Wilf McGuinness

Football player infobox
playername = Wilf McGuinness
fullname = Wilfred McGuinness
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1937|10|25|df=y
cityofbirth = Manchester
countryofbirth = England
position = Wing Half (retired)
years = 1954-1959
clubs = Manchester United
caps(goals) = 81 (2)
nationalyears = 19??-19??
19??-19?
19??-19??
1958-1959
nationalteam = England School
England Youth
England U23
England
nationalcaps(goals) =
04 (?)
01 (?)
02 (0)
manageryears = 1969-1970
1971-1974
1975-1977
managerclubs = Manchester United
Aris Salonika
York City

Wilfred "Wilf" McGuinness (born 25 October 1937 in Manchester, England) was an English football player and manager, who played twice for England. He is best known for taking over from Matt Busby as manager of Manchester United. His son, Paul, is currently Manchester United's U-18 team manager and assistant director of their youth academy for 17-21 year olds. He currently has 6 grandchildren, including one set of twins, James Barnes, who is an accomplished amateur rugby player within Manchester, and Thomas Barnes, who is rumoured to be taking a soccer coaching placement with Sportsright in La Manga, Spain, as of next year

Playing career

As a player he captained Manchester, Lancashire and England at schoolboy level, and signed for Manchester United in January 1953. He played his first first-team match against Wolves on 8 October 1953, aged seventeen. Competition for places was fierce but he played in enough matches to qualify for a medal when United won the league in 1956.

He was still a United player at the time of the Munich air disaster in 1958, but an injury had prevented him from playing so he was not on the plane that crashed. A broken leg finished his playing career when he was only 22.

Managerial career

He continued to be involved at United and was promoted from reserve team coach to first team coach when Matt Busby retired in 1969. Appointed as Busby's successor in April 1969 at the age of 31 he endured a dismal spell. At a time when the Manchester United side was in transition Busby had moved to General Manager. But McGuinness's reign as Manchester United manager was not successful, and he was sacked in December 1970, one week after a dramatic comeback which saw United draw 4-4 with Derby County in a league fixture [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsrWWfDy-ig&feature=related] at the Baseball Ground. He returned to his old job as reserve team coach before leaving the club at the end of the season.

He later managed Aris Salonika and York City. On arriving at York, he took over a side which had just recorded its highest-ever league finish, only to take them through two successive relegations before leaving midway though a season which ended with York having to apply for re-election to the Football League. Later he worked as assistant manager at Hull City and was on the coaching staff at Bury F.C., taking over as interim manager prior the appointment of Sam Ellis in 1989.

Recently he took to the pitch before the massive Champions League semi-final against F.C. Barcelona with an emotional battle cry to United fans urging them to get behind the team cheer every pass and every corner. The Red Army duly obliged and they were a driving before the team in yet another memorable European night at Old Trafford as Paul Scholes scored a cracking winner to send United to Moscow.

Bibliography

*"The King" - chapter 12 "A Gradual Decline". Law, Denis and Harris, Bob. Bantam Press 2003. ISBN 0-593-05140-8
*Biography on [http://www.manutd.com/history/manager.sps?iType=1032&icustompageid=1676 Manchester United Official Web Site]

Honours

As a player

Manchester United
*First Division Title winner: 1955–56, 1956–57
*FA Charity Shield winner: 1956, 1957
*FA Cup runner-up: 1957, 1958

Managerial stats

External links

*soccerbase|id=10160|name=Wilf McGuiness
*soccerbase (manager)|id=1288|name=Wilf McGuinness