Bill McGarry

Bill McGarry

Personal information
Full name	William Harry McGarry
Date of birth	10 June 1927(1927-06-10)
Place of birth	Stoke-on-Trent, England
Date of death	15 March 2005(2005-03-15) (aged 77)
Place of death	South Africa
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Right-half
Youth career
	Northwood Mission
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1945–1951	Port Vale	146	(5)
1951–1961	Huddersfield Town	363	(25)
1961–1963	Bournemouth	78	(2)
Total		587	(32)
National team
1954	England "B"	1	(0)
1954–1955	England	4	(0)
Teams managed
1961–1963	Bournemouth (player-manager)
1963–1964	Watford
1964–1968	Ipswich Town
1968–1976	Wolverhampton Wanderers
1976–1977	Saudi Arabia
1977–1980	Newcastle United
	Power Dynamos FC
1985	Wolverhampton Wanderers
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

William Harry "Bill" McGarry (10 June 1927 – 15 March 2005) was an English international football player and manager.

A right-half as a player, he joined Port Vale following the end of World War II, and spent the next six years with the club. He then moved on to Huddersfield Town in 1951, where he would spend the next ten years of his career. He hung up his boots in 1963, after spending two years as Bournemouth's player-manager. In all he played 587 league games in an eighteen year career in the Football League.

He also found success as a manager, moving from Bournemouth to Watford in 1963, he was appointed as Ipswich Town manager the following year. There he led the club to the Second Division championship in 1967–68, before moving on to the vacant position at Wolverhampton Wanderers later in 1968. He spent eight years with Wolves, leading them to the UEFA Cup Final in 1972 and to League Cup glory in 1974. He became an international manager with Saudi Arabia in 1976, only to return to the domestic game with Newcastle United the following year. He failed to find success at Newcastle, and left the club in 1980, find work in Zambia with Power Dynamos FC. He spent two months as Wolves manager in 1985, before leaving his management career behind him.

Playing style

Former teammate Roy Sproson said that: "he was everything that a manager could want in a player. Magnificently fit, Bill was aggressive, busy, good in the air and a player of tremendous enthusiasm for the game. He gave 100 per cent effort for all of 90 minutes" and that he also used to "underrate himself".

Freddie Steele stated that "McGarry is a tough bugger. He wasn't born, you know – he was cast at Shelton Bar!".

Club career

McGarry began his career at local non-league club Northwood Mission, based in Hanley, before joining Port Vale as an amateur in April 1945, signing professional forms in June of that year. He made his debut on a 1945 Boxing day 1-0 home defeat to Walsall and by November 1947 he was playing regular first team football. He was an ever-present throughout the 1949–50 season, but was sold to First Division Huddersfield Town for £12,000 in March 1951.

At Huddersfield, where he was again ever-present for four years after his debut, he built a reputation as a tough-tackling, sturdy wing-half.

After a decade of service at Huddersfield Town, he headed south to become Bournemouth's first player-manager. He spent two years at Dean Court before hanging up his boots and devoting himself to management.

International career

McGarry's performances at Huddersfield won him first an England "B" appearance place and then a place in the England squad for the 1954 World Cup. Despite having never featured for the national team before, he played two of England's three games in the tournament (against hosts Switzerland and Uruguay). He won two further caps the following year in a 5–1 victory over Denmark and in a Home International 2–1 defeat by Wales. He also played for the Football League and went on the FA's 1956 South African tour.

Management career

His post as player-manager at Bournemouth (then Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic) in 1961 was the start of a long career in management for McGarry. In July 1963, he took the reins at Watford, taking them to the verge of promotion to the Second Division in his only full season, before moving to Ipswich Town in September 1964. He had built up a reputation as a tough, no nonsense manager. He also instigated rules on players diet, long before the trend became standard practice within the footballing world.

He took Ipswich back into the top flight, winning the Second Division title in 1967–68. Just months into the new campaign though, he walked out to take charge at fellow First Division club Wolverhampton Wanderers in November 1968.

After a lean spell since their 1960 FA Cup triumph, the club were revived under McGarry as he took the team all the way to the UEFA Cup Final in 1972 and success in the 1974 League Cup final, as well as two top-five league finishes. The club suffered relegation at the end of the 1975–76 season, after nine successive seasons in the First Division,and he was promptly fired after nearly eight years at the helm.

He headed abroad to coach the Saudi Arabian national team but soon returned to England to manage Newcastle United in November 1977. He could not stop the Magpies suffering relegation that season, and he could only take the team to two mid-table finishes in the Second Division before being fired just weeks into the 1980–81 season after his team were knocked out of the League Cup by Third Division Bury.

McGarry then served in a variety of posts, with spells as a scout at Brighton, Zambian Power Dynamos FC as a coach, the Zambian national team as manager and a period as coach in South Africa. He returned to former club Wolves in September 1985, but walked out after just 61 days after a fall-out with the Bhatti Brothers. After a spell outside the game, he moved back to South Africa as coach in Bophuthatswana.

After a long battle against illness, he died on 15 March 2005, aged 77. He had one son and one daughter.

Honours

As a Manager

Ipswich Town

• Football League Second Division champions: 1967–68

Wolverhampton Wanderers

• UEFA Cup runners-up: 1972
• Football League Cup winners: 1974

External links

• Bill McGarry management career stats at Soccerbase
• Profile at London Wolves