Roland J. Howard (born 10 April 1935) is a former English football manager. He has been recognised by

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

as the longest serving senior club football manager in the world for his management of

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

club

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

for 33 years between 1972 and 2005.

Management career

A former footballer, Howard had been reserve team manager for Marine and was appointed first-team manager of the Crosby based club at the start of the 1972–73 season. His first match in charge was on 12 August 1972, a 2-2 draw against

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

and he was in charge for 1,975 matches, with his final match being the 2004–05 Liverpool Senior Cup final against Everton on 4 May 2005. He initially combined the roles of groundsman and manager for his first seven years managing the club. In his time with Marine he guided them to five league titles, fifteen county and league cup wins, the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

semi-finals and once into the third round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. He also managed the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

representative side for sixteen years. In his retirement year a Merseyside Legends team which included John Aldridge,

David Fairclough David Fairclough (born Liverpool, 5 January 1957) is an English retired footballer, most famous for playing for Liverpool as a striker during the 1970s and 1980s. Life and playing career Known affectionately as ''Supersub'' (because he was a t ...

Michael Thomas Michael or Mike Thomas may refer to: Entertainment * Michael M. Thomas (born 1936), American novelist of financial thrillers * Michael Tilson Thomas (born 1944), American conductor, pianist, and composer * Michael Thomas (actor) (1952–2019), Bri ...

, Gary Ablett and Mark Lawrenson played in his testimonial match against a variety of Marine players from Howard's 33 years in charge. In 2012 he was awarded the League Merit Award by the Northern Premier League in recognition of his service to the club and league. Fellow Merseyside manager Jimmy Davies who set up Waterloo Dock and managed them for 50 years exceeded Howard's 33 years in charge but is not recognised as a record holder by Guinness.

Management honours

*Liverpool Senior Non-league Cup **Winners: 1975–76, 1976–77 *

Cheshire County League The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales. Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Footba ...

**Champions: 1973–74, 1975–76, 1977–78 **League Shield winners: 1974–75, 1975–76 *

Lancashire Junior Cup The Lancashire Football Association Challenge Trophy is an English football competition for senior non-league clubs who are members of the Lancashire County Football Association. The trophy was first played for in 1885, when it was known as the ...

Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy The Lancashire Football Association Challenge Trophy is an English football competition for senior non-league clubs who are members of the Lancashire County Football Association. The trophy was first played for in 1885, when it was known as the L ...

**Winners: 1978–79, 1987–88, 1990–91, 1999–2000 * Liverpool Senior Cup **Winners: 1978–79, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1993–94, 1999–2000 *

**Premier Division champions: 1993–94, 1994–95 **Northern Premier League Challenge Shield winners: 1994–95, 1995–96 **

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

winners: 1984–85, 1991–92, 2003–04

Personal life

His daily job was as a window-cleaner in Southport with his clients including former Liverpool manager

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic F.C., Celtic and 515 for Liverpoo ...

, who became a personal friend. He continued his window cleaning rounds at the age of 70 when he retired from club management.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Roly 1935 births Living people English football managers Guinness World Records Marine A.F.C. non-playing staff Marine A.F.C. managers Northern Premier League managers People from Ormskirk