| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ivor Verdun Powell[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1916-07-05)5 July 1916[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Bargoed, Wales[1] | ||
| Date of death | 6 November 2012(2012-11-06) (aged 96)[2] | ||
| Position | Left-half | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Bargoed Thursdays | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Barnet | |||
| 1937–1948 | Queens Park Rangers | 110 | (2) |
| 1948–1951 | Aston Villa | 79 | (5) |
| 1951 | Port Vale | 6 | (0) |
| 1951–1952 | Barry Town | 13 | (4) |
| 1952–1954 | Bradford City | 83 | (9) |
| Total | 291+ | (20+) | |
| International career | |||
| 1946–1950 | Wales | 8 | (0) |
| Wales Wartime | 4 | (0) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1951 | Port Vale | ||
| 1952–1955 | Bradford City | ||
| 1960–1963 | Carlisle United | ||
| 1964–1967 | Bath City | ||
| 1968 | PAOK | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ivor Verdun Powell,MBE (5 July 1916 – 6 November 2012) was a Welshfootball player andmanager. He won eightcaps forWales.
Awing half, he began his professional career withQueens Park Rangers in September 1937. His career was interrupted byWorld War II, though he returned to QPR to help them to theThird Division South title in1947–48. He moved toAston Villa for£17,500in December 1948, and played 79 games in theFirst Division. He was appointedplayer-manager atPort Vale in July 1951, though he was sacked after just four months. He was appointedBradford City manager in 1952 but was again unsuccessful and departed in February 1955. He did find success atCarlisle United following his appointment in 1960, leading the club topromotion out of theFourth Division in 1961–62. He left the club in 1963 and later managedBath City before becoming acoach.
He was inducted to theWelsh Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 alongsidesnooker playerTerry Griffiths and cricketerTony Lewis. He also entered theGuinness Book of World Records as the oldest working football coach on his 90th birthday after 55 years as a coach. He retired on 26 May 2010, aged 93. Ivor was the father ofBarry Powell.[3]
Powell was aseventh son of a seventh son and started his working life down themines, alongside his father and six brothers for a wage of twoshillings a day.[4] His playing career began withSouth Wales League side Bargoed Thursdays.[4] To his delight, in August 1936 he was invited to London to have a trial withQueens Park Rangers, making him "so happy to leave that wretched [coal] pit".[4] This was unsuccessful but Powell stayed in London and got a job. He started playing for thereserve team ofBarnet and, in May 1937, played in afriendly game against QPR. Powell was the outstanding player in the game, and Barnet won 8–1. This time, the Rangers took real interest. Joining QPR on professional terms underBilly Birrell in September 1937, the club finished third in theThird Division South, missing out onpromotion as they finished three points below championsMillwall. They finished sixth in1938–39, the first full season before the outbreak ofWorld War II.[citation needed]
During the war, he guested forBradford City andBlackpool whilst working as anRAF physical trainer. At Blackpool, he struck up a friendship withStanley Matthews, who later became Powell's best man at his wedding to Joan Browell in 1943.[5]
He returned toLoftus Road after the war and helped QPR to finish as the Third Division South runners-up in1946–47, though only the team that finished first were promoted into theSecond Division. They managed to finish as champions in1947–48 underDave Mangnall's stewardship to win promotion finally.[4] He played 159 league and cup games for the club.[6]
On 15 December 1948, the toughtackler commanded a£17,500transfer fee; this was a record for a half back and for both the buying and selling clubs when he moved toAston Villa.[5] ManagerAlex Massie appointed him as clubcaptain.[4] He played another 79First Division games for Villa in1948–49,1949–50, and1950–51, before he was appointedplayer-manager atPort Vale in July 1951.
Powell made eight international caps forWales[7] and won four wartime caps.[8] In one game he was replaced byEnglishmanStan Mortensen in a game betweenEngland and Wales when his injury left the Welsh side without an availablesubstitute.
At Port Vale, as player-manager, he played just six times, restricted on the field by a knee injury. As amanager, he tried to 'rule by fear' and was not well-liked by the players; with the club bottom of theThird Division South, hiscontract was terminated in November 1951.[1]Roy Sproson later said that "everything seemed to go wrong for him at Vale" and that "he used to treat players like kids".[9] Powell stated that all of the club's funds had been spent on completingVale Park but that "I thought if I increased the fitness of the squad and worked on their diet I could knock them into shape".[4] Injuries affected the squad and top-scorerCliff Pinchbeck "disappeared for the first weeks of the season".[4]
"He was a good, clean-living man who was always fair with me. He was a sergeant major-type as a manager. The first time he called me into his office, his first words were 'I'm the boss' and I thought 'Oh heck'. He had been a tremendous player, although I remember him coming unstuck in one training session on thepitch when he was trying tocoach our winger,Mick Hulligan. Mick's free kicks hadn't been too clever that day, so Ivor said, 'Right, let me show you'. Ivor put the ball down just outside the penalty area, took a run-up and, as we all watched, he blasted the ball right out of the ground and off down Hamil Road. He did his best to recover the situation though. He turned around to Mick and said, 'Now, you see, that's what you were doing'. Football is a results business and, unfortunately, we weren't getting those results when Ivor was there. I remember being in the dressing room when he came in to the ground to see our chairman, William Holdcroft. We guessed he was being shown the door. On his way out he stopped and said to us: 'I may be back one day'. The chairman shouted: 'Oh no you won't'. Ivor was a disciplinarian at Vale, but that's not a criticism. I think it was his first job in management and he just didn't have the success with us."
— Port Vale wingerColin Askey noted that Powell's first job in management was a steep learning curve.[10]
Powell moved toBarry Town before being appointed the newBradford City manager, again as player-manager, before the start of the1952–53 season. His first season atValley Parade was disappointing as they slipped to 16th inThird Division North. The following season, they came fifth but were 16 points shy of thepromotion places. During that season he missed the firstpenalty of his career in a home fixture withWorkington.[11] The following season, he was carried off withkneeligament damage againstWrexham.[11] The injury ended his playing career. City's form also struggled, and Powell left in February 1955 after a run of seven straight defeats and just two wins from 19 games without his presence on the field. City were forced to apply for re-election at the end of the campaign.
Powell became a trainer-coach atDon Revie'sLeeds United, and also had a coaching spell atPAOK in Greece before he returned to management withCarlisle United in May 1960, succeedingAndy Beattie. He led the "Cumbrians" to their first promotion when they finished fourth in theFourth Division in1961–62.[4] He instilled discipline atBrunton Park, and signed players such asPeter McConnell,Reg Davies,Terry Caldwell, andJack Marsden.[12] He left thefollowing season, with the club struggling in the league and knocked out of theFA Cup bySouthern League sideGravesend & Northfleet.[11]
Powell became manager ofBath City in 1964 and then a member of the coaching staff atTeam Bath (University of Bath), where he worked for over 30 years, before becoming a coach at the same club. At 93, Powell announced his retirement as the "world's oldest football coach" in May 2010.[13][14]
He was inducted into theWelsh Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.[15] In 2006, while assistant coach forTeam Bath at theUniversity of Bath, he celebrated his 90th birthday and entered theGuinness Book of World Records as the oldest working football coach.[16] He later became the club President.[17] He completed 53 years as anFA accredited coach. In 1993, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (MA) by theUniversity of Bath.[18]
He was appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the2008 New Year Honours for his services to sport and was presented with his award by QueenElizabeth II on 25 June 2008, a few days short of his 92nd birthday.[19] He described receiving the award as "an honour and a privilege."[20]
"Aggression, determination, the will to win. These have always been my watchwords, and they still are. That's what I try to instil into these youngsters. And they listen, they really do."
— Speaking in 2007, Powell explained his philosophy toThe Independent.[21]
In 2010, he launched "The Ivor Powell Sports Scholarship Fund" at the University of Bath to provide scholarships for future undergraduates who are academically gifted and in their chosen sport. This scholarship is administered by University of Bath Development and Alumni Relations.[22]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Other[A] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Queens Park Rangers | 1938–39 | Third Division South | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 1946–47 | Third Division South | 41 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 1 | |
| 1947–48 | Third Division South | 41 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 1 | |
| 1948–49 | Second Division | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | |
| Total | 110 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 124 | 2 | ||
| Aston Villa | 1948–49 | First Division | 20 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| 1949–50 | First Division | 42 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 3 | |
| 1950–51 | First Division | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 2 | |
| Total | 79 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 5 | ||
| Port Vale | 1951–52 | Third Division South | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Bradford City | 1952–53 | Third Division North | 36 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 3 |
| 1953–54 | Third Division North | 39 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 5 | |
| 1954–55 | Third Division North | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | |
| Total | 83 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 88 | 9 | ||
| Career total | 278 | 16 | 24 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 304 | 16 | ||
| Wales national team[24] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1946 | 1 | 0 |
| 1947 | 2 | 0 |
| 1948 | 1 | 0 |
| 1949 | 3 | 0 |
| 1950 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 8 | 0 |
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Port Vale | 14 June 1951 | 1 December 1951 | 19 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 010.5 |
| Bradford City | 31 May 1952 | 1 February 1955 | 128 | 46 | 37 | 45 | 035.9 |
| Carlisle United | 31 May 1960 | 1 February 1963 | 92 | 47 | 30 | 15 | 051.1 |
| Total | 278 | 95 | 75 | 108 | 034.2 | ||
Queens Park Rangers
Carlisle United