Ron Atkinson

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Ronald Frederick "Big Ron" Atkinson (born 18 March 1939 in Liverpool, England) is a British former football player and manager. In recent years he has become one of Britain's best-known football pundits. He is perhaps most famous for his idiosyncratic turn of phrase: his utterances have become known as "Big-Ronisms" or "Ronglish", the most famous of which is the term "early doors" (English: early), which has worked its way into the English vernacular - although in recent times, he has also attracted a lot of controversy over a racist comment broadcast on a TV sports show when he believed he was off the air.

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Managerial career 3 Post-managerial career 4 Some "Ronglish" terms 5 External links

[edit] Playing career

Atkinson did not achieve great heights in his playing career. He was originally signed by Aston Villa F.C. at the age of 17, but never played a first-team match for them and was transferred to Oxford United F.C. in 1959. He went on to make over 500 appearances as a wing-half for the club, earning the nickname "The Tank". He was United's captain through their rise from the Southern League to the Second Division, achieved in just seven seasons.

[edit] Managerial career

After retiring from playing, Atkinson became manager of non-league Kettering Town F.C. in 1971. His success there led to a move to the league with Cambridge United F.C., going on to win the then Fourth Division in 1977 and leaving them when they were on the verge of promotion to the Second Division. At the start of 1978, Atkinson moved to manage First Division West Bromwich Albion F.C.. He soon signed black player Brendon Batson from his former club, to play alongside the black pair of Laurie Cunningham and Cyrille Regis. Never before had an English team simultaneously fielded three black players and the Three Degrees, as they became known in reference to the contemporary vocal trio of the same name, challenged the established racism of English football and marked a watershed that allowed a generation of footballers to enter the game who would previously have been excluded by their ethnic background.

Atkinson led West Bromwich Albion to third place in the league in the season 1978/79 before catching the eye of Manchester United F.C., one of England's biggest clubs. In June 1981 he became their manager. After the dull years of Dave Sexton, United appointed a manager with charisma and sparkle. Sexton had replaced a larger than life character in Tommy Docherty and once again United went for flamboyance. In all of his seasons with the Reds, United did well. In 1981/82 United finished third in the First Division. In 1982/83 two appearances at Wembley, one of which was an FA Cup victory against Brighton, coupled with another third place finish in the league, fuelled speculation that United were back in a big way. In 1983/84, Atkinson's side reached the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners Cup and finished fourth in the First Division. In 1985 United again won the FA Cup and ten successive victories in the 1985/86 season put him well ahead of the pack. However their form tailed off badly and they again finished fourth.

Although the club won two FA Cups during his tenure, he had spent heavily, paying over £8 million for new signings. He had recouped more than £6 million with the sale of players, amongst whom were Ray Wilkins and Mark Hughes. The 1986/87 season opened disastrously and in November 1986 with the club fourth from bottom, Atkinson was sacked. He returned to West Brom in the Autumn of 1987 for a year and then had a high-profile move to Atlético Madrid of Spain. This spell lasted a little over three months (96 days).

He was manager of Sheffield Wednesday from February 1989 to June 1991. Although the club were relegated in 1990 to the Second Division, a year later in 1991 he guided them back to promotion. They also won the League Cup by beating Manchester United 1-0 at Wembley. He offended some Sheffield Wednesday fans by saying on 31 May that he would be staying as manager, but a week later leaving to become Aston Villa manager.

Taking over from Jozef Venglos, he led Aston Villa to second place in the inaugural 1993 FA Premier League and to League Cup victory in 1994. However, he was sacked on 10 November 1994. After this he became, for a spell, director of football at Coventry City.

His last managerial job came with Nottingham Forest F.C., who he briefly managed in 1999, fairly unsuccessfully, once climbing into the wrong dug-out. He also managed to upset many Forest fans following an 8-1 defeat at home to Manchester United, when he stated in an interview after the game that his team had given the fans a "nine-goal thriller".[1]

Preceded by: ?	Kettering Town F.C. manager 1971-1974	Succeeded by: ?
Preceded by: Bill Leivers	Cambridge United F.C. manager 1974-1978	Succeeded by: John Docherty
Preceded by: Ronnie Allen	West Bromwich Albion F.C. manager 1978-1981	Succeeded by: Ronnie Allen
Preceded by: Dave Sexton	Manchester United F.C. manager 1981-1986	Succeeded by: Sir Alex Ferguson
Preceded by: Ron Saunders	West Bromwich Albion F.C. manager 1987-1988	Succeeded by: Brian Talbot
Preceded by: César Luis Menotti	Atlético Madrid manager 1988-1989	Succeeded by: Colin Addison
Preceded by: Peter Eustace	Sheffield Wednesday F.C. manager 1989-1991	Succeeded by: Trevor Francis
Preceded by: Jozef Venglos	Aston Villa F.C. manager 1991-1994	Succeeded by: Brian Little
Preceded by: Phil Neal	Coventry City F.C. manager 1995-1996	Succeeded by: Gordon Strachan
Preceded by: David Pleat	Sheffield Wednesday F.C. manager 1997-1998	Succeeded by: Danny Wilson
Preceded by: Dave Bassett	Nottingham Forest F.C. manager 1999	Succeeded by: David Platt

[edit] Post-managerial career

Atkinson was already working as a pundit for ITV and after leaving management he continued in this role. For a number of years he covered most of the channel's live matches, sometimes as a studio pundit, but more often as the "ex-football insider" member of a two-man commentary team. This exposure led to "Ronglish" becoming known to a wider audience. With his permanent suntan and taste for chunky, gaudy jewellery, he was often portrayed as a loveable buffoon in the UK media.

This changed on 21 April 2004, when Atkinson resigned from ITV after he was caught making a racist remark live on air about the black Chelsea F.C. player Marcel Desailly: believing the microphone to be switched off, he said, "...he [Desailly] is what is known in some schools as a fucking lazy thick nigger". Although transmission in the UK had finished, the microphone gaffe meant that his comment was broadcast to various countries in the Middle East. He also left his job as a columnist for The Guardian "by mutual agreement" as a result of the comment.

It was not the first time Atkinson had committed a microphone gaffe. His comments about AS Roma player, Francesco Totti were broadcast to amazed German TV viewers. His view that "He actually looks a little twat, that Totti" [2] however received very little criticism from the UK media.

Since the Desailly incident, Atkinson has claimed that the comment was an aberration and that he is not racist, citing in his defence that his West Brom side was the first high-profile British club to have a significant number of black players. This, however, has not diminished the condemnation he has received from anti-racist groups and the public at large, who question whether Atkinson would have resigned had the comment not been accidentally broadcast and note that it was not the first time he had used racist language. In an article published in the Sunday Times on 19 September 2004, Atkinson was referred to as "Racist Ron". A BBC Radio documentary about the Three Degrees, due to be repeated on 16 May 2004, was cancelled owing to Atkinson's central contributions.

Later on in 2004, the Daily Mirror reported how he sparked more hostility from fans among by saying derogatory remarks about Chinese women, proclaiming that "Chinese women were the unprettiest in the world..." He followed this with a joke by saying the population of China is such as it is because of their lack of knowledge of contraception; all of which he said during a meeting over a meal. [3]

Atkinson has many celebrity friends, and is perhaps closest to TV presenter David Dickinson. They were spotted enjoying tanning sessions in London's west End in November 2004, and also reportedly enjoy the unusual hobby of tiddlywinks.

It was reported Atkinson was being brought in to support Iffy Onuora at Swindon Town in December 2005, and Atkinson and the club appeared to confirm this. However it later transpired that Atkinson's role was simply as part of a Sky One documentary about the club being filmed at the County Ground. [4]

In late January 2006 Atkinson and Swindon parted company, with Swindon manager Onuora citing interference as the main reason for stopping the documentary from going ahead. Just a week later the cameras turned up at Peterborough United's ground, London Road, to begin filming for the documentary called Big Ron Manager. It is believed^{[name a specific person/group]} Peterborough owner/acting manager Barry Fry was offered £100,000 to allow the filming to take place. Just three months later the club was thrown into turmoil as caretaker manager Steve Bleasdale resigned just 70 minutes before kick off against Macclesfield Town (22 April 2006) citing interference from a number of people in the running of first team affairs, many believing the documentary involving Ron Atkinson had a major part to play.

Atkinson was apparently set to take the job of coaching Trinidad & Tobago for the 2006 World Cup. However captain Dwight Yorke and his teammates voiced their disapproval of the move due to the Desailly incident, and Leo Beenhakker was appointed instead.^{[citation needed]} Instead, Atkinson spent the 2006 World Cup recording an amateur video blog and distributing it through the UK-based video sharing site, SelfcastTV.com. He also provided commentary on the World Cup for the UK digital channel UKTV G2.

Despite the racial slurs that have so blighted his late career, Atkinson recently took part in the BBC 2 programme Excuse My French [5]. Atkinson, comedian Marcus Brigstocke and television presenter Esther Rantzen were immersed in the French language by staying in a remote town in the Provence region, being compelled to adapt to the French lifestyle and speak the language. His assignment at the end of the course was to provide a match analysis on a football match (Paris Saint-Germain - AS Monaco) in French for a French radio station. Being a complete beginner to the French language, he found the experience a considerable challenge, although he succeeded. The assignment was made more difficult by the fact that the match concerned was a dull goalless draw, leaving him with little to talk about.

He has since made a return to football commentary and can be heard presenting on Football Italia.

[edit] Some "Ronglish" terms

• early doors: early
• lollipop: a trick performed by a player, often a winger, consisting of passing the foot over the ball in an attempt to fool an opposition defender (from rhyming slang "lollipop stick" - "trick")
• amusement arcade: a skilful but ineffective player
• reducer: a firm tackle made early in the game to reduce a skilled player's contribution
• Hollywood ball: an overambitious pass
• spotter's badge: plaudit given to a player who has made an accurate pass
• little eyebrows: a header made which glances off the player's forehead intentionally
• bit of a crowd situation: when many players are present in one area of the field

[edit] External links

• Ron Atkinson Quotes
• Ronglish
• Even more Big Ron quotes
• World Cup 2006 video blog
• Example of Big Ron's chalkboard (text only) in the Guardian