Ian Greaves

Ian Denzil Greaves (26 May 1932 – 2 January 2009) was an English football player and manager. He was born in Crompton, Lancashire.^[1][2] He won a League Championship medal and an FA Cup runners-up medal while playing full-back for Manchester United between 1953 and 1960.^[3] He was not with the United team when eight of their players died in the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958, as he was ruled out by injury.^[4] He was the first player to occupy the left-back position at United after the death of captain Roger Byrne at Munich.^[5]

After leaving United in 1960, he later played for Lincoln City and Oldham Athletic.

Managerial career

He took over the reins at Huddersfield Town in 1968^[6] and led them to the Football League Second Division championship in 1969–1970.

After leaving Huddersfield in the summer of 1974 he joined Bolton Wanderers as assistant to Jimmy Armfield and when Armfield took over the vacant manager's position at Leeds United he was promoted to the top job, taking over a squad that included Sam Allardyce and Peter Reid. In his time there he again won promotion to the top division and also reached the League Cup semi-final while the club were still in the second division. Unfortunately, Bolton's First Division performance was disappointing and Greaves was sacked on 28 January 1980.

An 18-month spell at Oxford United followed, before he took charge of First Division Wolves in February 1982. However, the team were in the relegation zone at the time of his appointment and he was unable to prevent the drop, winning just five of his 20 games. Bankruptcy struck in the summer and saw a new regime eventually take control who opted to replace Greaves with Graham Hawkins.^[7]

Greaves' final managerial job was in the lower leagues at Mansfield Town where he spent six years, guiding the Stags to promotion in 1985–86, and winning the Freight Rover Trophy at Wembley in 1987. They were still secure in the Third Division when he departed on 6 February 1989.^[8]

He died in Ainsworth, Greater Manchester on 2 January 2009, aged 76.^[9]

Managerial statistics

^[10] All competitive league games (league and domestic cup) and international matches (including friendlies) are included.

As of 2 May 2015

Team	Nat	Year	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Huddersfield Town		1968–1974	7002281000000000000♠281	7001890000000000000♠89	7001880000000000000♠88	7002104000000000000♠104	07001316700000000000♠31.67
Bolton Wanderers		1974–1980	7002256000000000000♠256	7002100000000000000♠100	7001730000000000000♠73	7001830000000000000♠83	07001390600000000000♠39.06
Oxford United		1980–1982	7001600000000000000♠60	7001260000000000000♠26	7001160000000000000♠16	7001180000000000000♠18	07001433300000000000♠43.33
Wolverhampton Wanderers		1980–1982	7001210000000000000♠21	7000500000000000000♠5	7000600000000000000♠6	7001100000000000000♠10	07001238100000000000♠23.81
Mansfield Town		1983–1989	7002311000000000000♠311	7002101000000000000♠101	7001990000000000000♠99	7002111000000000000♠111	07001324799999999999♠32.48
Career Total			7002929000000000000♠929	7002321000000000000♠321	7002282000000000000♠282	7002326000000000000♠326	07001345509999900000♠34.55

References