The Forgotten History of English Football Managers

In recent years there has been a noticeable change in the way people view English football. It has become increasingly statistical. There are a variety of reasons: TV embellishing coverage, coaches and scouts evaluating players, betting firms creating a plethora of betting options. The statistics have very limited history, so we forget about football before them. Worse, people use statistics to reduce football to a pseudoscience. But in doing that, we miss the art of football, something beautiful to watch. We miss the role football plays in society and culture.

My aim here is to shed light on managers whose success is not written in numbers. These managers affected the tactics, social and cultural aspects of football. They rarely get spoken about. 

Herbert Chapman

A name known to the minority. Chapman’s involvement in football in the early 20th century was pivotal. He was a visionary, foreseeing European club competition and introducing aspects of the game that have endured and we take for granted.

Chapman was friends with Hugo Meisl and Jimmy Hogan and took a fondness to continental football. It is said that in 1909 he suggested the creation of a European football tournament, twenty years before a European competition was created.

His friendships with Meisl and Hogan are perhaps why he was one of the first managers who wanted to sign foreign players. Chapman also signed Walter Tull for Northampton Town, one of the first black professional footballers. Tull made 105 league appearances and scored 9 goals for Northampton. Tull was without doubt a remarkable person himself. He enlisted in the British Army in December 1914 and became second lieutenant in 1917.

Chapman changed the role of manager. He was the first manager to pick the players he wanted to sign, pick his own line-ups, and invented various formations due to an adaptation of the offside rule in 1925. In doing this he created the job specification of the 20th century manager.

Today, no one considers where the use of white footballs, numbered shirts, or the introduction of flood lights into the game came from. Chapman played a role in all these developments.

His time as manager also produced silverware. In the 1908-1909 season he won the Southern League with Northampton Town. After a stint at Leeds City, Chapman then managed Huddersfield Town. Between 1921 and 1925, Chapman won the FA Cup and two First Division titles.

Successive titles at Huddersfield was a feat he matched at Arsenal. He also won another FA Cup with The Gunners. Arsenal went into the 1933-34 season looking for a third successive title. However, Chapman died of pneumonia on the 6th January 1934 and was unable to see the season out.

In 2003, Chapman was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame and has since been commemorated by Arsenal as they revealed a statue of Chapman outside the Emirates in celebration of the club’s 125th year anniversary.

Chapman should be remembered not just for the silverware he won, but for his involvement in the sport itself. Whether it was deciding his own transfers or putting numbers on the back of the shirts, Chapman’s role in the beautiful game should be remembered.

Vic Buckingham

Perhaps it is not common knowledge that it was a Londoner who gave Johan Cruyff his debut for Ajax. A playing career with over 200 appearances for Tottenham — where he learnt the ‘push and run’ tactic — was followed by a managerial career which toured Europe. Vic Buckingham took the ‘push and run’ tactic to Europe when he managed Barcelona and Ajax.

In 1954, Buckingham’s West Brom side defeated Preston North End that included Tom Finney in a thrilling 3-2 encounter. Frank Griffin’s 87th minute winner was enough for Buckingham’s first major piece of silverware. Buckingham’s style of play avoided the ever present “lump it forward” tactic which blanketed English football at the time.

By 1959, he was manager of Ajax. The 1959-60 season saw him win the Eredivisie title. His stay at Ajax was cut short due to personal reasons, but it left a lasting effect with the ‘push and run’ tactic influencing the ‘pass and move’ of Total Football that became synonymous with the Ajax and Dutch national teams in the 1970s.

After a stint at Sheffield Wednesday, Buckingham returned to Ajax ready for the 1964-65 season. An unsuccessful return to Amsterdam perhaps clouds his granting of a league debut to Johan Cruyff. His departure from Ajax teed up a new era for Dutch football as Rinus Michels succeeded him.

In an interview with The Guardian in 2014, Cruyff complimented Buckingham for his time at Ajax: “Football in Holland then was good but it was not really professional. [Buckingham and Spurgeon] gave us some professionalism because they were much further down the road.”

Buckingham’s only other silverware was with Spanish giants Barcelona. There he won a Copa Del Rey. 

Buckingham can be credited for handing the debut to Johan Cruyff, but he must be remembered for his style of football. Buckingham’s vision in a passing style of football teed up a Dutch footballing revolution under Rinus Michels.

Stan Cullis

Wolves fans will know the name. Their most successful manager.

Cullis’ love for Wolves stemmed from his father. During his school years, Cullis was selected to play for Ellesmore Port Boys who often attracted scouts to their games. Cullis, in his autobiography, said that his father refused to let scouts talk to him. His father wanted him to play for Wolves, and so he did. 

A playing career which consisted of captaining both Wolves and England was hindered due to the outbreak of the Second World War.

Like many in his era, he suffered head injuries. During his career Cullis suffered two awful concussions resulting in doctors warning him that even heading a football could be fatal. His aerial presence was a trait which was recognised by many. In Stanley Matthews’ autobiography, he said that Cullis was the best header of the ball in the Football League.

His playing career also provided controversy. Cullis, like his father, had strong morals. In 1938 England played Germany and Cullis was the only England player who refused to perform a Nazi salute prior to kick off. Cullis was dropped from the team for the match. The FA told players to do the Nazi salute, Cullis’ refusal shows his strength of character and moral integrity.

When Stan Cullis became Wolves manager in 1948, he was just 31 years old. In 1949, with Cullis now 32 years of age, he won the FA Cup. A triumph later followed by three First Division titles as well another FA Cup in 1960.

Cullis is remembered for his strict discipline as well as his dogged style of direct football. A man who would have done anything for Wolves, he now has his own stand at Molineux as well as a statue outside the ground. 

Jimmy Hogan

Jimmy Hogan is not well-known on domestic soil. His managerial career was spent largely elsewhere on the continent.

Hogan’s influence in Central and Eastern Europe is unprecedented. Hogan’s influence was mainly in Hungary, but both Austria and Germany were also beneficiaries of his ‘Danubian style’ of football. With reference to The Danube — a river flowing through Eastern and Central Europe — the ‘Danubian’ style of play relied on patience and plenty of movement.

Hogan’s influence helped Hugo Meisl produce the best ‘Danubian’ side there was. Often set up in a 2-3-5 formation, Meisl’s Austrian national side became known as ‘The Wunderteam’. This side reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 1934 losing to Italy, the eventual winners.  

Hogan then managed the Austrian football side at the 1936 Olympics. A loss in the final to Italy saw Hogan pick up an Olympic silver medal. 

In late 1936, Hogan took over Aston Villa. A side which had just endured its first ever relegation. The 1937-38 season saw Hogan and his Villa side promoted back to the First Division.

A footballing revolution across Europe is often credited to Jimmy Hogan. A revolution which perhaps led to England’s first ever loss on home soil. In 1953, Hungary battered England 6-3 at Wembley. After the match, Hungarian manager Gustav Sebes gave Hogan the praise: “We played football as Jimmy Hogan taught us”, “when our football history is told, his name should be written in gold letters.”

Hogan’s view of football was advanced for his time. Too advanced that he never prospered on home soil. However, Jimmy Hogan must be remembered for transforming parts of Europe into footballing nations. His work in Austria and Hungary, and his time with Hugo Meisl helped develop a fluid style of football which England refused to accept.

Bill Nicholson

Bill Nicholson is the epitome of a one-club man. A playing career in which he played only for Tottenham Hotspur. A playing career which included one England cap, which led to one goal, on his very first touch. Nicholson’s time as a player, like many, was hampered by war but still produced some silverware winning the First and Second Division. 

Whilst team-mate Vic Buckingham introduced Dutch giants Ajax to the ‘push and run’ tactic, Nicholson embedded it into his Tottenham side, which in his sixteen years as boss, were tremendously successful.

In 1960-61, Nicholson’s side produced the first “double” of the twentieth century, winning the First Division and the FA Cup. Their league campaign saw them score 115 times in just 42 games. 

There was no looking back. After Nicholson’s first season, Spurs went on to win two more FA Cups, two League Cups, an UEFA Cup and a European Cup Winners’ Cup.

Nicholson’s time at Tottenham should not be underestimated. A managerial career which lasted 16 years meant that his Tottenham side went through a number of transformations. During his time Nicholson signed Jimmy Greaves for £99,999 purposely making sure he did not get the label of being the first one-hundred thousand pound player. 

Tottenham’s glory days under Nicholson ended with hostility between himself and the club. An argument over his successor led to Nicholson being refused a testimonial. However, Bill Nicholson’s time at Tottenham provides a fine example of loyalty which blossomed with success. 

Mr. Tottenham Hotspur should never be forgotten.

A History Which Should Never Be Forgotten

With an increased detailing of statistics in the modern game, some of England’s greatest managers often get forgotten. Their successes are overshadowed by data presenting The Premier League as the definitive era of football. The Premier League has provided us with some memorable moments, but it is a recent history. The history of football is much richer than Premier leagues statistics, which is too often forgotten.