Allen Batsford (9 April 1932 – 28 December 2009) was an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager.

Managerial career

He was appointed manager of Walton & Hersham in 1967 and led them to the

Athenian League The Athenian League was an England, English amateur association football, football league for clubs in and around London. The league was originally to be called the Corinthian League,Athenian Football League minutes 1912-1921 (National Football ...

title in 1969 and the Amateur Cup in 1973. Batsford first tasted glory in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

when Walton held

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Englis ...

's Brighton to a draw before beating them 4–0 in the replay. Before the game, Clough had described the pairing as "donkeys against thoroughbreds", but the result from Batsford's team spoke for itself. In 1974, he left to join

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

, then a semi-professional club in the Southern League. He led them to three consecutive league titles and ultimately election to

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

in 1977. Most famously, he steered Wimbledon to the fourth round of the FA Cup in 1975, having beaten Burnley in the third round, at that time one of the strongest clubs in Britain. It was the first victory by a non-League club at the ground of a First Division team for 54 years. In the fourth round, they travelled to

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

and held the mighty

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, then League Champions, to a heroic goal-less draw before narrowly losing the replay 0–1 due to a deflected own goal from

Dave Bassett David Thomas Bassett (born 4 September 1944 in Stanmore) is an English football manager and a former player. Bassett won a total of seven promotions and is one of a select number of managers who took charge of over 1,000 matches. After a playi ...

. Only six months after achieving Football League status, Batsford resigned from Wimbledon following disagreements with the club chairman,

Ron Noades Ronald Geoffrey Noades (22 June 1937 – 24 December 2013) was an English businessman, best known for his investments in football clubs. He was the chairman of Southall, Wimbledon, Crystal Palace and finally Brentford. He was also the manager o ...

, and was succeeded by team coach

Dario Gradi Dario Gradi (born 8 July 1941) is an Italian-English former football player, coach and manager. He was associated for more than 36 years with Crewe Alexandra, where he was variously manager, director of football and director of the Academy, unt ...

. Batsford then returned to managing in non-league football, first with a short stint at Hillingdon Borough before thriving once more with

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow, London, Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont, Harrow, Belmont and Kenton, London, Kenton, ...

, whose squad included the future England international

Stuart Pearce Stuart Pearce (born 24 April 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player, who was most recently a first-team coach for Premier League club West Ham United. He was nicknamed "Psycho" for his unforgiving style of play. ...

. In 1981–82, Batsford led Wealdstone to success in both the Southern League's championship, which secured promotion to the

Alliance Premier League The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South. The National League ...

(the equivalent of the current National League), Southern Football League Cup, Championship Shield, Championship Cup and then to third place in their first season in the Alliance. In the 1984–85 season, the club, now under the management of Batsford's assistant and former Wimbledon coach Brian Hall, became the first in history to achieve the non-league double of being Alliance Premier League champions and

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

winners.

Later career

Batsford suffered heart trouble and decided to leave Wealdstone, but he recovered sufficiently to coach at

Queen's Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English fo ...

, then serve as general manager of

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. The ...

before running the

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

youth team again and also acting as a talent scout for Dave Bassett during his former protégé's managerial stints with

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

and

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

. In 2004–05 he held the honorary position of President of his first club, Walton & Hersham.

Death

He died at the age of 77 having suffered a fatal heart attack on his way home from watching Chelsea play

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batsford, Allen 2009 deaths 1932 births Wimbledon F.C. managers English Football League managers Queens Park Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Wealdstone F.C. managers Millwall F.C. non-playing staff Watford F.C. non-playing staff Sheffield United F.C. non-playing staff Nottingham Forest F.C. non-playing staff English men's footballers English football managers Men's association football midfielders Place of birth missing 20th-century English sportsmen