William Townley
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Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 14 February 1866 | ||
Place of birth | Blackburn, England | ||
Date of death | 30 May 1950 | (aged 84)||
Place of death | Blackpool, England | ||
Position(s) |
Left winger | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1882–1883 | Blackburn Swifts | ||
1883–1886 | Blackburn Olympic | ||
1886–1892 | Blackburn Rovers | 77 | (27) |
1892–1893 | Stockton | ||
1893–1894 | Blackburn Rovers | 20 | (10) |
1894–1896 | Darwen | 42 | (15) |
1896–1897 | Manchester City | 3 | (0) |
International career | |||
1889–1890 | England | 2 | (2) |
Managerial career | |||
–1909 |
Deutscher FC Prag | ||
1909–1911 | Karlsruher FV | ||
1911–1913 | SpVgg Fürth | ||
1914 | Bayern Munich | ||
1914 | SpVgg Fürth | ||
1914 | Bayern Munich | ||
1919–1921 | Bayern Munich | ||
1920 | St. Gallen | ||
1921 | Waldhof Mannheim | ||
–1923 | SC Victoria Hamburg | ||
1923–1925 | St. Gallen | ||
1924 | Netherlands | ||
1926–1927 | SpVgg Fürth | ||
FSV Frankfurt | |||
1930–1932 | SpVgg Fürth | ||
1932 | Eintracht Hannover | ||
Arminia Hannover | |||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
William James Townley (14 February 1866 – 30 May 1950) was an English football player and coach.
He scored the first hat-trick in the history of the FA Cup final, but his lasting legacy is defined as an important pioneer of the game in Germany, leading Karlsruher FV and SpVgg Fürth to three German championships as a coach.
Playing career
Townley's career as a player began with Blackburn Swifts F.C., where he played for one season. He than joined
Season 1888-1889
In the 1888–89 season, Townley played 19 league matches and scored eight league goals. As a winger, he played in a midfield that achieved big (three league goals or more) league wins on five separate occasions. In scoring eight league goals, Townley scored two-in-a-match twice. He played in all five
Townley was capped twice for
Coaching career
At the end of his playing years, Townley took up coaching as a profession; as the opportunities were limited in England, he left for the continent, where football was beginning to develop a serious following. In Germany, as in the rest of Europe at the time, the game was strictly amateur in character, and players often had to contribute to team expenses. For a club to have a coach was not yet a matter of course, but rather a luxury, as it was more common then for a senior player or club functionary to fill the role and carry out the tasks of a coach. Coaches were often hired for special occasions only, or for a brief period to help develop the skills of a team, before they moved on.
Townley's first coaching job was with
The following year, he was hired by the northern Bavarian club SpVgg Fürth. This club owned the most advanced facilities in Germany, and was quickly becoming the largest club in the country with a membership approaching 3,000. Two months after his arrival, Fürth lost against English side Newcastle United 2-1. He guided the club to its first two Bavarian championships (Ostkreismeisterschaft), which heralded the onset of a golden era that would last into the 1930s, and which saw the club become one of the most dominant football sides in the country.
In December 1913, Townley got the call from Bayern Munich, but on a loan arrangement he re-joined Fürth in April of the following year to guide them through the national championship rounds. In the final, Fürth captured its first national title, defeating defending champions VfB Leipzig, holders of a then record three German titles. It is not clear, but he may then have returned to Munich, before the horrors of World War I overtook the continent, obscuring knowledge of Townley's activities during this period.
He re-emerged with Bayern in 1919 and coached there until 1921, helping the club earn local and regional titles. It appears he was loaned to the Swiss club
Afterward, Townley moved to SV Waldhof Mannheim, where he spent two months aiding in the club's preparations for the South German Championship. The team's campaign was cut short by eventual national champions 1. FC Nürnberg. It then appears that he may have coached in Sweden, before joining SC Victoria Hamburg where he and his son, playing as a striker, spent a couple of seasons. The last months of the 1922–1923 season, he trained both Be Quick 1887 and Forward from the Dutch town of Groningen. In the latter of half of 1923, Townley returned to St. Gallen, where he stayed until February 1925.
Townley interrupted his time in Switzerland for a four-month stint with the Netherlands national team to guide them through the 1924 Olympics in Paris. In the semi-finals, the Netherlands lost a closely fought match to Uruguay – the dominant side of that era, who counted the legendary Andrade and Pedro Cea in their ranks – and had to settle for fourth place.
In May 1926, Townley rejoined SpVgg Fürth for the championship final in which they overcame Hertha BSC to win their second national title – the third national title to his credit. A year later, he was coaching 1925 finalists FSV Frankfurt, and spent some time working with nearby Union Niederrad.
In 1930, Townley returned for a third time to Fürth, with the club winning the South German Championship, before being ousted from the national playoffs in the quarter-finals by the defending champions Hertha Berlin.
Now in his mid-60s, Townley took up his last known posting in 1932 with
Townley died in Blackpool, England in 1950 at the age of 84.
Honours and achievements
Playing career
Year | Club | Year | Title |
---|---|---|---|
18?? | Blackburn Junior Football | ||
18?? | Blackburn Olympic F.C. | ||
1886 | Blackburn Rovers | 1891
|
FA Cup FA Cup |
1894 | Darwen F.C. | ||
1900 | Manchester City |
England national team
23 February 1889 –
15 March 1890 –
Coaching career
Years | Club | Details | Year | Titles |
---|---|---|---|---|
19??–1909 | Deutscher FC Prag |
|||
1909–1911 | Karlsruher FV | 1910 | Championship | |
1911–1913 | SpVgg Fürth | 04/1911 – 12/1913 | 1912 1913 |
Bavarian Championship Bavarian Championship |
1914 | Bayern Munich | 01/1914 – 04/1914 | ||
1914 | SpVgg Fürth | 04/1914 – 05/1914 | 1914 | Championship |
1914 | Bayern Munich | |||
1919–1921 | Bayern Munich | 1920 | Champion Munich, Champion Southern Bavaria | |
1920 | St. Gallen (CH) | 08/1920 | ||
1921 | Waldhof Mannheim | 01/1921 – 03/1921 | ||
192?–1923 | SC Victoria Hamburg | |||
1923–1925 | St. Gallen (CH) | 1923 – 02/1925 | ||
1924 | Netherlands (National) | 03/1924-06/1924 | 1924 | Olympics, 4th place |
1926–1927 | SpVgg Fürth | 05/1926 – 09/1927 | 1926 1927 |
Championship South German Cup |
192?–19?? | FSV Frankfurt | |||
1930–1932 | SpVgg Fürth | 09/30 – 06/1932 | 1931 | Champion South Germany |
1932 (?) | Eintracht Hannover | |||
1932-193x | Arminia Hannover |
1933 | Champion North Germany (Southern District) |
Not verified engagements:
- Sweden
- FC Union Niederrad 07 (ca. 1927/1930)
References
- ISBN 978-1-78091-387-2.
- ^ "English National Football Archive". Retrieved 28 December 2017. (registration & fee required)
- ISBN 0600590801.
External links
- William Townley at Englandstats.com
- SpVgg Greuther Fürth
- "El Bombin" – Tales of British Football Coaches Around the World
- Billy Townley: Blackburn Rovers at spartacus-educational.com – the facts from the biography.
- England career profile