John King (footballer born 1938)

For other people of the same name, see John King (disambiguation).
John King
Personal information
Full name John Allen King
Date of birth 15 April 1938 (1938-04-15) (age 73)
Place of birth Marylebone, England
Playing position Wing half
Youth career
Everton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1957–1960 Everton 48 (1)
1960 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 21 (1)
1960–1968 Tranmere Rovers 241 (4)
1968–1971 Port Vale 101 (0)
Wigan Athletic
Total 411+ (6+)
Teams managed
1975–1980 Tranmere Rovers
1980–1984 Northwich Victoria
1985–1987 Caernarfon Town
1987–1996 Tranmere Rovers
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

John Allen King (born 15 April 1938 in Marylebone, London) is an English former football player and manager. He is widely regarded as being the most successful manager in the history of Tranmere Rovers, and he had a stand at Prenton Park named in his honour in 2002.[1]

Contents

Playing career

King started his career at Everton in 1957 and played close to 50 games over his three year associational with the club. In 1960 he moved on to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, before signing with Tranmere Rovers later in the year. Over eight years with Tranmere he made well over 200 appearances before joining Port Vale in June 1968. At Vale too he was a first team regular, even playing in a goalless home draw with Swansea Town on 18 October 1969, despite having chickenpox at the time.[2] He played regularly through the 1969–70 promotion season, but after chipping his ankle bone in November was sidelined for four months. He left on a free transfer to Wigan Athletic in May 1971.[2]

Management career

King was first appointed as Tranmere manager in 1975, but was sacked in 1980.[1] He moved on to Rochdale as a coach before taking the reins at Northwich Victoria and then Welsh club Caernarfon Town.[2] At Caernarfon he was at the helm for some of the most successful seasons in the club's history, including the clubs 1986–87 FA Cup run to the third round, recording victories over Football League sides Stockport County and York City.[3]

He was appointed manager of Tranmere for a second time by Peter Johnson towards the end of the 1986–87 season, with the club fighting not to finish bottom of the Fourth Division and be relegated from the Football League. Safety was only guaranteed in the last game of the season with a 1–0 home win over Exeter City, with Tranmere's winning goal scored by midfielder Gary Williams.

King signed Jim Steel to act as target man for striker Ian Muir. They move was inspired and all enjoyed considerable success together in the seasons to follow. Tranmere moved up two divisions and made numerous Wembley appearances.

The club narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League.[4] King brought such big name signings as John Aldridge, Pat Nevin and Gary Stevens to Prenton Park, but their crowds did not increase much and the club had to sell players such as Steve Vickers and Ian Nolan to survive.[4] In 1996, with Rovers struggling for form in the league, chairman Frank Corfe appointed John Aldridge as player-manager, and King was "moved upstairs" to become Director of football.

References

  1. ^ a b "Tranmere to honour King". BBC Sport. 30 May 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/t/tranmere_rovers/2016859.stm. Retrieved 2009-05-25. 
  2. ^ a b c Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 163. ISBN 0952915200. http://www.amazon.ca/Port-Vale-Personalities-Jeff-Kent/dp/0952915200. 
  3. ^ "Hall of fame". Caernarfon Online. http://www.caernarfononline.co.uk/cofis/hall.html. Retrieved 2010-09-04. 
  4. ^ a b Moore, Glenn (10 October 1994). "Football Commentary: Tranmere ride a new Mersey beat". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-commentary-tranmere-ride-a-new-mersey-beat-1442139.html. Retrieved 2009-05-25. 

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