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Sammy Chung

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Sammy Chung
Personal information
Full name Cyril Chung[1]
Date of birth (1932-07-16)16 July 1932[1]
Place of birth Abingdon-on-Thames, England[1]
Date of death 28 August 2022(2022-08-28) (aged 90)
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1949 Abingdon Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1950–1953 Headington United
1953–1955 Reading 22 (12)
1955–1957 Norwich City 47 (9)
1957–1965 Watford 219 (22)
Total 288 (43)
Managerial career
1976–1978 Wolverhampton Wanderers
1992–1993 Tamworth
1994–1996 Doncaster Rovers
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Cyril Chung (16 July 1932 – 28 August 2022), better known as Sammy Chung, was an English football player and manager, one of the first Anglo-Chinese players in English football.[3]

Playing career

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Chung was born in Abingdon-on-Thames to a Chinese father and English mother. He began his career with local side Abingdon Town and then Southern League side Headington United.[1] He joined Reading of the Third Division South in 1953 but did not sign professional forms until he had completed his national service. He made a good start to his professional career, scoring four goals in five appearances at the end of 1953–54.[1] After scoring eight in the first 17 games of 1954–55, he moved to Norwich City on 1 January 1955.[1] He played 16 times in 1955–56, and 11 times in 1956–57 as the Canaries finished bottom of the Third Division South. Chung moved to Watford for the 1957–58 season, where under Neil McBain the side were relegated to the Fourth Division.[1] The Hornets secured a return to the Third Division with promotion in 1959–60 and narrowly missed out on promotion to the second tier in 1960–61 and 1963–64. Chung played a total of 242 times for Watford, scoring 24 goals.[1]

Managerial career

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Chung gained his first coaching experience while still a player at Watford, under manager Bill McGarry. When McGarry left to become manager of Ipswich Town, he took Chung with him as assistant. At Ipswich they won promotion to the First Division as champions in 1968.

Following a short period as manager of Swedish side IFK Västerås, he returned to join Bill McGarry, now at Wolverhampton Wanderers, as his assistant. As part of the management team, they guided Wolves to victory in the 1974 League Cup. The club were relegated in 1976 and McGarry departed, leaving Chung to be appointed manager.

He won promotion back to the top flight as Second Division champions in his first season. He led the club to a 15th-place finish in 1977–78, but the following season began with a run of 11 defeats in 14, leading to his dismissal following protests from the club's fans.[4]

After a period coaching in the United Arab Emirates, he returned to England in 1985 as assistant manager to Mick Mills at Stoke City where he spent five years and was later in the backroom staff at Blackburn Rovers in 1991–92.[5] He had a spell as manager of non-league side Tamworth between January 1992 and January 1993, before being appointed manager of Doncaster Rovers in July 1994, a post he held until August 1996. His Doncaster spell brought two promising seasons on the field, but promotion challenges gradually petered out into mid-table finishes.

In 1999, he was appointed director of football in Barbados.[6]

In 2005, he joined the coaching staff at Minehead.[7]

Personal life and death

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After retiring from football, Chung worked in a children's home. He later lived on the Somerset coast.[8]

Chung died in a nursing home on 28 August 2022, at the age of 90.[9]

Career statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[1]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Reading 1953–54 Third Division South 5 4 0 0 — 5 4
1954–55 Third Division South 17 8 3 1 — 20 9
Total 22 12 3 1 — 25 13
Norwich City 1954–55 Third Division South 20 6 0 0 — 20 6
1955–56 Third Division South 16 1 1 0 — 17 1
1956–57 Third Division South 11 2 0 0 — 11 2
Total 47 9 1 0 — 48 9
Watford 1957–58 Third Division South 41 7 1 0 — 42 7
1958–59 Fourth Division 27 6 0 0 — 27 6
1959–60 Fourth Division 37 1 7 0 — 44 1
1960–61 Third Division 37 1 5 0 0 0 42 1
1961–62 Third Division 11 2 0 0 1 0 12 2
1962–63 Third Division 26 4 5 2 1 0 32 5
1963–64 Third Division 26 1 0 0 1 0 27 1
1964–65 Third Division 14 0 1 0 1 0 16 0
Total 219 22 19 2 4 0 242 24
Career total 288 43 23 3 4 0 315 46

Managerial statistics

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Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Wolverhampton Wanderers 19 June 1976 8 November 1978 107 41 27 39 038.32
Doncaster Rovers 1 July 1994 31 July 1996 94 33 24 37 035.11
Total[1] 201 74 51 76 036.82

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Sammy Chung at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  2. ^ Maurice Golesworth (1965). Soccer Who's Who. The Sportsmans Book Club.
  3. ^ "Obituaries". World Soccer. December 2022. p. 13.
  4. ^ "Wolves Managers from 1885 to Today". Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  5. ^ "Where Are They Now? Blackburn Rovers 1991-92 Division Two play-off winners". The Football League Paper. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  6. ^ "Wheel Meet Again!". Wolves Heroes. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Red sauce". Rage Online. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  8. ^ "Where Are They Now? A look at Wolves' UEFA Cup finalists 1971/72". Football League Paper. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  9. ^ Matthews, Anthony (30 August 2022). "Former Watford players Chung, McNeice and Carpenter die". Watford Observer. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
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