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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gilbert Harold Merrick | ||
| Date of birth | (1922-01-26)26 January 1922 | ||
| Place of birth | Sparkhill,Birmingham, England | ||
| Date of death | 3 February 2010(2010-02-03) (aged 88) | ||
| Place of death | Birmingham,[1] England | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1938–1939 | Birmingham | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1939–1960 | Birmingham City | 485 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 1951–1954 | England | 23 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1960–1964 | Birmingham City | ||
| 1967–1970 | Bromsgrove Rovers | ||
| 1970–1973 | Atherstone Town | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Gilbert Harold Merrick (26 January 1922 – 3 February 2010) was an Englishfootballer and football manager. Considered one of the bestgoalkeepers in the UK during the mid-1950s, Merrick was one in a long line of greatBirmingham City keepers which included the likes ofJohnny Schofield andHarry Hibbs. Merrick spent his entire career at Birmingham City, playing more than 700 times between 1939 and 1960. He made 170 appearances during the Second World War and 485 inthe Football League following the end of the war. He won 23caps for theEngland national team, and played in the1954 World Cup. After retirement as a player, he managed the club for four years.
Birmingham City renamed the Railway Stand at theirSt Andrew's stadium the Gil Merrick Stand for the start of the 2009–10 season.
Merrick was born inSparkhill,Birmingham. He signed professional terms with Birmingham in August 1939, and remained with the team until his retirement as a player in 1960. At first, Merrick was third-choice goalkeeper behind boyhood heroHarry Hibbs andJack Wheeler. This meant that Merrick had to wait until 20 May 1940 to make his debut in the Birmingham first team, then playing in the Midland Regional League because of the Second World War. With the retirement of Hibbs, Merrick gained the chance to play more competitive football, and by the end of the war he had amassed 170 appearances for the "Blues",[1] including anFA Cup semi-final againstDerby County, which Derby won 4–0 after a replay.
Whenthe Football League resumed in 1946, Merrick found himself playing regularly for the recently renamed Birmingham City. In 1948, Merrick helped the club win the Second Division Two, missing only six games along the way. He played regularly for the Blues until the end of the 1954–55 season, when another Blues prodigy,Johnny Schofield replaced him in goal because of injury. During this time, Merrick achieved 126 league games in a row, from 15 April 1949 to 5 April 1952. He also played in every FA Cup game during this time, another nine games, including an FA Cup semi-final appearance againstBlackpool, which the Blues lost 2–1.
By the 1955–56 season, Merrick had once again firmly established himself in the Birmingham City goal, as the Blues produced their best ever season, finishing sixth in the First Division and reaching the1956 FA Cup Final, which they lost toManchester City. Merrick was also the keeper when Birmingham reached the FA Cup semi-final the following year, only to be knocked out byManchester United.
Merrick also played in the1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, in which Birmingham were knocked out at the semi-final stage byBarcelona, losing 2–1 in a replay at theSt. Jakob Stadium inBasel. He also played some part in the 1958–60 tournament, but had lost his place in the Birmingham team to Schofield when Birmingham lost to Barcelona in the final.
After only playing one game in the 1959–60 season, Merrick retired to become manager of the team he had served loyally for more than 20 years.
Merrick was capped 23 times byEngland. He made his debut againstIreland on 14 November 1951 atWembley in the1952 British Home Championship. He was first-choice goalkeeper for England in the1954 World Cup, his last international appearance coming againstUruguay on 26 June 1954, as England were eliminated at the quarter-final stage.[2][3] All of Merrick's caps were gained when Birmingham City were a Second Division club. He is perhaps best known for being the last line of defence against theHungary side ofFerenc Puskás andNándor Hidegkuti, the "Magnificent Magyars" who beat England6–3 at Wembley in 1953 and 7–1 at theNepstadion in 1954.[1]
The following is a complete list of Merrick's England appearances.[2]
| Cap | Date | Opponents | Score | Competition | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 November 1951 |  Ireland | 2–0 | 1952 Home Championship | Villa Park, Birmingham |
| 2 | 28 November 1951 |  Austria | 2–2 | Friendly | Wembley, London |
| 3 | 5 April 1952 |  Scotland | 2–1 | 1952 Home Championship | Hampden Park, Glasgow |
| 4 | 18 May 1952 |  Italy | 1–1 | Friendly | Comunale, Florence |
| 5 | 25 May 1952 | Austria | 3–2 | Friendly | Prater, Vienna |
| 6 | 28 May 1952 |  Switzerland | 3–0 | Friendly | Hardturm, Zurich |
| 7 | 4 October 1952 | Ireland | 2–2 | 1953 Home Championship | Windsor Park, Belfast |
| 8 | 12 November 1952 |  Wales | 5–2 | 1953 Home Championship | Wembley, London |
| 9 | 26 November 1952 |  Belgium | 5–0 | Friendly | Wembley, London |
| 10 | 18 April 1953 | Scotland | 2–2 | 1953 Home Championship | Wembley, London |
| 11 | 17 May 1953 |  Argentina | 0–0 | Friendly | Monumental, Buenos Aires |
| 12 | 24 May 1953 |  Chile | 2–1 | Friendly | Nacional, Santiago |
| 13 | 31 May 1953 |  Uruguay | 1–2 | Friendly | Centenario, Montevideo |
| 14 | 10 October 1953 | Wales | 4–1 | 1954 Home Championship | Ninian Park, Cardiff |
| 15 | 21 October 1953 | FIFA XI | 4–4 | Friendly | Wembley, London |
| 16 | 11 November 1953 | Ireland | 3–1 | 1954 Home Championship | Goodison Park, Liverpool |
| 17 | 25 November 1953 |  Hungary | 3–6 | Friendly | Wembley, London |
| 18 | 3 April 1954 | Scotland | 4–2 | 1954 Home Championship | Hampden Park, Glasgow |
| 19 | 16 May 1954 |  Yugoslavia | 0–1 | Friendly | JNA, Belgrade |
| 20 | 23 May 1954 | Hungary | 1–7 | Friendly | Nepstadion, Budapest |
| 21 | 17 June 1954 | Belgium | 4–4 | 1954 World Cup | St Jakob, Basel |
| 22 | 20 June 1954 | Switzerland | 2–0 | 1954 World Cup | Wankdorf, Bern |
| 23 | 26 June 1954 | Uruguay | 2–4 | 1954 World Cup | St Jakob, Basel |
After his retirement, Merrick took over fromPat Beasley as manager of Birmingham City in May 1960. Merrick's first competitive game in charge was a 2–2 draw away atBolton Wanderers on 20 August 1960, and his first home game was againstSheffield Wednesday where his side drew 1–1. His side would go on to finish 19th in Division One. The Blues had another good run in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, reaching the final where they lost toRoma. The 1960-61 tournament did produce a win for Birmingham at theSan Siro againstInternazionale in the semi-final; they were the only English team to achieve this for around 40 years.
Although Merrick spent well in the transfer market, bringing in such players asJimmy Harris and WelshmanKen Leek, Blues failed to make much impact on the First Division, and finished 17th in the 1961–62 season. Blues once again entered the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, but went out in the second round toEspanyol.
By far the best achievement in Merrick's reign at the club came in the 1962–63 season, when he successfully led the Blues to theLeague Cup title, beatingAston Villa inthe final[1] thanks to goals from Ken Leek (2) andJimmy Bloomfield. Birmingham finished 20th in the First Division. At the end of the 1963–64 season, in which Birmingham City again failed to make much impact in the league and finished 20th, the club requested Merrick's resignation.[4]
Merrick had two more spells in management, with non-leagueBromsgrove Rovers andAtherstone Town.[5]
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Birmingham City | May 1960 | June 1964 | 202 | 64 | 46 | 92 | 31.7 |
| Bromsgrove Rovers | 1967 | Unknown | – | – | – | – | – |
| Atherstone Town | 1970 | Unknown | – | – | – | – | – |
Birmingham City
Birmingham City
Personal
General
Specific
Yesterday Mr W. Adams, the secretary of Birmingham City, issued the following statement: 'Mr Gil Merrick met the board this morning who notified him that changes and complete reorganisation of the club were to take place, and asked him to resign. To this Mr Merrick agreed.'
