John King (footballer, born 1938)

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John King (footballer born 1938)
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Not to be confused with the younger John King who also played for Everton, Wigan Athletic, and Northwich Victoria, and who later successfully managed Altrincham.
For other people with the same name, see John King.

John King
Personal information
Full name John Allen King[1]
Date of birth (1938-04-15)15 April 1938
Place of birth Marylebone, England[1]
Date of death 30 March 2016(2016-03-30) (aged 77)
Position(s)
Wing half
Youth career
Everton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1957–1960 Everton 48 (1)
1960
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic
 21 (1)
1960–1968 Tranmere Rovers 242 (4)
1968–1971 Port Vale 101 (0)
1971–1972 Wigan Athletic 12 (0)
Total 424 (6)
Managerial career
1975–1980 Tranmere Rovers
1981–1984 Northwich Victoria
1985–1987 Caernarfon Town
1987–1996 Tranmere Rovers
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Allen King (15 April 1938 – 30 March 2016) was an English football player and manager.[2] He is widely regarded as being the most successful manager in the history of Tranmere Rovers, and had a stand at Prenton Park named in his honour in 2002. In November 2014, a statue of King was unveiled outside the ground.

He played at

Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. He helped Rovers to win promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1966–67, before he signed with Port Vale in June 1968. He helped the "Valiants" to promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1969–70, before he joined non-League Wigan Athletic
in May 1971.

He found more success as a manager than as a player, gaining his first management post at former club Tranmere Rovers in April 1975. He led the "Superwhites" to promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1975–76, before he was sacked in September 1980. He then had successful spells in charge at non-League clubs

Director of football
in April 1996.

Playing career

King started his career at

Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, playing 21 Third Division games under Don Welsh, before he joined Tranmere Rovers and being signed by Walter Galbraith.[2] Rovers were relegated out of the Third Division in 1960–61. New manager Dave Russell led them to a 15th-place finish in the Fourth Division in 1961–62. They then reached eighth in 1962–63 and seventh in 1963–64, before finishing fifth in 1964–65, just one place and one point behind promoted Oxford United. They came even closer in 1965–66, finishing behind promoted Colchester United on goal average. Rovers finally achieved their goal in 1966–67, winning promotion in fourth place, they finished four points ahead of fifth place Crewe Alexandra. They then retained their third tier status in 1967–68, finishing two places above the relegation zone. Over eight years at Prenton Park
, King made 264 appearances in all competitions.

He signed with Port Vale in June 1968.[1] He made 46 appearances in 1968–69, helping Gordon Lee's "Valiants" to a 13th-place finish in the Fourth Division.[1] He played alongside Roy Sproson in a team which was based around defence.[3] He played in a goalless home draw with Swansea Town on 18 October 1969, despite having chickenpox at the time, and played a total of 41 games in the 1969–70 promotion season.[1] King chipped his ankle bone in November 1970, and was sidelined for four months; therefore he could only play 27 games in 1970–71.[1] He left on a free transfer to Northern Premier League side Wigan Athletic in May 1971,[1] making 12 appearances in the 1971–72 campaign, his only season at Springfield Park.[4]

Managerial career

Tranmere Rovers

King was first appointed as Tranmere Rovers manager in April 1975, and led his charges to promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1975–76. He stabilised the club in the Third Division in 1976–77, and another mid-table finish followed in 1977–78. However, Rovers were relegated in 23rd place in 1978–79, finishing 12 points behind 20th place Chesterfield. Rovers then dropped to 15th in the bottom tier in 1979–80. King was sacked in September 1980,[5] but new boss Bryan Hamilton could not prevent Tranmere finishing in the re-election zone in 1980–81.

Northwich Victoria

King moved on to Rochdale as a coach, before taking the reins at Northwich Victoria in October 1981. He took the club to sixth in the Alliance Premier League in 1981–82, eighth in 1982–83, and seventh in 1983–84. He took Victoria to Wembley in 1983, where they lost 2–0 to Telford United in the FA Trophy. They travelled to Wembley again for the FA Trophy final in 1984, though a 1–1 draw meant that a replay was held at the Victoria Ground in Stoke-on-Trent; Northwich then beat Bangor City 2–1 to take the trophy back to Drill Field. He also led the "Vics" to the Cheshire Senior Cup title in 1984.

Caernarfon Town

King took charge at Welsh club Caernarfon Town.[1] At Northern Premier League side Caernarfon he was at the helm for some of the most successful seasons in the club's history, including the club's 1986–87 FA Cup run to the third round, recording victories over Football League sides Stockport County and York City.[6]

Return to Tranmere Rovers

King was appointed manager of Tranmere for a second time by Peter Johnson towards the end of the 1986–87 season, with the club fighting to avoid relegation out of the Football League. Safety was only guaranteed in the last game of the season with a 1–0 home win over Exeter City. King signed Jim Steel to act as target man for striker Ian Muir. The move was inspired and the team enjoyed considerable success together in the seasons to follow. They rose to a mid-table finish in 1987–88, before winning promotion as Fourth Division runners-up in 1988–89. Tranmere then finished fourth in the Third Division in 1989–90, missing out on a second-successive promotion after losing 2–0 to Notts County in the play-off final. They played at Wembley four times in two years, winning the Associate Members' Cup in 1990 with a 2–1 victory over Bristol Rovers.[7] He led the "Superwhites" promotion with a 1–0 win over Bolton Wanderers in the 1991 play-off final, after Tranmere finished fifth in 1990–91. They also reached the Associate Members' Cup final for a second-successive year, losing 3–2 to Birmingham City.

They finished a comfortable 14th in

League Cup, losing to Aston Villa
on penalties.

King brought such big name signings as

Director of football. They finished the 1995–96
campaign in 13th position.

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[9][10]
Club Season League FA Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Everton 1957–58 First Division 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
1958–59 First Division 17 1 0 0 0 0 17 1
1959–60 First Division 26 0 1 0 0 0 27 0
Total 48 1 1 0 0 0 49 1
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic
 1960–61 Third Division 21 1 1 0 2 0 24 1
Tranmere Rovers 1960–61 Third Division 17 0 0 0 0 0 17 0
1961–62 Fourth Division 38 1 1 0 2 0 41 1
1962–63 Fourth Division 39 1 4 1 1 0 44 2
1963–64 Fourth Division 42 1 1 0 3 0 46 1
1964–65 Fourth Division 45 0 2 0 2 0 49 0
1965–66 Fourth Division 8 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
1966–67 Fourth Division 20 1 1 0 0 0 21 1
1967–68 Third Division 33 0 4 0 2 0 39 0
Total 242 4 13 1 10 0 265 5
Port Vale 1968–69 Fourth Division 40 0 5 0 1 0 46 0
1969–70 Fourth Division 35 0 5 0 1 0 36 0
1970–71 Third Division 26 0 0 0 1 0 27 0
Total 101 0 10 0 3 0 114 0
Career total 412 6 25 1 15 0 452 7

Honours

As a player

Tranmere Rovers

Port Vale

As a manager

Tranmere Rovers

Northwich Victoria

Recognition by Tranmere Rovers

The former Borough Road stand at Tranmere Rovers' ground, Prenton Park, was renamed the Johnny King Stand in 2002.[5] On 1 November 2014, a bronze statue of King, designed by artist Tom Murphy, was unveiled outside the ground by King himself before the club's home match against Stevenage. Ben Harrison of the Tranmere Rovers Supporters Club said that "Johnny King is the club's greatest ever manager and is rightly revered by every Tranmere supporter. A loyal servant as both player and manager, the unparalleled success and style of football played by his teams as we rose from near oblivion to the verge of the Premier League will always be fondly remembered at Prenton Park."[12]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-9529152-0-0
    .
  2. ^ a b "Johnny King 1938-2016". Mark Palios, Chairman of Tranmere Rovers FC. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  3. ^ Baggaley, Mike (31 March 2016). "Port Vale: Fans pay tribute to classy promotion-winning captain Johnny King". The Sentinel. Retrieved 31 March 2016.[permanent dead link]
  4. ISBN 1-874427-91-7
    .
  5. ^ a b "Tranmere to honour King". BBC Sport. 30 May 2002. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
  6. ^ "Hall of fame". Caernarfon Online. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
  7. ^ a b Welton, Blake (31 March 2016). "Former Caernarfon Town manager and Tranmere Rovers legend John King dies". Daily Post. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  8. ^ a b Moore, Glenn (10 October 1994). "Football Commentary: Tranmere ride a new Mersey beat". The Independent. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2009.
  9. ^ John King at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  10. ^ "Stats". neilbrown.newcastlefans.com. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  11. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7
    .
  12. ^ BBC News, "Johnny King: Statue unveiled for Tranmere manager", 1 November 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014
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