| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lawrence McMenemy | ||
| Date of birth | (1936-07-26)26 July 1936 (age 89) | ||
| Place of birth | Gateshead, England | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Newcastle United | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1959–1961 | Gateshead | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1964–1967 | Bishop Auckland | ||
| 1968–1971 | Doncaster Rovers | ||
| 1971–1973 | Grimsby Town | ||
| 1973–1985 | Southampton | ||
| 1985–1987 | Sunderland | ||
| 1990–1993 | England U21 | ||
| 1998–1999 | Northern Ireland | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Lawrence McMenemy[1]MBE (born 26 July 1936) is an English retiredfootball coach, best known for his spell as manager ofSouthampton. He is rated in theGuinness Book of Records as one of the twenty most successful managers in post-war English football.[2]
McMenemy was born inGateshead. After serving in theColdstream Guards[1] he began his footballing career withNewcastle United although he never appeared in their first team. He moved toGateshead in the late 1950s, joining the club after they had left the Football League.[3] An injury ended his career in 1961, but he moved into coaching instead, spending three years in that role at Gateshead.
In 1964, McMenemy was appointed manager of non-leagueBishop Auckland and transformed them from a struggling side intoNorthern League champions and also took them to the second round of theFA Cup.[4]
McMenemy then moved toSheffield Wednesday where he spent two years as a coach before he got his big break as manager ofDoncaster Rovers where he remained until May 1971, winning the Fourth Division Championship in 1968–69.[5]
He then became manager ofGrimsby Town, where he won a Fourth Division championship.[6] In July 1973 he leftBlundell Park to become assistant manager atSouthampton.[7]
In November 1973, four months after joining the Saints as assistant manager, he was promoted to the role of manager, replacingTed Bates.[2] He was unable to keep them in the First Division that season, but the board kept faith in him to lift the club back out of the Second Division.[8]
In 1976, McMenemy guided Southampton, then in the Second Division, to anFA Cup final victory overManchester United.[9] It was widely predicted before the game that United would easily win (one pundit said the score would go into double figures).[9] However Southampton, who were in the Second Division at the time (the currentChampionship) and had a much older team, put up a stern challenge against United.[9] The only goal of the game was scored byBobby Stokes with just seven minutes to go, and captainPeter Rodrigues received the FA Cup from theQueen.[10][11] They were the second club in four seasons to win the FA Cup from outside the First Division of English football afterSunderland in 1973 and only one more side from outside the top flight (West Ham United in 1980) has won the trophy. These are the only instances in the post-Second World War era when the trophy has been won by a team outside the top division.[12]
In 1978, the Saints won promotion to theFirst Division and in 1979 reached theLeague Cup Final where they lost 3–2 toNottingham Forest.[13]
McMenemy was linked with the vacant Manchester United manager's job at the end of the1980–81 season, but he ruled himself out of the running and the job went toRon Atkinson instead.[14]
McMenemy had signed veteranWorld Cup winnerAlan Ball to aid his side, later adding serving England captainKevin Keegan when he returned from Germany in 1980.[15] Southampton emerged as title challengers in the1981–82 season, regularly topping the table, before they finished seventh and the title went to Liverpool. Keegan was sold toNewcastle United that summer, but McMenemy made another big name signing when he captured England goalkeeperPeter Shilton.[16] In 1984, he guided the club to second place in the First Division – their highest ever finish.[17]
He left Southampton on 1 June 1985, but returned to football five days later when he was named manager ofSunderland, who had just been relegated to the Second Division.[18] At the time he was the highest-paid manager in English football, but his time on Wearside was not a success and he quit in March 1987 – just weeks before Sunderland fell into the Third Division for the first time in their history.[19][20]
In July 1990, he ended a three-year break from football when he was appointed assistant to England managerGraham Taylor, managing the Under-21 side, and picking out future talents likeDarren Anderton andSteve McManaman.[21][22] In November 1993, after England failed to qualify forUSA 94, Taylor and McMenemy both resigned. They had reached the1992 European Championships in Sweden, but failed to progress beyond the group stages.[23]
McMenemy soon bounced back and was offered the new position of Director of Football by Southampton within weeks of leaving his role with the England team. Fans and the local media were delighted when he accepted the role, which made him the first man to be employed as a Director of Football in the English game.[citation needed] In McMenemy's first season back at Southampton, the Saints finished 10th in thePremiership. However, it did not last long and in 1997, whenRupert Lowe arrived as the newchairman, neither McMenemy nor then-managerGraeme Souness got on with him and promptly resigned, publicly denouncing the new board in the process.[24]
A year later, in 1998 McMenemy was appointedNorthern Ireland manager, but he was not successful and he resigned two years later after they failed to qualify for the2000 European Championships.[25][26]
Since 2000, McMenemy has concentrated on his role as FA special ambassador, travelling toAfghanistan in 2002 to help set up a national league and liaising with the English team in theSpecial Olympics.[27]
In July 2006, he was appointed a non-executive director of Southampton F.C.[27]
McMenemy has made frequent appearances on TV football panels since 1972 as well as BBC TV's "Superkids" and TVS's "Children's Challenge". He also regularly appeared onTV-am prior to 1990 as their football analyst. He presented BBC Radio's "Down Your Way" in 1989 and was a summariser for Sky TV News & Eurosport satellite TV until 1990.[28] He currently is in demand as anafter-dinner speaker.[28] He has written several books on management motivation.[29] He wrote a regular column in theSouthern Daily Echo.[2][30] He has appeared on the documentary Dream Fans the Spirit of Southampton in 2005. He is also the author of a testimonial inThe Future of the NHS.[31] His media work also saw him as a panel member of 5 World Cups as well as TV appearances onThis Is Your Life andParkinson.[32] McMenemy is also the Chairman of the Special Olympics UK.[33] He hosts the Special Olympics Gateshead Tyne & Wear annual awards night.
He is related toHarry McMenemy.[34]He is married to Anne, and has three children Chris (ex. Chesterfield FC Manager, Newcastle United FC first team coach, AFC Sunderland coach), Sean and Alison.
Bishop Auckland
Doncaster Rovers
Grimsby Town
Southampton
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
