Bobby Seith
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Robert Seith (born 9 March 1932) is a Scottish former
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 Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
. He won league championships in both
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, 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 ...
and
Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
respectively.


Playing career

Seith began his professional career with Burnley, whom he joined in 1948 aged 16. He made his debut for the ''Clarets'' in 1953, in a 2–1 away victory against
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, and soon became their regular
right 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. ...
. By 1959–60 Burnley had become a genuine title challenger and Seith played 27 games in that league campaign as they moved towards their first championship since 1920–21. However a defensive blip in a game against challengers
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saw him dropped in March 1960 and he was still absent from the side when they eventually clinched the title. That summer, a dispute with the Burnley chairman led to Seith's transfer back to Scotland, where he joined Dundee for £7,500. The
Dens Park Dens Park is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yards (183 metres) away. History Dundee moved to "Dens" from the ...
side contained famous names such as Alan Gilzean, Gordon Smith and Ian Ure and was a potent threat to the traditional dominance of the
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, eventually winning the League title in the 1961–62 season. This allowed Seith the opportunity to compete in the
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which had been denied him by his acrimonious departure from
Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C., Burnley Football Club since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in Footbal ...
and he featured prominently in the ''Dark Blues'' run to the semi-final, where they eventually lost to eventual winners
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.


Coaching career

Seith retired from playing in 1964, joining the Dundee coaching staff before moving to a similar role with
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; he was to resign from his Rangers post in protest at the sacking of manager
Scot Symon James Scotland Symon (9 May 1911 – 30 April 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He also played cricket for Scotland. Footballer Symon started his professional career at Dundee in 1930. He then spent three years with English team ...
in 1967. He earned his first opportunity as a manager when appointed to replace Jimmy Milne at
Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...
but left in 1970. He had a brief period in charge of the Scottish national youth team before being hired as manager of Heart of Midlothian. It was Seith who brought striker
Drew Busby Andrew Douglas Busby (8 December 1947 – 1 July 2022) was a Scottish footballer who played for Third Lanark, Airdrieonians, Hearts, Toronto Blizzard and Morton. Busby also served Queen of the South as their player-manager. Career Busby s ...
to Tynecastle. The ''Maroons'' had endured several seasons of mediocrity prior to Seith's appointment but gradually improved under his charge and in the 1973–74 season topped the League for several months following a 13-match unbeaten run. An inconsistent finish saw them narrowly miss out on European qualification though and following a 10 games winless streak at the beginning of 1974–75, he was dismissed. Seith left the football business following his departure from Tynecastle and has since worked as a
chiropodist A podiatrist ( ) is a medical professional devoted to the treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and related structures of the leg. The term originated in North America but has now become the accepted term in the English-speaking world for ...
, based in
Broughty Ferry Broughty Ferry (; ; ) is a suburb of Dundee, in Scotland. It is situated four miles east of the City Centre, Dundee, city centre on the north bank of the Firth of Tay. The area was a separate burgh from 1864 until 1913, when it was incorporated ...
. He was belatedly awarded a medal for his efforts in Burnley's 1959–60 league title win in 1999, having been denied one at the time due a dispute with the then club chairman. He was presented with this medal in a public ceremony prior to a Burnley home match in October 1999.


References


External links


Profile
at claretsmad.co.uk
Profile/Interview
at dundeemad.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Seith, Bobby 1932 births Footballers from Coatbridge Scottish men's footballers Dundee F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Scottish football managers Preston North End F.C. managers Heart of Midlothian F.C. managers Dundee F.C. non-playing staff Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Living people Scottish Football League representative players Men's association football wing halves English Football League players Scottish Football League players English Football League managers Scottish Football League managers