Frank Upton (18 October 1934 – 17 May 2011) was an English professional

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.

Playing career

Upton, a hard tackling central defender, began his football career with

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Town Football Club is an English football club that was based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. It withdrew from Southern League Premier Division Central on 18 January 2024 due to financial problems and faces liquidation. In 1889, Nuneaton S ...

. He moved to

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

in March 1953, making his league debut the same season. In June 1954 he moved to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

, making over 200 appearances before a £15,000 move to Chelsea in August 1961. He helped Chelsea to promotion back to the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

in the 1962–63 season and won the League Cup with them in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

. In September 1965 he rejoined Derby County, moving on to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

a year later. He left league football the following summer, joining non-league

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English Association football, football club based in Worcester, England, Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Southern Football League Premier Division Central, the seventh tier of English football. ...

in July 1967,

Coaching and managerial career

Upton joined

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

as player-manager in January 1968, but lost his job six months later after Workington had finished 23rd in

Football League Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier L ...

Division Four and been forced to seek re-election. He joined Northampton Town's coaching staff in October 1969, but moved to coach

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

in January 1970. He joined Chelsea's coaching staff in August 1977 and became caretaker manager in December 1978 after the dismissal of Ken Shellito. He was later coach of Danish side

Randers Freja Randers Sportsklub Freja (often abbreviated Randers Freja) is a Danish sport club with teams in athletics, handball, table tennis and football. History Randers Freja was founded in 1898, and was accepted into the Jydsk Boldspil-Union, JBU i ...

between February 1979 and February 1980. He joined

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 ...

as a coach in August 1980 and coached Al Arabi of Kuwait in 1981. In 1982, he returned to the UK as coach of

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, a post he held until October 1984 when he was appointed as manager of Bedworth United. He was assistant manager of

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

between December 1985 and April 1987. The following month he took over as coach of Icelandic side Keflavik ÍF. In May 1989 he was appointed as coach to the

Sabah FA Sabah Football Club () is a Malaysian professional football club owned by the Sabah Football Club Sdn Bhd. The club represents the state of Sabah in Borneo, and competes in the Malaysia Super League, the top tier of Malaysian football. Thei ...

, but returned to the UK as caretaker-manager of

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

in January 1990. He was appointed as youth coach at

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

side

Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...

in April 1990, taking a similar position at

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

in November 1990. In 1991, he opened a sports injuries clinic in

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, continuing with his coaching career and joined the coaching staff at

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in 1992. In December 2008 he returned to Derby for the annual dinner of the Derby County Former Players' Association, and he served on the association's committee. He died just over two years later, in May 2011, at the age of 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Upton, Frank 1934 births 2011 deaths English men's footballers Nuneaton Town F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players English expatriates in Iceland Derby County F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Workington A.F.C. players English football managers Workington A.F.C. managers Burton Albion F.C. managers English Football League players People from Atherstone Expatriate football managers in Kuwait Expatriate football managers in Malaysia Sabah F.C. (Malaysia) managers Expatriate football managers in Iceland Knattspyrnudeild Keflavík managers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff Bedworth United F.C. managers Worcester City F.C. players Men's association football central defenders 20th-century English sportsmen