Joe Mallett

Joe Mallett

Personal information
Full name	Joseph Mallett
Date of birth	(1916-01-08)8 January 1916
Place of birth	Gateshead, England
Date of death	8 February 2004(2004-02-08) (aged 88)
Place of death	Hastings, England
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1]
Position(s)	Wing half
Youth career
	Dunston Colliery
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1935–1939	Charlton Athletic	2	(0)
1937–1938	→ Queens Park Rangers (loan)	29	(4)
1939–1947	Queens Park Rangers	41	(7)
1947–1953	Southampton	215	(3)
1953–1955	Leyton Orient	27	(1)
Managerial career
1964–1965	Birmingham City
1970–1973	Panionios
1973–1974	Apollon Athens
1982	San Jose Earthquakes
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Joseph Mallett (8 January 1916 – 8 February 2004) was an English professional

In February 1947 Bill Dodgin signed him for Southampton for a club record £5000. Although now aged 31, Mallett proved to be a bargain purchase – he was "a strong link between the defence and attack, and was particularly sound in his positional play."^[2] He made his debut away to Plymouth Argyle on 1 March 1947, scoring one of Saints' goals and making the other in a 3–2 defeat. He soon became the team's captain and had "forthright views on how the game should be played".^[1] Teammate Alf Ramsey described him as "having one of the finest of all soccer brains".^[3]

When Dodgin left the Saints in August 1949 to be replaced by Sid Cann, Mallett became restless and in January 1950 he put in a transfer request in the hope of receiving a coaching position. The board persuaded him to stay and he remained loyal to Southampton, playing regularly until his last game, away to Nottingham Forest on 29 April 1953. During his Southampton career he made 223 appearances, scoring three goals.

Coaching career

In July 1953, now aged 37, he moved on to Leyton Orient as player-coach, where he was re-united with former QPR teammate Alec Stock. In 1959, he was reserve team coach at Nottingham Forest under Billy Walker and then Andy Beattie, where he brought on a succession of young players, including Ian Storey-Moore and David Pleat.

In June 1964 he joined Birmingham City as coach, and a month later accepted the vacant managerial position.^[4] Although he was a proven technical coach with sound judgment of a player – he signed Geoff Vowden and Ron Wylie^[5] and gave Malcolm Page his debut^[6] – under his management Birmingham won only 13 out of 64 matches^[7] and were relegated from the First Division. He remained at the club as assistant manager under Stan Cullis from December 1965 to 1970.

When Cullis retired, Mallett went on to manage

He was married to Bertha, whom he first met whilst at Charlton Athletic. They had three sons, Alan, Brian and Francis, and one daughter Julia. Mallett died at his home in Hastings on 8 February 2004 with his family around him.^[10]

References