Gilbert Harold Merrick (26 January 1922 – 3 February 2010) was an English footballer and football manager. Considered one of the best goalkeepers in the UK during the mid-1950s, Merrick was one in a long line of great
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...
keepers which included the likes of
Johnny Schofield and
Harry Hibbs. Merrick spent his entire career at Birmingham City, playing more than 700 times between 1939 and 1960. He made 170 appearances during the Second World War and 485 in
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 ...
following the end of the war. He won 23
caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
for the
England national team, and played in the
1954 World Cup. After retirement as a player, he managed the club for four years.
Birmingham City renamed the Railway Stand at their
St Andrew's stadium the Gil Merrick Stand for the start of the 2009–10 season.
Domestic career
Merrick was born in
Sparkhill
Sparkhill is an inner-city area of Birmingham, England, situated between Springfield, Birmingham, Springfield, Hall Green and Sparkbrook.
Historic counties of England, Historically part of Worcestershire, Sparkhill once existed as a Yardley ...
,
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
. He signed professional terms with Birmingham in August 1939, and remained with the team until his retirement as a player in 1960. At first, Merrick was third-choice goalkeeper behind boyhood hero
Harry Hibbs and
Jack Wheeler. This meant that Merrick had to wait until 20 May 1940 to make his debut in the Birmingham first team, then playing in the Midland Regional League because of the Second World War. With the retirement of Hibbs, Merrick gained the chance to play more competitive football, and by the end of the war he had amassed 170 appearances for the "Blues",
including an
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 ...
semi-final against
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 ...
, which Derby won 4–0 after a replay.
When
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 ...
resumed in 1946, Merrick found himself playing regularly for the recently renamed Birmingham City. In 1948, Merrick helped the club win the Second Division Two, missing only six games along the way. He played regularly for the Blues until the end of the 1954–55 season, when another Blues prodigy,
Johnny Schofield replaced him in goal because of injury. During this time, Merrick achieved 126 league games in a row, from 15 April 1949 to 5 April 1952. He also played in every FA Cup game during this time, another nine games, including an FA Cup semi-final appearance against
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
, which the Blues lost 2–1.
By the 1955–56 season, Merrick had once again firmly established himself in the Birmingham City goal, as the Blues produced their best ever season, finishing sixth in the First Division and reaching the
1956 FA Cup Final, which they lost to
Manchester City
Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
. Merrick was also the keeper when Birmingham reached the FA Cup semi-final the following year, only to be knocked out by
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
.
Merrick also played in the
1955–58 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, in which Birmingham were knocked out at the semi-final stage by
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, losing 2–1 in a replay at the
St. Jakob Stadium
The St. Jakob Stadium was a football (soccer), football stadium in Basel, Switzerland and the former home of Swiss club FC Basel. It was built in view of the 1954 FIFA World Cup, and as well as serving as a club stadium, it hosted several import ...
in
Basel
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
. He also played some part in the 1958–60 tournament, but had lost his place in the Birmingham team to Schofield when Birmingham lost to Barcelona in the final.
After only playing one game in the 1959–60 season, Merrick retired to become manager of the team he had served loyally for more than 20 years.
International career
Merrick was capped 23 times by
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 ...
. He made his debut against
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
on 14 November 1951 at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...
in the
1952 British Home Championship. He was first-choice goalkeeper for England in the
1954 World Cup, his last international appearance coming against
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
on 26 June 1954, as England were eliminated at the quarter-final stage.
All of Merrick's caps were gained when Birmingham City were a Second Division club. He is perhaps best known for being the last line of defence against the
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
side of
Ferenc Puskás
Ferenc Puskás (, ; né Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian footballer and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward and an attacking ...
and
Nándor Hidegkuti
Nándor Hidegkuti (3 March 1922 – 14 February 2002) was a Hungarian football player and manager. He played as a forward or attacking midfielder and spent the majority of his playing career at MTK Hungária FC. During the 1950s he was also a ...
, the "
Magnificent Magyars" who beat England
6–3 at Wembley in 1953 and 7–1 at the
Nepstadion in 1954.
The following is a complete list of Merrick's England appearances.
[
:''England score given first.''
]
Managerial career
After his retirement, Merrick took over from Pat Beasley
Albert "Pat" Beasley (16 July 1913 – 27 February 1986) was an England national football team, England international association football, footballer who made more than 400 appearances in the English Football League, Football League. He also bec ...
as manager of Birmingham City in May 1960. Merrick's first competitive game in charge was a 2–2 draw away at 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 ...
on 20 August 1960, and his first home game was against Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Formed in 1867 as an off ...
where his side drew 1–1. His side would go on to finish 19th in Division One. The Blues had another good run in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, reaching the final where they lost to Roma. The 1960-61 tournament did produce a win for Birmingham at the San Siro
San Siro is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy. It has a seating capacity of 75,817, making it the largest stadium in Italy and one of the largest stadiums in Europe. It is the home stadium of the city's principal ...
against Internazionale
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...
in the semi-final; they were the only English team to achieve this for around 40 years.
Although Merrick spent well in the transfer market, bringing in such players as Jimmy Harris and Welshman Ken Leek, Blues failed to make much impact on the First Division, and finished 17th in the 1961–62 season. Blues once again entered the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, but went out in the second round to Espanyol.
By far the best achievement in Merrick's reign at the club came in the 1962–63 season, when he successfully led the Blues to the League Cup title, beating 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 the final thanks to goals from Ken Leek (2) and Jimmy Bloomfield. Birmingham finished 20th in the First Division. At the end of the 1963–64 season, in which Birmingham City again failed to make much impact in the league and finished 20th, the club requested Merrick's resignation.
Merrick had two more spells in management, with non-league Bromsgrove Rovers and Atherstone Town.
Honours
As a player
Birmingham City
* Football League South war league: 1945–46
*Football League Second Division
The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...
: 1947–48, 1954–55
*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 ...
runner-up: 1955–56
As a manager
Birmingham City
*Football League Cup
The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England.
Orga ...
: 1962–63
*Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...
runner-up: 1960–61
Personal
* In April 2009, Birmingham City F.C. announced their intention of renaming one of the stands at their St Andrew's stadium in Merrick's honour. From the 2009–10 season, the Railway Stand would be known as the Gil Merrick Stand.
* In August 2009, Merrick was chosen by public vote as Birmingham City's representative on the Birmingham Walk of Stars
The Birmingham Walk of Stars is a walk of fame-style installation on the pedestrian pavement of Broad Street, Birmingham, Broad Street in Birmingham, England, which honours notable people from the Birmingham area or with significant connections ...
.
* In October 2009, Merrick was the first inductee to the Birmingham City F.C. Hall of Fame.
References
General
* Birmingham City A Complete Record by Tony Matthews (1995)
* FA Website (www.thefa.com)
Gil Merrick
– Daily Telegraph obituary
Specific
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merrick, Gil
1922 births
2010 deaths
People from Sparkhill
England men's international footballers
English men's footballers
Men's association football goalkeepers
Birmingham City F.C. players
1954 FIFA World Cup players
English football managers
Birmingham City F.C. managers
Atherstone Town F.C. managers
English Football League players
English Football League representative players
20th-century English sportsmen