Tony Waddington

Tony Waddington
Personal information
Full name Anthony Waddington
Date of birth 9 November 1924(1924-11-09)
Place of birth Manchester, England
Date of death 21 January 1994(1994-01-21) (aged 69)
Playing position Wing Half
Youth career
Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1946-1953 Crewe Alexandra 178 (8)
Teams managed
1960-1977 Stoke City
1979-1981 Crewe Alexandra
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Anthony Waddington (9 November 1924 - 21 January 1994) was an English football player and manager. He managed Stoke City F.C. from 1960 until 1977 and guided them to their only major trophy - the League Cup in 1972. He later managed his only playing club, Crewe Alexandra, from June 1979 to July 1981. His son, Steve, was also a footballer.

Contents

Playing career

Manchester-born Waddington was an amateur with Manchester United before playing over 200 games for Crewe Alexandra. His career was ended after he suffered a knee injury while serving with the Royal Navy in World War II.[1]

Management career

Waddington became Stoke City's manager in 1960. His initial task was to stop the declining fortunes of the club, and to prevent relegation from Division Two.

Within three years he had the club back in Division One, collecting the Second Division title in the club's centenary season of 1962/63, after enticing Stanley Matthews back from Blackpool. On 7 October 1961, the two had met in the Russell Hotel in London, where both Blackpool and Stoke City had played that day. Three weeks later, a transfer deal was completed.[2] Waddington then established Stoke in Division One, reached two FA Cup semi-finals, and won the League Cup in 1972.

He had a knack for squeezing 'Indian Summers' from players thought past their peak, whilst at the same time getting the best out of home-grown youngsters. Waddington also brought World Cup winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks to Stoke in 1967, and later paid a world record fee for goalkeeper Peter Shilton in 1974.

In 1976, a severe gale blew the roof off the Butler Street Stand at the Victoria Ground, and the bank refused to fund the rebuild, forcing the sale of key players, such as Jimmy Greenhoff to Manchester United, Alan Hudson to Arsenal and Mike Pejic to Everton. Waddington resigned in March 1977, disillusioned with seeing the team he had built up over several years sold off.

He then had a spell in charge of Crewe from 1979-81. However, he returned to Stoke when he was appointed an associate director of the club in 1991 - a position he retained until his death in January 1994 at the age of 69.[3]

Career statistics

Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Stoke City June 1960 March 1977 764 265 216 283 34.69
Crewe Alexandra June 1979 March 1981 93 24 27 42 25.81
Total 857 289 243 325 33.72

References

  1. ^ http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player4/tonywaddington.htm
  2. ^ Gillatt, Peter (30 November 2009). Blackpool FC on This Day: History, Facts and Figures from Every Day of the Year. Pitch Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-905411-50-2. 
  3. ^ *Lowe, Simon: "Stoke City The Modern Era - A Complete Record" (Desert Island Books, ISBN 1-874287-39-2).