the Heathrow International Trading Estate, London, in November 1983 when £26 million worth of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash was stolen from a warehouse.

But the jury at the Old Bailey found Richardson not guilty in 2007.

Richardson died in February 2010 aged 62 after an unsuccessful heart operation.

The story of Jack Lambert is tinged with tragedy after a glorious spell as a player.

Yorkshire born, his playing career took in two spells with Leeds United, sandwiched by one with Rotherham United before he was signed by the legendary Herbert Chapman for Arsenal in 1926 from Doncaster Rovers for £2,000.

Lambert (pictured scoring) made his Arsenal debut in a 2-2 draw away to Bolton Wanderers on September 6th, 1926. Six weeks and seven appearances later, he scored his first goal for the club, in another 2-2 draw, this time against West Ham at Highbury.

This was his only goal in 16 games during his first season, an eventful campaign for the club as it saw the Gunners reach their first ever major final. Cardiff City eventually took the FA Cup 1-0. However, Lambert played no part in the final or in any of the preceding rounds.

Arsenal`s historic 1929/30 season saw a sudden change in Lambert, and although his league appearances still only numbered 20, he finished the season with 19 league goals to his name.

His contribution to the FA Cup run cannot be understated. Lambert played in all seven games prior to the final, including the crucial semi-final replay against Hull City. He scored against both Chelsea and Middlesbrough en-route to Wembley to play Huddersfield Town and bagged a brace against West Ham.

And his cup final goal has gone down in Arsenal history as one of the most glorious moments the club has experienced.

Lambert found himself with the ball in the centre circle following Alex James' long clearance. He turned, slipped past two Huddersfield defenders and hared off down the pitch. Hugh Turner in the Huddersfield goal was woefully out of position, and Lambert struck home sweetly from the edge of the box.

Turning to face the congratulations of his assumedly onrushing colleagues, Lambert found himself all alone - the rest of the team were still in their own half. So off set Lambert on his own, applauding himself as he went. The goal was scored, the Cup was Arsenal's, and although the rest of the country did not yet know it, the grown of English football had changed hands.

Although this was the most memorable, and arguably the most important of Lambert's goals, the following season would go down as belonging to the big man as Arsenal secured their first-ever League championship in the 1930/31 season, Lambert featuring in 34 games but more importantly scoring 38 league goals.

This was an Arsenal record for all of three seasons, before the arrival of Ted Drake.

It is a mark of the mutual respect shared between Lambert and Herbert Chapman that Lambert was among the six pallbearers at the legendary manager's funeral in January 1934.

Lambert totalled 98 goals in 143 games for the Gunners.

He had a largely unsuccessful two-season stay at Fulham but Lambert's love for Arsenal was too strong and by the end of his first team playing career, and in 1935 he soon emerged as coach and player at Southern League Margate, in those days acting as the nursery club for the Gunners back in the day when such things were allowed.

Margate ended up winning four of the five competitions they entered in Lambert`s first season as player-manager – the only exception being the FA Cup!

They won the overall Southern League title after being Eastern Section champions and then beat Western Section champions Plymouth Argyle reserves 3-1 in play-off.

Lambert had to re-build his side for 1936/37 though as many of the Arsenal players were recalled to Highbury or left to play elsewhere and the result was a very young squad with an average age of just 19.

Despite their youth, Lambert`s side won the Southern League Midweek Section and retained both the Kent Senior Shield and Kent Senior Cup and finished fourth in the main section of the Southern League.

At the end of the 1937/38 season, Arsenal and Margate agreed to end their `nursery` arrangement and Margate sadly folded in June 1938.

Lambert returned to Arsenal as a coach to the `A` team youngsters.

However, shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Lambert was killed in a car accident in Enfield. He was just 38.

Bobby Kellard was a combative little midfielder who turned out for several Football League clubs and represented England at youth and schoolboy international level.

Kellard (pictured) started his career with Southend United and made his senior bow as the Shrimpers` youngest debutant at 16 in September 1959.

After making 106 appearances and scoring 15 goals for the Roots Hall outfit, he joined Crystal Palace for a £9,000 fee in September 1963 and was influential as Dick Graham`s side were promoted to the Second Division that season.

He spent the rest of the 1960s in the second flight with Ipswich Town, Portsmouth and Bristol City before arriving at Leicester City in August 1970.

That season he formed a productive partnership with the equally diminutive Willie Carlin and the pair might have been expected to flourish in the First Division.

But new boss Jimmy Bloomfield had other ideas, allowing Kellard to re-join Palace in September 1971 as part of the deal to secure Alan Birchenall, who was rated at £100,000.

Back at Selhurst Park, he featured prominently as Bert Head`s strugglers narrowly avoided relegation from the top level that season, before stepping down a grade for a second stint with Portsmouth in December 1972.

Differences with new manager, Ian St John, prompted a brief spell on loan at Hereford United in January 1975 and a short stint in South Africa with Cape Town City before he finished his League days with Torquay United later that year.

In January 1976 he was appointed as manager of Southern League Premier Division club Chelmsford City, succeeding the successful Bill Leivers.

But with finances at a low ebb, Kellard’s brief was to keep the Clarets in the Premier Division whilst changing the emphasis to youth.

It was to be the eighth league game before Kellard tasted victory but in the end enough points were gained to maintain City’s place in the division in 1975/76.

With finances getting worse and despite the signing of goalscoring legend Jimmy Greaves, the side was relegated the following season - for the first time ever - and Kellard resigned after the final league game of the campaign.

In all he was in charge for 86 games at City and he was also responsible for signing Nigel Spink from local football and the goalkeeper went on to star at Aston Villa, win a European Cup winner`s medal and be capped by England.

Kellard went on to have coaching spells with then-Athenian League side Grays Athletic and Isthmian Leaguers Basildon United and later jointly managed another Isthmian League outfit Harlow Town with his former Leicester team-mate Len Glover.

Kellard sadly died last month at the age of 77.

Alan Taylor only managed in the Southern League for a few of his 20-plus managerial years.

However, in one of those seasons, he guided Farnborough Town back up to the Conference as Premier Division champions.

Not to be confused with the player of the same name who scored in West Ham United`s 1975 FA Cup Final win over Fulham, despite the fact that this Alan Taylor started his career with the Hammers as a youngster before moving to Bournemouth without making any senior appearances.

He was forced to finish playing at an early age due to injury and after a short spell playing for Hillingdon Borough in the Southern League, he became Fulham`s youth team coach and spent nine years in the role at Craven Cottage.

It was from Fulham that Taylor joined the long-serving Ted Pearce as his assistant at then-Isthmian League Premier Division Farnborough Town in 1986.

He had a brief spell away from Cherrywood Road managing a struggling Chesham United side before returning to Farnborough.

Pearce finally retired at the end of the 1992/93 season following their relegation from the Conference for the second time and Taylor was immediately promoted to the top job.

And his first season at the helm was more than successful as the club reached the First Round of the FA Cup and the Hampshire Senior Cup final and won the Southern League title to earn an immediate return to the Conference.

Taylor`s eye for a player, both in his time as assistant and then as manager saw Boro bring in the likes of goalkeeper Maik Taylor, who was an Army representative player signed from neighbours Basingstoke Town, who went on to win 88 caps for Northern Ireland and make over 500 League appearances for the likes of Fulham and Birmingham City, striker Chris Boothe was spotted playing for Hanwell Town in the Spartan League and partnered him with then 33-year-old Trevor Senior to form a lethal strike force.

Interestingly, several of Taylor`s signings or discoveries went into management as well, including Senior, Steve Baker, currently in charge at Harrow Borough, Dean Coney and the present Slough Town joint management team of Jon Underwood and Neil Baker.

After a twelve-year association with Farnborough, Taylor left and was replaced by one of his signings, Dean Coney.

He then took over as manager of a then-Isthmian League Division Three Bracknell Town.

And he weaved his managerial magic once again, masterminding the Robins’ rise when they were promoted up two divisions due to the league re-structure taking place at the time, and succeeded in keeping them at the same level, despite a relatively small budget.

They were switched to the Southern League Division One West in 2004 and Taylor also took the Robins on some memorable cup adventures, with titanic tussles against Basingstoke Town in the FA Cup – which Bracknell won thanks to an extra-time Adam Crittenden goal after almost 240 minutes of play – the resulting home tie with Barnet in the Fourth Qualifying Round and the club’s first appearance for many years in the Berks & Bucks County Cup final.

But Taylor left Bracknell at the end of the 2006/07 season.

Wilf Armory was once the Southern League`s only `honorary` manager!

He became a Folkestone legend as a player, manager and then as Folkestone Invicta`s President.

Armory`s playing days began as a winger with Ayr United, Aldershot and Nuneaton Town, who he signed for in 1933.

Armory`s spell at Folkestone began in 1935 and he helped them to the Southern League Eastern Division runners-up spot and they reached the Second Round of the FA Cup before losing 2-1 at home to Clapton Orient.

The following season the club finished third in the league and lost in the First Round of the FA Cup against Exeter who they also lost to the following season as well.

A final placing of sixteenth in 1938/39 was overshadowed by the financial problems which almost killed the club.

Money was raised by the sale of several of their top players, although they managed to hold onto Armory, but Folkestone were still forced to resign from the Southern League at the season's end. Indeed, but for the backing of the supporters` club they would have gone under altogether.

Manager Harry Warren left to take charge of Chelmsford City and for the 1939/40 season they dropped down into the Kent League with Armory as part-time manager but played only two games before War interrupted the season.

During the war years, Armory managed to persuade a number of famous players to turn out for the club whilst stationed at the Shorncliffe Barracks at Cheriton, including Manchester United duo Jack Rowley and Stan Pearson.

Indeed, it is said that Pearson happily played for just 2 shillings and sixpence but had to shell out 7 shillings and sixpence to get another soldier to carry out his guard duty for him!

In 1945/46 Armory became full-time manager and the club changed its name to Folkestone Town and although they suffered their heaviest ever home defeat – 8-1 against Gillingham - they were Kent League runners-up in 1946/47, 1947/48 and 1949/50 before winning the title in 1950/51.

However, they did pick up the Kent League Cup in 1946/47 and the Kent Senior Shield in 1948/49.

In the 1951/52 season they won the Kent League Cup and the following season they were Kent League champions again.

The club's record attendance was set during the 1958/59 season when Margate visited Cheriton Road for a Kent Senior Cup game when 7,881 people were in attendance.

In 1958/59 Folkestone re-joined the Southern League and they also installed floodlights.

They finished third in that first season and were promoted to the Southern Premier Division, although a season later they were relegated again.

In 1963/64 Armory`s side lost 2-0 at Oxford United in the FA Cup First Round and were Division One champions.

Their next honours were gained in 1964/65 when they defeated Dover 1-0 in the Kent Senior Shield and the following season, they retained the trophy with a 3-2 aggregate win over Tonbridge.

The same season the club achieved national fame by reaching the FA Cup Third Round with wins at Gillingham (2-1) and 1-0 at home against Wimbledon before losing 5-1 at home to Crewe Alexandra in front of a crowd of 7,335.

He had become a director in 1959 and in 1970 was awarded a testimonial and even had a stand named in his honour, and when that was destroyed by a weather-related incident, a new suite was named the `Wilf Amory Suite`.

He continued to be actively involved with the club until its demise at the end of 1990 but following the rise of Folkestone Invicta to senior status and entry into the Kent League, Amory was invited to become a President of his adopted home-town club - a position he held until his death in December 1996.

As the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal found when attempting to replace long-serving managers, Tiverton Town had a similar situation when Martyn Rogers, who had been so hugely successful at Ladysmead from 1992 to May 2010, decided to leave after taking charge of in excess of 1,000 games in the Western and Southern League Division One West and Premier Divisions.

Former England under-21 captain Chris Vinnicombe was appointed in his stead, but results were poor, and he left the club after just four months at the helm, replaced by former Plymouth Argyle and Gillingham midfielder Mark Saunders.

However, the slow start to the 2010/11 season proved decisive and Tiverton finally succumbed to relegation for only the second time in the history of the club.

Tivvy steadied the ship with a comfortable mid-table finish in the Division One South West in 2011/12, only fading away from play-off contention in the final month of the season, and after a strong start to the next campaign hopes were high, but a poor run of form saw Saunders leave the club in March 2013.

Jamie Ward was appointed as his replacement until the end of the season, and in the summer of 2013, John Clarkson took over as manager and quickly went about assembling a new-look squad.

Clarkson had been a director at Tiverton since 2010, combining that with a very well-travelled managerial career and a successful business.

After being on the books at Dunfermline Athletic as a youngster, Clarkson went travelling and got himself into alcohol problems in Israel.

He eventually returned to England and got himself sorted out in a clinic and took on managing Sussex County League side Storrington, where he guided them to promotion to Division Two and won a couple of cup competitions.

He stepped up to manage Worthing in the Isthmian League but his business running homes for the handicapped was growing and that meant moves to Suffolk and then the south west.

Clarkson was in charge of Eastern Counties League outfit Ipswich Wanderers during the 2006/07 season, where he guided the club to a tenth-place finish in the Premier Division and to the Fifth Round of the FA Vase, as well as the final of the League Cup and the semi-final of the Suffolk Premier Cup.

In the south west where he took on managerial and coaching roles at South West Peninsula League sides Crediton United, Launceston, Liskeard Athletic and Porthleven.

In 2011, Clarkson bought a place in Spain to live with his family due to suffering from arthritis caused by two Achilles injuries in his playing days.

He was asked to coach Spanish third tier side Crevillente Deportivo and then then Catarrolja CF and Ontinyent, who were a full-time second division club who he managed to keep in the second tier.

He returned to England in June 2013 and was asked to take over at Tiverton.

The 2013/14 season was much better on the pitch for the Yellows with appearances in both the Southern League Cup and Devon Cup finals, while a third-place league finish saw them in the play-offs, but eventually, the club finished empty-handed, losing both finals and falling in the play-offs to eventual promotees Paulton Rovers.

Clarkson himself chose not to stick around in the managerial seat and resigned in May 2014 but remained involved at director-level at the club and his departure opened the door for Martyn Rogers to return.

Clarkson returned to Spain and was in charge of Real Aviles, had a second, short spell with Ontinyent and finished off with a spell in charge of CD Tudelano.