Robert Glendenning (6 June 1888 – 19 November 1940) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

, who played as a

wing half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for several English clubs prior to and just after the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He later went on to coach in the Netherlands, including coaching the Dutch national side.

Club career

He started his career at hometown club Washington United before transferring to

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

sometime prior to 1910. He played in both FA Cup finals that Barnsley reached, in

1910 Events January * January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. * January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...

and

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

. In the first, Barnsley lost in the replay to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. The second also went to a replay, but Barnsley won, defeating

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

by one goal in

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. The ''

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' praised his play in the first match, and in the replay Glendenning won the ball from a West Brom player and passed it to

Harry Tufnell Henry Tufnell (1886 – 27 December 1959) was an English professional footballer who played for Bury and Barnsley prior to the First World War as an inside forward. Following the end of his playing career he managed and coached several clubs in ...

to score in the last minutes of extra time. The goal was controversial because Glendenning was allegedly off the field of play in the build up to the goal and came back on to win possession without receiving instruction from the referee first. This led directly to a change in the law in which a player must be instructed by the referee before returning to the field of play. He then moved to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

, for whom he played a total of 83 games as club captain. Bolton reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1915, in which they were defeated by

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 ...

, captained by

George Utley George Utley (16 May 1887 – 8 January 1966) was an English footballer who played for Barnsley F.C., Barnsley, Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United and England national football team, England. He was a strong and powerful half back who coul ...

, Glendenning's fellow wing half from Barnsley. In the 1916–17 season, Glendenning appeared as a wartime guest player with

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. After the war he played for

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

Coaching career

After the end of his playing career, he took up coaching and moved to the Netherlands. He had a short spell, only one game, a 4–1 victory over

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, as coach of the national side in 1923. He then coached

Koninklijke HFC Koninklijke Haarlemsche Football Club (Royal Haarlem Football Club) is a football club based in Haarlem, Netherlands. It is the oldest existing club in Dutch football, founded by Pim Mulier in 1879. During the club's early years, the team only ...

until 1928. He was made the permanent coach of the Netherlands in 1925, holding both coaching positions until the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

, when he chose to focus on the national team. He remained the manager of the Oranje until 1940, leading them to the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

finals in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

and

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

. The tournaments would be disappointments, exiting in the first round on both occasions, to Switzerland by a score of 3–2 in 1934, and then to

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

by 3–0 in 1938. Glendenning managed the Oranje through 87 games, with 36 wins, 36 losses and 15 draws. Up until October 2017, he remained the Dutch national coach with the most victories. By comparison, the only Dutch coach

Rinus Michels Marinus Jacobus Hendricus "Rinus" Michels (; 9 February 1928 – 3 March 2005) was a Dutch Association football, football player and coach. He list of one-club men in association football, played his entire career for AFC Ajax, Ajax, which he ...

to win a major trophy, Euro 1988, had 30 victories from 53 games, over an 18-year (1974 to 1992) on again off again association with the national team.

Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" Van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch former football manager and player who played as a striker for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...

had 35 wins from 48 games, before being knocked out at the quarter-final stage of

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

. However, as of his third spell in charge,

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas "Dick" Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former association football, football player and coach. He is currently the manager of the Curaçao national football team. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a ...

has now managed 37 victories from 62 games. Glendenning's last game as a manager was the 4–2 victory over

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

played on 21 April 1940; the game was also

Abe Lenstra Abe Minderts Lenstra (; 27 November 19202 September 1985) was a Dutch footballer and national football icon in the 1950s who played as a forward. He is regarded as one of the greatest players ever to hail from the Netherlands. He was also a Fri ...

's second international cap. Three weeks later, the Dutch national side was to go to

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

to play their next international match, but the game was never played because of the German

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

of the Netherlands, which forced Glendenning to flee. He died on 19 November of that same year from complications of a fall. He is buried in

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, England, where the

KNVB The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and women ...

has maintained and replaced his headstone.

Honours

Barnsley *

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 ...

winner:

* FA Cup runner-up:

References

:''In some references he is referred to as Bob Glendinning'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Glendenning, Bob 1888 births 1940 deaths Footballers from Washington, Tyne and Wear English men's footballers Men's association football wing halves Washington United F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891) players English Football League players Burnley F.C. wartime guest players English football managers Netherlands national football team managers 1934 FIFA World Cup managers 1938 FIFA World Cup managers English expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands World War II refugees Accidental deaths from falls