 Bobby Ancell | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Francis Dudgeon Ancell | ||
| Date of birth | (1911-06-16)16 June 1911 | ||
| Place of birth | Dumfries, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 5 July 1987(1987-07-05) (aged 76) | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Left back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Mid Annandale | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1930–1937 | St Mirren[2] | 158 | (0) |
| 1936–1939 | Newcastle United[2] | 97 | (1) |
| 1946–1948 | Dundee[2] | 58 | (0) |
| 1948–1949 | Aberdeen[2] | 15 | (0) |
| 1949–1950 | Dundee[2] | 6 | (0) |
| Total | 334 | (1) | |
| International career | |||
| 1936 | Scotland | 2 | (0) |
| 1939 | Scotland (wartime) | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1950–1952 | Berwick Rangers | ||
| 1952–1955 | Dunfermline Athletic | ||
| 1955–1965 | Motherwell | ||
| 1965–1968 | Dundee | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Robert Francis Dudgeon Ancell (16 June 1911 – 5 July 1987) was a Scottishfootball player andmanager. He played as aleft back forSt Mirren,Newcastle United,Dundee andAberdeen. He won two fullcaps with theScotland national football team who he also represented in an unofficial war time match. He managedBerwick Rangers,Dunfermline Athletic,Motherwell andDundee during the 1950s and 1960s.
Born inDumfries, Ancell grew up with a marked aptitude for sport, thanks in no small part to his father, a physical training instructor atDumfries Academy. As a teenager, he represented his home town at both cricket and rugby and one of his first jobs was as an assistant golf professional, a sport in which he retained a keen interest, eventually playing off a handicap of three.[3]
Ancell's playing career began with local sideMid Annandale, from where he moved toSt Mirren in 1930. He was a stylish, intelligent full back. Ancell stayed with thePaisley club for six years, where the best league finishes were fifth in 1932 and seventh in 1933. In 1934 he played for St Mirren in aScottish Cup final defeat against Rangers in front of a crowd of 113,430.[4] However the team was in decline and was relegated in 1935. This was the only relegation of Ancell's career as either player or manager. The drop of a division was short lived though, and promotion straight back up followed the season after.[3]
Ancell was signed byNewcastle United for a fee of £2,750 for the start of season1936–37. Within months of joining Newcastle, Ancell received international recognition.[5] He made hisScotland debut in a 3–1 victory overNorthern Ireland. He second and last cap was shortly after in the season againstWales. Ancell received a third, unofficial cap, againstEngland in December 1939 played at Newcastle'sSt. James' Park.[3][6]
Having returned north upon the outbreak ofWorld War II, Ancell served the war as a PT instructor as many players did. Guesting for numerous teams[1] before joiningDundee in 1944, he had a spell as coach to the Norwegian army. Ancell[3] helped Dundee lift the Second Division championship in1946–47 and their first season back in the top flight ended in fourth spot.
In season1948–49 he left theDark Blues to join a side managed by a fellow native of Dumfries,Dave Halliday'sAberdeen.[7][1] Ancell returned to Dundee play a small number of games in the season after.[3]
Ancell then turned his hand to management in 1950 withBerwick Rangers, then of theEast of Scotland League, turning down an offer fromDunfermline Athletic who at that point were making headlines from board room disputes. Ancell was then approached by Dunfermline again in 1952 and with a completely new set of directors running the club, and accepted the offer. ThePars had been without a manager during the previous season and, having released no fewer than eighteen players at the end of it, Ancell had to rebuild the squad with very little money. The upheaval led to a mediocre season but Ancell was happy to develop young talent and shape them into the kind of players he wanted. One of his first signings was 17-year-oldJimmy Millar. The Dunfermline improved in all three seasons under Ancell and achieved promotion to the First Division in 1955 after an absence of eighteen years; however Ancell moved on.[3]
Motherwell was Ancell's next port of call in 1955 where he appointed ex-Dundee teammateReuben Bennett to his training staff.[5] AtFir Park, he was able to put his purist principles into practice and developed a dynamic young side known as the 'Ancell Babes'.[8] Under his guidance, no fewer than eight players gained international recognition featuring players likeIan St John,[5]Charlie Aitken andWillie Hunter. The club's best finish in Ancell's tenure was third place in 1959 followed by finishes in fifth spot in the two subsequent seasons.[3]
Ancell next rejoined former club Dundee where his best finish was sixth in 1967. He took Dundee to an autumn1967 Scottish League Cup Final against the previous season'sEuropean Cup winners, Celtic. Ancell's team scored three times atHampden Park inGlasgow but still lost out 5–3.[9] In the1967–68 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Dundee eliminated opposition from Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland to meetLeeds United in the semi-final; after a 1–1 draw at Dens, a 1–0 second leg win took Leeds through on their way to lifting the trophy.[3] From his first to last season in management, not once did his side finish a season having been fighting for divisional survival.[3]
After a year working as reserve team coach at Dens Park, he acted forNottingham Forest in a scouting role before finally retiring from the game to spend more time on the golf course prior to his death on 5 July 1987.[3]
St Mirren
Dundee
Dunfermline Athletic
Dundee
