| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Charles Sillett[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1936-07-20)20 July 1936 | ||
| Place of birth | Southampton, England | ||
| Date of death | 30 November 2021(2021-11-30) (aged 85) | ||
| Position | Full back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1953–1954 | Southampton | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1954–1962 | Chelsea | 93 | (0) |
| 1962–1966 | Coventry City | 109 | (1) |
| 1966–1968 | Plymouth Argyle | 38 | (1) |
| Total | 240 | (2) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1974–1978 | Hereford United | ||
| 1986–1990 | Coventry City | ||
| 1991–1992 | Hereford United | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
John Charles Sillett (20 July 1936 – 30 November 2021) was an Englishfootball player and manager. He played forChelsea,Coventry City andPlymouth Argyle. He won theChampionship with Chelsea in1955, playing alongside his brotherPeter Sillett. He was manager of Coventry City from 1986 until 1990, winning theFA Cup in 1987, and also had two spells as manager ofHereford United.
John Sillett was born inSouthampton, Hampshire, on 20 July 1936.[2] His father,Charlie Sillett, was a footballer, playing forSouthampton between 1931 and 1938. His older brother,Peter Sillett, was also a footballer.[3]
John and Peter Sillett both followed their father in signing for Southampton, although John never played for the first team. The brothers moved on toChelsea as teenagers, where Peter won theFirst Division title in1954–55. John made his Chelsea debut in 1957 and played over 100 games for Chelsea, scoring once.[4] Sillett left Chelsea after the arrival ofTommy Docherty as manager, joiningCoventry City in June 1962, who were at the time being managed byJimmy Hill. Sillett helped Coventry to win theThird Division title in1963–64, but his playing days were limited after suffering a back problem.[5] In July 1966, he joinedPlymouth Argyle, where he ended his playing career.[6]
After retirement from playing, Sillett moved into coaching. He was appointedBristol City youth coach in 1968 under managerAlan Dicks, a former Chelsea and Coventry colleague, and took the team to theFA Youth Cup semi-finals. From 1970 to 1974, Sillett was first team coach and played a significant part in the development of the team which went on to achieve promotion to the top flight in 1976.[7] In June 1974, he was appointed manager ofHereford United.[6]
During Sillett's first season, Hereford finished in a mid-table position, an improvement on the previous season's 18th place.[8][9] In1975–76, the team won the Third Division title, with the prolificDixie McNeil scoring 35 goals.[10] A year later they were relegated, having won only eight matches and finishing bottom of theSecond Division.[11] Sillett initially stayed on as manager, but resigned in February 1978.[10]
Jimmy Hill invited Sillett to join the Coventry coaching staff in 1979.[12] He left the club in 1984 after a falling-out with managerBobby Gould, but returned in 1985 under Gould's successor,Don Mackay.[13] When Mackay departed in 1986 with just three games of the season left, Sillett was appointed chief coach alongsideGeorge Curtis. They managed two wins and avoided relegation on the final day of the season.[14]
Sillett was appointed Coventry's first-team coach for the 1986–87 season, with Curtis receiving the title of managing director;[15] That season, the club went on to reach the1987 FA Cup Final againstTottenham Hotspur atWembley, winning the game 3–2. TV commentatorJohn Motson is quoted as saying it was "the most exciting FA Cup final on which I've had the pleasure of commentating".[16]
Sillett became Coventry's sole manager from the 1987–88 season onwards,[17] while Curtis returned to working on matters not related to the day-to-day running of the team.[18] Sillett boughtDavid Speedie from Chelsea for £780,000, a club-record at the time, announcing that the club would "no longer be shopping atWoolworths, from now on we're shopping atHarrods".[19][20] The club were unable to participate inthe European Cup Winners' Cup as English clubs were still banned from European competition following the 1985Heysel Stadium disaster.[21] The 1987–88 season began with another trip to Wembley, as Coventry played league-champions Everton inthe FA Charity Shield. 40,000 Coventry supporters attended the game, which Sillett's team lost 1–0.[19] The first league game was a repeat of the FA Cup final, as Coventry played Tottenham, Speedie scoring in a 2–1 win.[22][23] The season was a disappointment, however, with their defence of the FA Cup ending in a fourth-round home defeat toWatford and another tenth-place league finish.[24] The following season City suffered one of the biggest upsets in FA Cup history, as theylost 2–1 to non-leagueSutton United in the third round.[25] They fared better in the league and were third in the table following a win over league-leaders Arsenal in late February.[26][27] They eventually finished seventh, which was their highest finish since 1978.[24]
Coventry replaced a number of players during the 1989 close-season, buying defenderPeter Billing and acquiring Liverpool'sKevin MacDonald on a free transfer, withDavid Phillips andSteve Sedgley leaving the club. Despite a strong start, which saw the side top of the table after four games, City struggled to score goals and finished twelfth in the table. They suffered another embarrassing FA Cup defeat, this time to Third DivisionNorthampton, but fared better inthe League Cup, reaching the semi-final with a 5–0 win over Sunderland before losing to eventual winnersNottingham Forest in the semi-final.[28] With club record signing Kevin Gallacher (£900,000) starting to settle in to the frenetic style of the English top flight game, Sillett believed the club could challenge for the league title in 1990–91. The season started slowly, however, and Sillett was sacked by Chairman John Poynton, and replaced byTerry Butcher, who arrived fromRangers as player-manager, for a £400,000 fee.[29] In his four full seasons in charge, Coventry's league placings were tenth, tenth, seventh and twelfth.[30][31][32][33]
In 1991, Sillett returned to Hereford as manager, but left at the end of his first full season.[10] This was his last major involvement with football, although he did some scouting work for theEngland national team underSven-Göran Eriksson.[3] He also worked withCentral TV as a pundit for their football coverage.[34]
Sillett died in the morning of 30 November 2021, at the age of 85.[35][36][37][38]
Chelsea
Coventry City
Coventry City
Hereford United