 Mee in 1972 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bertram Mee | ||
| Date of birth | (1918-12-25)25 December 1918 | ||
| Place of birth | Highbury Vale,Nottingham, England | ||
| Date of death | 21 October 2001(2001-10-21) (aged 82) | ||
| Place of death | Barnet, England | ||
| Position | Winger | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1938–1939 | Derby County | 0 | (0) |
| 1939 | Mansfield Town | 13 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1966–1976 | Arsenal | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Bertram MeeOBE (25 December 1918 – 21 October 2001) was an Englishfootballer and manager. After his playing career was cut short by injury, he later became a manager and ledArsenal to their firstDouble win in1971.[1]
Born inHighbury Vale,Nottingham, and the younger brother of fellow footballerGeorgie Mee, he played forDerby County andMansfield Town. In the 1940–41 season, Mee made 16 guest appearances forSouthampton, scoring twice.[1]
After his playing career was cut short by injury, Mee joined theRoyal Army Medical Corps where he trained as aphysiotherapist and spent six years, rising to the rank ofsergeant. After leaving, he worked for various football clubs as a physiotherapist before joining Arsenal in 1960, succeedingBilly Milne.[2]
After the sacking ofBilly Wright in 1966, the club asked Mee to become manager, a highly surprising move, perhaps even to the man himself; Mee asked for a get-out clause for him to return to physiotherapist after twelve months if his tenure was unsuccessful. Mee recruitedDave Sexton andDon Howe as his assistants, in order to make up for any tactical shortcomings of his own.[3]
Arsenal had not won a trophy since 1953, but, under Mee, with a crop of players from Arsenal's youth system, such asCharlie George,John Radford,Pat Rice andRay Kennedy, began to show promise. Arsenal reached two successiveLeague Cup finals in 1968 and 1969 but lost them both, toLeeds United andSwindon Town respectively. However, the following season, the club won its first European trophy and its first trophy of any kind for seventeen years, beatingAnderlecht to claim theInter-Cities Fairs Cup, 4–3 on aggregate. After being 3-0 down in the away leg, Arsenal grabbed a late consolation and then beat the Belgian side 3–0 atHighbury.[3]
The Fairs Cup was only the warm-up for the main act, namely theFA Cup andLeague Double win in 1971. The League title was won atWhite Hart Lane, home of their rivalsTottenham Hotspur, on 3 May, the last day of the season; five days later, Arsenal beatLiverpool 2–1 atWembley after extra-time, the winning goal scored by George. It was only the second time a team had won the Double in the 20th century.[3]
Arsenal had ambitions to retain their title the following season and signedAlan Ball fromEverton. However, their league campaign faltered and their hopes of a trophy depended on the FA Cup, where Arsenal had again reachedthe final, this time facing Leeds United. Arsenal lost by a single goal. Arsenal also participated in theEuropean Cup, but was defeated in the quarter-finals by eventual winnersAjax.
In the 1972–73 season, Arsenal managed a serious championship challenge, at one point topping the table, but eventually finished runners-up. A run in the FA Cup was brought to an end by a semi-final defeat to eventual winnersSunderland.[2]
Mee then began to break up the team which had won the double, and players such as Kennedy, George and captainFrank McLintock departed. Mee announced his resignation in 1976 as Arsenal's most successful manager in terms of victories with 241 wins, a number that would not be surpassed until 2006 byArsène Wenger. Mee was succeeded byTerry Neill.
In 1978, he joinedWatford as assistant toGraham Taylor and in charge of scouting. He later became a director of theHornets before retiring in 1991. In 2008, he was posthumously inducted into theNational Football Museum's Hall of Fame.[4]
Mee was made anOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the1984 New Year Honours for services to football.[5] Mee died on 21 October 2001, survived by his wife Doris and two daughters, Alison and Beverley.[6]
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