Les Shannon
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Leslie Shannon[1] | ||
Date of birth | 12 March 1926 | ||
Place of birth | Liverpool, Lancashire, England | ||
Date of death | 2 December 2007 | (aged 81)||
Place of death | Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England | ||
Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[2] | ||
Position(s) |
inside forward | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1944–1949 | Liverpool | 11 | (1) |
1949–1958 | Burnley | 263 | (39) |
Total | 274 | (40) | |
International career | |||
1952–1956 |
England B | 3 | (0) |
Managerial career | |||
1966–1969 | Bury | ||
1969–1970 | Blackpool | ||
1971–1974 |
PAOK | ||
1975–1976 | Iraklis | ||
1976–1977 | Olympiacos | ||
1977–1978 | Panachaiki | ||
1979–1980 | OFI Crete | ||
1980–1981 | Brann | ||
1982–1984 | OFI Crete | ||
1985 | Egaleo | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Leslie Shannon (12 March 1926 – 2 December 2007)[3] was an English football player and manager.
As a
He
Playing career
Shannon was born in Liverpool, he was rejected by Everton for his short stature (5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)).[2] A centre-forward, he instead started his playing career with his hometown club of Liverpool in November 1944.[5] The next year he scored against Merseyside rivals Everton in the Liverpool Senior Cup.[2] He made his debut for George Kay's "Reds" in the Football League four years later, against Manchester City at Anfield on 17 April 1948.[5] His only goal for the Merseyside club came the following season, in a 2–1 win at Sheffield United on 30 August 1948.[5] This was his only goal in a sequence of ten appearances, and he was dropped from the first-team.[2]
He was sold to
Coaching and management
In 1959, Shannon moved into youth team coaching with Everton, and remained at Goodison Park for three years.[5] In 1962, he joined Billy Wright's backroom staff at Arsenal, rising to the rank of assistant manager.[7]
After four years at Highbury, Shannon took over as manager of Second Division Bury. Bury finished bottom in his first season in charge, and Shannon was sacked, only to be re-instated two months later following boardroom changes at Gigg Lane.[2] He guided the "Shakers" out of the Third Division the following season as runners-up to Oxford United, only to see them make the drop again in 1968–69.
After Bury's relegation, Shannon replaced Stan Mortensen as manager of Blackpool, with whom he had instant success, finishing as runners-up to Huddersfield Town and winning promotion back to the First Division. This was achieved without the services of the club's star player, Tony Green, who sat out the entire 1969–70 season due to injury. In 1970–71, however, Blackpool finished bottom and were relegated to the league's second tier once again. Shannon had left his position only two months into the season and after only seventeen months in charge. He was replaced, in a caretaker role, by Jimmy Meadows; his permanent successor at Bloomfield Road was Bob Stokoe.
Shannon accepted an offer to work in
He moved on to another
Shannon moved on to Piraeus club Olympiacos, taking them to a second-place finish in 1976–77. He then spent six months at the Kostas Davourlis Stadium coaching Panachaiki in Patras, who finished 15th in 1978–79. He then led Crete club OFI Crete to 11th place in 1979–80. He then had an interlude back in England as an adviser with Port Vale.[8]
He had a two-year stay with
He returned to the Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium, leading OFI to seventh and eighth-place finishes in 1982–83 and 1983–84. After this he returned permanently to Britain, where he settled in Bedfordshire. He became a scout for Luton Town in 1986, and remained at Kenilworth Road until 2001.[5]
Later life
Shannon's knowledge of football led to his working alongside Pelé in co-ordinating the football sequences of the 1981 war movie Escape to Victory.[9] He was also enlisted as an advisor on the Channel 4 series The Manageress in 1989.[3]
Shannon died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. At his memorial service at the Square Methodist Church, Dunstable, former Manchester United manager Wilf McGuinness gave a speech, whilst one of the songs chosen was "You'll Never Walk Alone", sung by two of his great nephews Tom Wing and James Wing, a homage to his beginnings in football.
Career statistics
Playing statistics
Source:[10]
Club | Season | Division | League | FA Cup | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
Liverpool | 1947–48 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
1948–49 | First Division | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | |
Total | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | ||
Burnley | 1949–50 | First Division | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
1950–51 | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
1951–52 | First Division | 30 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 34 | 11 | |
1952–53 | First Division | 42 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
1953–54 | First Division | 30 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 33 | 9 | |
1954–55 | First Division | 42 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 1 | |
1955–56 | First Division | 41 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 2 | |
1956–57 | First Division | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 1 | |
1957–58 | First Division | 35 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 38 | 2 | |
1958–59 | First Division | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
Total | 262 | 39 | 19 | 5 | 281 | 44 | ||
Career total | 273 | 40 | 19 | 5 | 292 | 45 |
Managerial statistics
Team | From | To | Record | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
Bury | 11 July 1966 | 29 May 1969 | 144 | 52 | 24 | 68 | 36.1 |
Blackpool | 29 May 1969 | 26 October 1970 | 64 | 25 | 19 | 20 | 39.1 |
PAOK | 23 February 1971 | 15 October 1974 | 152 | 90 | 35 | 27 | 59.2 |
Iraklis | 3 September 1975 | 10 June 1976 | 36 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 36.1 |
Olympiacos | 11 June 1976 | 31 May 1977 | 41 | 29 | 6 | 6 | 70.7 |
Total | 437 | 209 | 95 | 133 | 47.8 |
Honours
Bury
- Football League Third Division second-place promotion: 1967–68
Blackpool
- Football League Second Division second-place promotion: 1969–70
PAOK
- 1973
- Alpha Ethniki runner-up: 1972–73
Iraklis Thessaloniki
- Greek Cup: 1976
Olympiacos
- Alpha Ethniki runner-up: 1976–77
Brann
- 2. divisjon: 1980
References
- ^ "Les Shannon". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Les Shannon: Feisty footballer and coach". The Independent. London. 13 December 2007. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ a b Goulding, Neil (3 December 2007). "Adams saves day for Bury". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- ^ "Macedonia newspaper, 2007 in Greek". Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f "Player profile". lfchistory.net. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Scholes, Tony. "Burnley Career Stats". clarets-mad.co.uk. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
- ^ "Match Programme". Arsenal.com. 18 March 2006. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
- .
- ^ "Tribute to Les Shannon" – LastingTribute.com
- ^ Les Shannon at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
Further reading
- Calley, Roy (1992). Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992, Breedon Books, ISBN 1-873626-07-X