| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Laurence Bingham[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1931-08-05)5 August 1931[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Belfast, Northern Ireland[1] | ||
| Date of death | 9 June 2022(2022-06-09) (aged 90)[2] | ||
| Place of death | Southport, England[2] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Outside-right[1] | ||
| Youth career | |||
| St Donard's Youth Club | |||
| 1947–1948 | Glentoran | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1948–1950 | Glentoran | 60 | (21) |
| 1950–1958 | Sunderland | 206 | (45) |
| 1958–1960 | Luton Town | 87 | (27) |
| 1960–1963 | Everton | 86 | (23) |
| 1963–1965 | Port Vale | 40 | (6) |
| Total | 479 | (122) | |
| International career | |||
| 1950 | Irish League XI | 2 | (0) |
| 1951–1963 | Northern Ireland | 56 | (8) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1965–1968 | Southport | ||
| 1967–1971 | Northern Ireland | ||
| 1968–1970 | Plymouth Argyle | ||
| 1970–1971 | Linfield | ||
| 1971–1973 | Greece | ||
| 1973 | AEK Athens | ||
| 1973–1977 | Everton | ||
| 1977 | PAOK | ||
| 1978–1979 | Mansfield Town | ||
| 1980–1993 | Northern Ireland | ||
| 1987–1988 | Al-Nassr | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
William Laurence BinghamMBE (5 August 1931 – 9 June 2022) was a Northern Irishfootball player andmanager.
As a player, his first professional club wasGlentoran, for whom he played between 1948 and 1950. Making a move to England, he then spent eight years withSunderland, making 227 appearances. In 1958, he switched toLuton Town, making nearly 100 league appearances in three years. This was followed by a two-year association withEverton, where he again went close to 100 league appearances. He finished his career after breaking his leg in a match forPort Vale in 1964 at 33. He had scored 133 goals in 525 appearances in all domestic competitions. Between 1951 and 1963, he won 56caps forNorthern Ireland, scoring 10 international goals, and played at the1958 FIFA World Cup.
His managerial career started atSouthport in 1965. He was appointed manager of Northern Ireland two years later after taking the "Sandgrounders" topromotion out of theFourth Division. During his time as an international manager, he also took charge atPlymouth Argyle and laterLinfield. He led Linfield to a quadruple in 1970–71, his only season in charge. In 1971, he was appointed thehead coach of theGreece national side. Two years later, he returned to the domestic game withEverton of England. He returned to Greece briefly in 1977, taking the reins atPAOK. The following year, he returned to England to take charge ofMansfield Town for one full season. In 1980, he was re-appointed as Northern Ireland manager, his final position and a post he would hold for the next 13 years. He led his nation to the finals of theFIFA World Cup in1982 and1986.
Bingham attendedElmgrove Elementary School and wascaptain of the school's football team, also being selected for Northern Ireland schoolboy games.[3] Born in theBloomfield area ofBelfast, he grew up alongsideJackie andDanny Blanchflower.[4] His father worked at the localshipyards.[3] He began his career withGlentoran on£6-a-week.[1] He made his senior debut on 12 March 1949, in a 1–1 draw withBallymena United.[1] The "Glens" finished second in theIrish League in1949–50. While with Glentoran, Bingham also made two appearances for theIrish League representative team.[5] He said that playing against experienced full-backSammy Cox of theScottish League XI gave him "my first real practical football lesson".[6]
"Not a natural wing talent like aTommy Lawton,Stanley Matthews orTom Finney, Billy Bingham had realised shortly after his arrival in English football that he would have to work hard, at both the practical and theoretical side of the game. He developed pace, strength and control to enable him to beat full-backs and deliver incisive balls into the box. He worked on hisshooting from range, and his touch within the six-yard box to enable him to effectively poach goals. Above all he was brave enough to take the knocks that were inevitable with his small frame."
— Analysis of Bingham's game from the nifootball.blogspot.co.uk website.[1]
Bingham joinedSunderland in October 1950 for£10,000.[7] He was first informed of the move by football writerCharlie Buchan, who shook his hand and said "congratulations, you've been transferred to Sunderland".[8] In addition to playing professional football atRoker Park, Bingham continued his shipbuilding apprenticeship on the Sunderland shipyards.[1] His speed and ball-control made him a popular player with the "Black Cats", and he gradually worked his way intoBill Murray's first-team plans in1950–51.[1] He initially was behindLen Duns andTommy Wright in the pecking order, despite Sunderland's transfer outlay on him as the beginnings of their "Bank of England" team, and he played for the reserves in theNorth Eastern League.[9] Wright suffered a drop in form, leaving Bingham to make his debut againstStoke City in December.[10] He trained hard and also utilisedweight training to improve his strength and compensate for his undersized frame.[11] Wright then suffered a serious injury in March, leaving Bingham to take his place for the remainder of the1950–51 season.[12]
He played in all but six games of the1951–52 campaign as Wright recovered from his injury, with the Black Cats labouring to a 12th-place finish.[13] He lost his place to the returning Wright in the1952–53 season.[1] He made just 19 appearances in1953–54, as Wright continued to hold on to his first-team place.[1] Bingham regained his place in1954–55, scoring ten goals in 42 games, as Sunderland finished fourth in theFirst Division, four points behind championsChelsea.[1] His scoring tally included two consecutive braces in victories overCharlton Athletic andTyne–Wear derby rivalsNewcastle United.[12] They also reached theFA Cup semi-finals, where they lost toManchester City on a quagmire of a pitch atVilla Park.[14] They slipped to ninth in1955–56, and again exited the FA Cup at the semi-finals, this time losing 3–0 toBirmingham City.[15] The club were heavily punished for making illegal payments to players, and Bingham himself was one of 15 players that had to forfeit six months' qualification for benefit for receiving these payments.[16] The punishment to the players was later recinded.[17]
The1956–57 campaign started poorly, and Bingham was dropped in October; he put in atransfer request, which was turned down.[1] The club later informed him thatManchester City had expressed an interest, though he rebuffed their advances.[18] New bossAlan Brown signed outside-rightAmby Fogarty from Glentoran, and led the club torelegation in1957–58.[1] Out of the first-team, Bingham fell out with Brown, and left the club in the summer on a £8,000 transfer to top-flightLuton Town.[1] In total he made 227 appearances and scored 47 goals during his time in the North East.[1]
Bingham had been Luton's second-choice in the transfer market asAberdeen wingerGraham Leggat had instead gone toFulham.[19] ManagerDally Duncan had limited control of the team. Bingham believed that team captainSyd Owen had greater influence on the board of directors, and indeed Owen was put in charge of the first team after Duncan leftKenilworth Road in October.[19] The "Hatters" finished 17th in the league in1958–59, but reached the1959 FA Cup final after Bingham scored the winning goal in the semi-final replay againstNorwich City atSt Andrew's.[1] Bingham had scored in all the previous rounds as well as Luton had overcomeLeeds United,Leicester City (after a replay),Ipswich Town, andBlackpool.[20] In theWembley final, hiscorner set upDave Pacey for Luton's consolation in a 2–1 defeat toNottingham Forest.[21]
Despite Bingham scoring 16 league goals to become theclub's top scorer, Luton were relegated in1959–60.[1] NewmanagerSam Bartram failed to keep Bingham for long, and after three goals in 11Second Division games, including a 35-yardvolley againstLiverpool atAnfield, he soon attracted offers fromTottenham Hotspur andArsenal.[1] He wanted his contract improved to the level of new signingJoe McBride, though had to be satisfied when the board instead reduced McBride's contract to the level that the rest of the team were on.[22]
Bingham joined Everton for a fee of £15,000 plusJohn Bramwell and Alex Ashworth in October 1960.[23][24] He had been signed by managerJohnny Carey as outside-leftTommy Ring had broken his leg, withMickey Lill being switched to outside-left from right-wing to accommodate.[25] Bingham immediately formed a good understanding withBobby Collins, though a poor start to the1960–61 campaign left the Toffees unable to get close to runaway First Division champions Tottenham Hotspur.[26] They exited the FA Cup at the third round, with Bingham playing poorly out-of-position on the left following injury to Lill.[27] Carey resigned and was replaced as manager atGoodison Park byHarry Catterick.[28]
A fourth-place finish followed in1961–62, and the "Toffees" won the league title in1962–63.[1] However, Catterick signed ScotsmanAlex Scott in February 1963 for £40,000, and so Bingham's days at Merseyside were numbered.[1] He made 98 appearances and scored 26 goals at Everton.[29]
Bingham joinedPort Vale for a then joint-club record fee of £15,000 in August 1963.[30] He scored seven goals in 38 appearances in1963–64, asFreddie Steele's "Valiants" finished 13th in theThird Division.[30] Johnny Carey, now manager atNottingham Forest, offered £12,000 to take Bingham back into the top-flight, but he elected to remain atVale Park. He retired from playing afterbreaking his leg in a 4–0 defeat atBrentford on 5 September 1964.[30] He left forSouthport on afree transfer in April 1965 to become their trainer-coach.[30]
Bingham became aNorthern Ireland international, winning his firstcap againstFrance as a 19-year-old on 12 May 1951.[1] French full-backRoger Marche said at the end of his career that Bingham was the greatest forward he ever played against.[13] Bingham was less effusive in his praise of the national team, however, stating that "we had no team-manager, no set tactics – in fact no team-plan at all".[31] This changed with the appointment ofPeter Doherty as manager, and the team went on to defeatEngland by three goals to two in aBritish Home Championship match at Wembley on 6 November 1957.[32]
On 16 January 1957, Bingham scored his country's first goal in World Cup qualification, as they claimed a 1–1 draw away atPortugal.[33] A subsequent defeat inItaly and home win over Portugal, left Northern Ireland needing to beat the Italians at home to winthe group and qualify for the1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden.[34] The originally scheduled fixture was converted into a friendly after the original referee was unable to make it, and though the friendly game was drawn 2–2, Northern Ireland won the re-arranged fixture by two goals to one.[35]
In the tournament itself, Northern Ireland beatCzechoslovakia by one goal to nil in the opening match ofGroup 1, with Bingham andWilbur Cush forming "an approximation of a double spearhead".[36] The Swedish press wrote that "[Cush] and Billy Bingham gave an exhibition of fast, clever football never seen before atthe ground."[37] The second game was a 3–1 loss toArgentina, against whom he felt their tactics were ill-suited.[38] They needed to beatWest Germany in the final group game to ensure qualification from the group, though the ensuing 2–2 stalemate meant that a play-off match with Czechoslovakia (who had won 6–1 against Argentina) was required to decide who would follow the Germans into the knock-out phase.[39] The game was level at 1–1 at full-time, which meant thatextra-time followed, and Bingham convinced his teammates to performcalisthenics to demoralise the Czechs.[40]Peter McParland went on to score his fifth goal of the tournament to give the Irish a 2–1 win.[41] The World Cup jounry ended with a 4–0 defeat to France in the quarter-finals.[42]
Qualification for the1962 FIFA World Cup went poorly, with three defeats in the four games of thequalification group.[43] Bingham was awarded a total of 56 full caps, a record at the time, and also scored 10 goals, half of which were scored in British Home Championship matches againstScotland.[citation needed] Most of his caps came alongside inside-forward partnerJimmy McIlroy, who played domestically forBurnley.[44]
Bingham became a coach atSouthport in June 1965 and was appointed manager at the end of the year, at the expense ofWillie Cunningham.[45] He led the team to a tenth-place finish in theFourth Division in1965–66. In his first full season in charge,1966–67, he led the "Sandgrounders" topromotion as runners-up – the club's first-ever promotion. He departedHaig Avenue in October 1967,[45] with Southport in safe hands as they finished the1967–68Third Division campaign in 13th place underDon McEvoy's stewardship.
He left Southport to take charge of theNorthern Ireland national team in October 1967.[7] The position was not a taxing one, however, and Bingham took charge atPlymouth Argyle in February 1968,[45] replacingDerek Ufton. He was unable to steer the club away from relegation, as the "Pilgrims" finished bottom of theSecond Division. He took the club to fifth in the third tier in1968–69, some 15 points behind second-placedSwindon Town. A battle against relegation followed in1969–70, and Bingham departedHome Park in March 1970;[45] the club went on to finish 17th underEllis Stuttard's stewardship. Still Northern Ireland's boss, he took charge of the country's biggest club,Linfield, in August 1970.[45] His one season atWindsor Park was highly successful, as he led the "Blues" to the1970–71 Irish League title, three points ahead of rivalsGlentoran.[45] The club also lifted a treble of trophies, in the form of theUlster Cup,Gold Cup, andBlaxnit Cup.[45] He stood down as "Norn Iron" boss in May 1971, and left Linfield as well in August.[45] During his time as national team coach, Northern Ireland played 20 games, winning eight, drawing three and losing nine games. They had missed out onqualification to the1970 FIFA World Cup after losing to theSoviet Union in Moscow. In theBritish Home Championship tournaments, they finished third in1968–69, fourth in1969–70, and second in1970–71.
Bingham took charge of theGreece national side in September 1971,[45] replacingLakis Petropoulos. The Greeks lost 2–0 toEngland at theKaraiskakis Stadium on 1 December,Geoff Hurst andMartin Chivers the scorers, to ensure Englishqualification toEuro 1972. He left his post in February 1973 after two defeats toSpain meant Greece failed toqualify for the1974 FIFA World Cup.[45]
Immediately after he departed from Greece, Bingham took charge atAEK Athens, who were then looking for a replacement ofBranko Stanković. He stayed at the club for three months before he was sacked due to the bad results that kept the club out of the spots that led to next season's European competitions.[46]
Bingham returned to English football when he took over as manager atEverton in May 1973,[45] replacingHarry Catterick. Signing players such asMartin Dobson andBob Latchford, he led the "Toffees" to seventh in theFirst Division in1973–74, two points off a place in theUEFA Cup. Everton seemed likely to win the title again in1974–75 but only won once in the last five games to finish a disappointing fourth, three points behind championsDerby County. In1975–76, Everton finished eleventh, as a period of decline set in atGoodison Park. A run of eight league games without a win resulted in Bingham being sacked in January 1977;[45] the club went on to finish1976–77 in ninth place underGordon Lee's stewardship, and also finish as runners-up in theLeague Cup final andFA Cup semi-finalists.
Bingham returned to Greece in April 1977,[45] taking charge atPAOK atBranko Stanković's expense. He lasted just six months in the job, however,[45] before being replaced by Lakis Petropoulos, who led the club to a second-place finish inAlpha Ethniki in1977–78. He then took charge atMansfield Town in February 1978,[45] replacingPeter Morris. He could not prevent the "Stags" from suffering relegation from the Second Division at the end of1977–78. The1978–79 season would be his last as a club manager, and he led Mansfield to 18th in the Third Division before he leftField Mill in the summer.[45]
Bingham was appointed manager of Northern Ireland for a second time in March 1980, and it would be in this second spell that his managerial career would be best remembered.[45] He led the nation to victory in the British Home Championship in1980, only the nation's second outright victory in 96 years, as they beat bothScotland andWales, whilst holding England to a draw. However, they only managed a point in1982. He led Northern Ireland to the1982 FIFA World Cup, afterqualifying, along withScotland, with unlikely victories overSweden,Portugal, andIsrael. In the tournament itself, despite a limited squad with only a few genuine world-class players at his disposal (goalkeeperPat Jennings, captainMartin O'Neill, and 17-year-oldNorman Whiteside), Bingham's team stunned the host nation, Spain with a 1–0 victory at theMestalla Stadium.[47] Their draws withHonduras andYugoslavia meant they shocked the world by finishing top of their group with only two goals fromGerry Armstrong. They exited in the second round with a 2–2 draw withAustria and a 4–1 defeat toFrance.
He led Northern Ireland to third in the British Home Championship in1983, before they won the last ever edition of the tournament in1984 with a 2–0 win over the Scots. However, Northern Ireland failed inqualifying forUEFA Euro 1984, despite winning theirgroup games 1–0 overWest Germany both atBelfast and at theVolksparkstadion. They were ten minutes away from qualification when, in the final group game, Germany'sGerhard Strack hit a winner pastAlbania to claim the only qualification spot in the group for the Germans; they finished ahead of Northern Ireland ongoal difference.
Bingham proved that 1982 was no fluke after he led the nation to the1986 FIFA World Cup. Theyqualified, along with England, after beatingRomania,Finland, andTurkey to claim second spot intheir group. They faced an insurmountable challenge, however, inBrazil and Spain ingroup D, and exited the tournament with only a point againstAlgeria. He also coachedAl-Nassr in theSaudi Professional League during the1987–88 season, and led the club to their fifthKing's Cup title in1987.[48]
The retirements of O'Neill, Jennings and Whiteside (the latter due to injury) robbed Bingham of his best players. Northern Ireland failed to reach the1990 and1994 finals, and he stepped down in November 1993. The final game of the 1994 World Cup qualification campaign was againstRepublic of Ireland, and was to be marred by sectarianism and controversy. Bingham's men set out to deny the Irish the point they needed to secure qualification ahead ofDenmark, with Northern Ireland unable to qualify.Jimmy Quinn's strike was cancelled out by a late Irishequaliser. After the game there was an ugly exchange between Bingham and Ireland manager,Jack Charlton.[49] Both1990 and1994 qualification groups ended with Spain and the Republic qualifying, with Northern Ireland finishing some distance short of the mark.
Bingham later served Blackpool asdirector of football.[45] In May 2008 he came out of retirement to become a talent spotter in Ireland forBurnley.[50]
Bingham played atoutside-right and had excellent tactical and positional skills and good scoring ability.[51][2]
Bingham was appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to football in the1981 Birthday Honours.[52] He was married and divorced twice and had a son and daughter from his first marriage.[53] He published his autobiography,Soccer with the Stars, in 1964; journalistBrian Glanville contributed the foreword.[54]
He was diagnosed withdementia in 2006 and died at a care home inSouthport on 9 June 2022, aged 90.[51][55]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Glentoran | 1948–49[56] | Irish League | — | — | ||||||
| 1949–50[56] | Irish League | — | — | |||||||
| 1950–51[56] | Irish League | — | — | |||||||
| Total | 60 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 21 | ||
| Sunderland | 1950–51[57] | First Division | 13 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 13 | 4 | |
| 1951–52[57] | First Division | 36 | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | 38 | 7 | ||
| 1952–53[57] | First Division | 19 | 6 | 2 | 0 | — | 21 | 6 | ||
| 1953–54[57] | First Division | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | — | 20 | 3 | ||
| 1954–55[57] | First Division | 35 | 10 | 7 | 0 | — | 42 | 10 | ||
| 1955–56[57] | First Division | 27 | 6 | 6 | 0 | — | 33 | 6 | ||
| 1956–57[57] | First Division | 27 | 5 | 1 | 1 | — | 28 | 6 | ||
| 1957–58[57] | First Division | 30 | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | 32 | 5 | ||
| Total | 206 | 45 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 227 | 47 | ||
| Luton Town | 1958–59[57] | First Division | 36 | 8 | 9 | 6 | — | 45 | 14 | |
| 1959–60[57] | First Division | 40 | 16 | 3 | 0 | — | 43 | 16 | ||
| 1960–61[57] | Second Division | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 11 | 3 | ||
| Total | 87 | 27 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 99 | 33 | ||
| Everton | 1960–61[57] | First Division | 26 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 30 | 10 |
| 1961–62[57] | First Division | 37 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 10 | |
| 1962–63[57] | First Division | 23 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 6 | |
| Total | 86 | 23 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 98 | 26 | ||
| Port Vale | 1963–64[57] | Third Division | 35 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 7 |
| 1964–65[57] | Third Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 40 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 7 | ||
| Career total | 479 | 122 | 42 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 527 | 134 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | 1951 | 3 | 0 |
| 1952 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1953 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1954 | 3 | 1 | |
| 1955 | 3 | 1 | |
| 1956 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1957 | 7 | 1 | |
| 1958 | 10 | 0 | |
| 1959 | 3 | 1 | |
| 1960 | 4 | 1 | |
| 1961 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1962 | 4 | 2 | |
| 1963 | 4 | 1 | |
| Total | 56 | 8 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 November 1954 | Glasgow, Scotland |  Scotland | 2–2 | 1954–55 British Home Championship |
| 2 | 8 October 1955 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Scotland | 2–1 | 1955–56 British Home Championship |
| 3 | 16 January 1957 | Lisbon, Portugal |  Portugal | 1–1 | 1958 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 4 | 5 October 1957 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Scotland | 1–1 | 1957–58 British Home Championship |
| 5 | 15 October 1958 | Madrid, Spain |  Spain | 2–6 | Friendly |
| 6 | 18 November 1959 | London, England |  England | 1–2 | 1959–60 British Home Championship |
| 7 | 6 April 1960 | Wrexham, Wales |  Wales | 2–3 | 1959–60 British Home Championship |
| 8 | 7 November 1962 | Glasgow, Scotland | Scotland | 1–1 | 1962–63 British Home Championship |
| 9 | 28 November 1962 | Belfast, Northern Ireland |  Poland | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 1964 qualifying |
| 10 | 12 October 1963 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Scotland | 2–1 | 1963–64 British Home Championship |
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Southport | 1 June 1965 | 14 February 1968 | 134 | 58 | 32 | 44 | 043.3 |
| Northern Ireland | 1 February 1967 | 4 August 1971 | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 040.0 |
| Plymouth Argyle | 14 February 1968 | 1 March 1970 | 104 | 35 | 29 | 40 | 033.7 |
| Linfield | 1 August 1970 | 28 May 1971 | 56 | 40 | 7 | 9 | 071.4 |
| Greece | 10 September 1971 | 22 February 1973 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 016.7 |
| AEK Athens | 23 February 1973 | 28 May 1973 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 033.3 |
| Everton | 28 May 1973 | 8 January 1977 | 171 | 63 | 55 | 53 | 036.8 |
| Mansfield Town | 23 February 1978 | 9 July 1979 | 71 | 21 | 24 | 26 | 029.6 |
| Al-Nassr | 23 February 1987 | 9 July 1979 | 25 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 060.0 |
| Northern Ireland | 12 March 1980 | 17 November 1993 | 98 | 32 | 31 | 35 | 032.7 |
| Total[57] | 705 | 278 | 194 | 233 | 039.4 | ||
Luton Town
Everton
Southport
Linfield
Northern Ireland
Al-Nassr
Specific
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)General
Billy Bingham international tournaments | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
