| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Donald Welsh | ||
| Date of birth | (1911-02-25)25 February 1911 | ||
| Place of birth | Manchester, England | ||
| Date of death | 2 February 1990(1990-02-02) (aged 78) | ||
| Place of death | England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Inside forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Torquay United | |||
| 1935–1947 | Charlton Athletic | 199 | (44) |
| International career | |||
| 1938–1939 | England | 3 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1947–1951 | Brighton & Hove Albion | ||
| 1951–1956 | Liverpool | ||
| 1958–1961 | Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic | ||
| 1962–1964 | Wycombe Wanderers | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Donald Welsh (25 February 1911 – 2 February 1990) was an Englishfootball player and manager. As a player, he played at inside left forCharlton Athletic and forEngland, winning theFA Cup with Charlton in1946–47.
Welsh joined Charlton Athletic in 1935, costing a fee of £3,250 fromTorquay United. An extremely versatile player, he could play equally well at inside left, centre forward, centre half or left half. He soon becamecaptain and skippered Charlton to consecutive promotions from theThird Division to theFirst Division. In 1938, he gained the first of three caps forEngland againstGermany. He later played for the national team againstSwitzerland andRomania, scoring once against the latter in 1939. Welsh did make 8 unofficial war time International Caps for England between 1940 and 1941, scoring a total of 9 goals, of which he scored all four goals in an impressive 4–0 victory against Wales in 1940.
During theSecond World War he made guest appearances for Charlton andLiverpool. He scored 100 goals in 119 League games for Charlton and 43 goals in 40 games for Liverpool. Welsh also led Charlton to two War Cup finals in 1943 and 1944, winning in1944 by beatingChelsea. He also made nine appearances for England in the semi-official wartime matches, scoring twelve goals.
He returned to play for Charlton at the end of the war. He captained the side toFA Cup finals in1946 and1947, winning the latter game againstBurnley. He left the club in November 1947 to begin his management career.
With his playing days over, Welsh started his managerial career atBrighton & Hove Albion in November 1947 aged 36 years old. His managerial career did not start well – Brighton finished bottom of the Third Division (South) at the end of the1947–48 season. Brighton recovered to finish 6th and 8th in the next two years. Following this he joined Liverpool as manager on 5 March 1951 as a result ofGeorge Kay's decision to step down through ill-health.[2]
In 1954 Welsh became the first manager to guide Liverpool into relegation for over 50 years. That day also sawEverton promoted back to the First Division. He had almost accomplished that feat the season before finishing 17th, and only a scrappy win overChelsea on the last day of the season kept Liverpool up. After this relegation Liverpool would stay in the Second Division for eight more seasons. Liverpool came near to being promoted again in1955–56, but Welsh would not be given another chance and was sacked as Liverpool manager in 1956. According to some who played under him, Welsh had an eccentric style.
After leaving Liverpool, Welsh became a publican for a while in the West Country before the lure of football brought him back into club management again, this time atBournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in the newly formed and non-regional Third Division just before the start of the1958–59 season. After two average seasons (they finished 12th and 10th), he was dismissed in February 1961 following a string of poor results. In 1962, he worked for the London County Council Education Department as a Football Coach/Teacher at Tollington Park School in North London. He left the LCC to manage non-LeagueWycombe Wanderers between July 1962 and December 1964[3] before returning to the club where he had enjoyed such success as a player, Charlton Athletic, to become a member of their administrative staff. He died in 1990, aged 78. In 2013, he was inducted into the Charlton Athletic Hall of Fame.
