Syd Owen

Syd Owen
Personal information
Full nameSydney William Owen
Date of birth29 September 1922
Place of birthAston, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
Date of death27 August 1998 (aged 75)
Place of deathLeeds, West Yorkshire, England
Playing positionCentre-half
Youth career
Birmingham YMCA
Birmingham City
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1945–1947Birmingham City5(0)
1947–1959Luton Town388(3)
Total393(3)
National team
1954England3(0)
Football League XI2(0)
Teams managed
1959–1960Luton Town
1960–?Leeds United (first-team coach)
1978–1981Manchester United (youth coach)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Sydney William "Syd" Owen (28 February 1922 – January 1999) was an English football player and coach. He spent nearly all his playing career as a centre-half for Luton Town.

Born in Birmingham to Florence Laura (nΓ©e Whiley) and Henry Sydney Owen, Owen began his football career playing for the Birmingham YMCA team before joining Birmingham City as a youth player. After the end of the Second World War, he made it into the club's first team for the 1946–47 season, but played just five times in the Second Division and was allowed to leave at the end of the season.

Owen signed for Luton in June 1947. He made 388 first-team appearances for the Hatters, and after constant displays of natural ability in the 1949–50 Football League season, was appointed as captain by manager Dally Duncan. He earned three caps for the England national football team in 1954, and selected as part of the squad for the 1954 FIFA World Cup, at which he appeared in England's first match, a 4–4 draw with Belgium.[1] He also played twice for the Football League XI.

In 1959, his final season as a player, Owen was named the FWA Footballer of the Year.[2] On 27 April 1959, he was appointed as player-manager of Luton following the departure of Dally Duncan six months earlier; Owen was therefore in charge of the club for the 1959 FA Cup Final against Nottingham Forest. As well as serving as manager for the match, he also captained the side from his position at centre-half.[3]

After less than a year in the job, a "fundamental disagreement on policy" led to his resignation on 23 April 1960. He later became first team coach of Leeds United under Jack Taylor and then Don Revie throughout the 1960s and 1970s, bringing with him trainer Les Cocker.[4]

In 1978, he was hired by Manchester United manager Dave Sexton to be the club's youth coach. He remained in the position for three years until shortly after Sexton's departure from the club at the end of the 1980–81 season.[5] Owen is credited with spotting the potential of Mark Hughes as a striker while the pair worked together in the Manchester United youth system in the late 1970s.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "England 4-4 Belgium". FIFA.com. FΓ©dΓ©ration Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "England Player Honours - Football Writers' Association Footballers of the Year". England Football Online. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  3. ↑ "1959 FA Cup Final: Nottingham Forest vs Luton Town". therollingball. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  4. ↑ "Managers - Jack Taylor (1959-61)". mightyleeds.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  5. ↑ "Syd Owen". redStat. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "Mark Hughes". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 1 April 2015.

External links