The aim of this series was to shine a light on some
unknown or forgotten characters from the history of football that have had a
significant impact on its development as a sport. Originally I planned twenty
five articles but the early start to the season and a lack of home cup ties
mean I have only got to twenty one. Those who didn’t make the final cut were:
Vincente Feola who along with Mario Zagallo created the magical Brazilian World
Cup winning teams from 1958-70, English innovator Jesse Carver who enjoyed
success at Juventus and many other top Italian clubs in the 1950s, and finally
two Yugoslavs Miljan Miljanic and Tomislav Ivic. Miljanic is best known for
restoring the fortunes of Real Madrid in the mid-70s having had great success
in his home city of Belgrade with Crvena Zvezda, whilst Ivic grew his
reputation in the 70s at Hajduk Split before going onto manage a whole raft of
top European clubs, winning titles in six different countries.
For my last subject I have chosen to return to the
enduring theme of my series, that of the coach who leaves his homeland to
transform fortunes elsewhere, and in doing so I will end up in the summer of
2016 when I started writing about the first one.
I suspect many of you could name one Englishman who
took his club to the European Cup Final in the 1970s (Clough - Nottingham
Forest), probably a second (Paisley - Liverpool), maybe even a third (Armfield
- Leeds), but how about a fourth? Then for a supplementary question connect him
to the last Englishman to take his club to a European Final of any description,
who also shares his initials.
Working in ten different countries over a forty
year career Bob Houghton sparked a football revolution in Sweden which set up
the careers of two future England managers.
Following an undistinguished professional playing career with Fulham
and Brighton, Houghton studied with FA Technical Director Allen Wade alongside
Roy Hodgson who had been his contemporary at John Ruskin Grammar School in
Croydon. He became the youngest ever coach to gain an FA Full Badge ('A'
Licence) and became player manager at Hastings United aged 23. He was reunited
with Hodgson at Maidstone United with both trying to further their careers through
junior coaching positions at professional clubs. However they were to get their
break as a consequence of the longstanding European tradition of looking for an
English “Mister” to disseminate his knowledge overseas.
In
1973 Sweden’s biggest club Malmo wanted a coach to revive their fortunes having
lost their best players to richer clubs in central Europe. The country’s
greatest footballing moment had come when they had reached the 1958 World Cup
Final under the guidance of Englishman (and another great quiz question) GeorgeRaynor. So the Malmo chairman contacted Allen Wade for a recommendation. Wade
suggested his star pupil Houghton whose application was supported by references
from top English division managers Gordon Jago and Bobby Robson.
Still
only 26, Houghton assuaged fears about his young age with a comprehensive
analysis of the state of the Malmo squad and what he could achieve with them,
thus securing his appointment for the start of the 1974 season (Swedish seasons
running from March to November).
Learning the language in two
months he chose a squad of local players, with ten of the side coming from
Malmo itself. He set about introducing them to the 4-4-2 formation, zonal
marking, rigorous use of the offside trap, a high pressing game, and swift direct
counter attacks. This contrasted with a Swedish preference for deep lying
sweepers and a more amateur style individual ethos.
With
a team that was steady rather than spectacular, but quickly taken to the hearts
of the supporters due to their local connection, Houghton led Malmo to back to
back league and cup doubles.
This
led the chairman of struggling Halmstads to ask Houghton if he could recommend
another Englishman to coach his team. Inevitably Houghton suggested Hodgson who
promptly led his new team to the next league title (Allsvenskan) in 1976.
Houghton
reclaimed the title the following season, a win which led to qualification into
the 1978/79 European Cup. Houghton took Malmo further than any Swedish club has
been before or since, meeting Nottingham Forest in the final. Brian Clough’s
Forest won with a solitary goal from Trevor Francis, Houghton responding to the
defeat by saying that “Clough was lucky
in one respect – that the difference between the teams which played in the
quarter-final and final was six players”, with Houghton’s injury hit squad all
coming from a sixty kilometre radius of Malmo.
Hodgson won one
more Allsvenskan in 1979 before the pair was recruited to revive the fortunes
of Bristol City. By
now known as English Bobby and English Roy their impact on Swedish football had
been incendiary, having a formative influence on coaches such as Sven
Goran-Ericsson and Lars Lagerback.
Ericsson,
who went onto win Sweden’s first European honour with Gothenburg in the 1982
UEFA Cup, and of course became the first foreign national to manage England,
summed up their impact thus: “They introduced a whole new way of playing
football. Before that, Swedish teams had been very influenced by German teams
and were playing man-to-man marking. But they came with zonal marking and a new
way of starting attacks. It was something unique. And I think Bob was 27 years
old when he came here and that is fascinating. A young guy coming over to tell
us how to play football."
However
Houghton and Hodgson’s time at Ashton Gate was doomed by catastrophic financial
decisions made before their arrival which had seen several players signed up on
ten year contracts, and they presided over the clubs tailspin from the top to
the bottom of the Football League which ended up in liquidation.
The
experience left Houghton preferring to work abroad because: “There the coach is
the most important man at the club. When I worked at Bristol, I would've been
better off being a bank manager; such was the time I had to spend on financial
issues.”
He
became a globe trotter taking jobs with clubs in Greece, Canada, USA,
Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, and coaching the national teams of
China, Uzbekistan and India.
Hodgson
returned to Malmo in the 80s to win five Allsvenskans
in a row as he continued a distinguished managerial career with other notable
spells in charge of Switzerland, Inter Milan and Fulham. I personally witnessed
his dramatic run to the 2010 Europa League final with the Cottagers, which led
to him finally being regarded in the top rank of managers in his native country
and the opportunity to manage England.
This
makes Hodgson something of a unique character in this series, at least in terms
of the Englishman under review, in that his talent was eventually recognised by
those which developed it, despite his ultimate failure to fully capitalise on
the opportunity to manage his country. More pertinently the lack of a native
successor to his final post is rather a damning indictment on the short term
future of English coaching.
I
hope this series has been as much a pleasure to read as it has been to write.
My inspiration for it and indeed initial source for most of the subjects was
the Blizzard
quarterly, which I
wholeheartedly recommend if you want to find out about more of the men who made
modern football.
