Gordon Milne (born 29 March 1937) is an English 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.

Personal life

Gordon Milne was born in

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...

, England and is the son of the Scottish former Preston player Jimmy Milne and Jesse Milne.

Club career

Milne had a successful playing career with amateur side

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

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 ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

(1960–1967),

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 ...

(1967–1970) and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

(1970). He was one of

Bill Shankly William Shankly (2 September 1913 – 29 September 1981) was a Scottish association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool F.C., Liverpool. Shankly brought su ...

's first signings, when he moved from

for £16,000 in August 1960. He made his debut in the 1–0 2nd Division defeat at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

on 31 August 1960, he scored his first goal in the 10th minute of a 2–1 league win over

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 ...

St James' Park St James' Park is a Association football, football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,305, it is the List of football stadiums in England, 8th la ...

on 20 September 1961. Milne was a successful right-half for

during the 1960s and played a prominent role in Liverpool's rise from the old Second Division, forming a partnership with Gerry Byrne. While at Anfield, he won First Division Championship medals in 1963–64 and 1965–66, a Second Division Championship medal in 1961–62 and two shared Charity Shield triumphs in 1964 and 1965. Milne missed the 1965 FA Cup final, in which Liverpool triumphed, through injury, but played a major role just a few days later as the Reds entertained

Inter Milan 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 Association football, football List of football ...

in the first leg of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

semi final. Bill Shankly sent out the injured pair Milne and Gerry Byrne to parade the F.A Cup before the kick-off. The Reds went on to win the match 3–1 but were beaten 3–0 in the return leg.

International career

Milne was selected to represent

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 ...

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. ...

14 times making his debut for

Alf Ramsey Sir Alfred Ernest Ramsey (22 January 1920 – 28 April 1999) was an English association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. As a player, he represented England national football team, the England national ...

's team in a prestigious friendly with

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

at Wembley in a game that took place on 8 May 1963 and finished one-all.

Managerial career

Milne turned to management and coaching with

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

in January 1970. He managed Wigan from 1970 to 1972, making 73

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

appearances for the club, and guided them to a league title and 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 ...

run, which ended with a narrow defeat 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 ...

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest attenda ...

. Milne also became the part-time manager of the England Youth team in 1972, helping them to win the European Youth Championship that year. Milne joined

Joe Mercer Joseph Mercer (9 August 1914 – 9 August 1990) was an English footballer and manager. Mercer, who played as a defender for Everton and Arsenal in his footballing career, also went on to manage Aston Villa and Manchester City, and was the ...

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 ...

as team manager in June 1972, taking full control in 1974, upon Mercer's elevation to the Board. He was shortlisted for the England management role following the departure of Sir Alf Ramsey, but was overlooked in favour of

Don Revie Donald George Revie (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an English footballer and manager. He is best known for managing Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, winning the Football League First Division twice and the FA Cup once, before being the Eng ...

. He continued at Coventry until 1981, producing several exciting teams and securing the club's First Division status. The 1977–78 season saw Coventry's most exciting top-flight team. Gordon Milne settled on an attacking 4–2–4 formation. A side containing

Tommy Hutchison Thomas Hutchison (born 22 September 1947) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a midfielder. He made over 1,100 appearances, including 314 in the Football League alone for Coventry City, and more than 160 apiece in the competition f ...

Mick Ferguson Michael John Ferguson (born 3 October 1954) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent the best years of his playing career at Coventry City. Although his career was plagued by injury, he managed a decent ...

, Ian Wallace,

Terry Yorath Terence Charles Yorath (born 27 March 1950) is a Welsh former football player and manager at both club and international level. He represented Leeds United, Coventry City, Tottenham Hotspur, Vancouver Whitecaps, Bradford City, Swansea C ...

Graham Oakey Graham Oakey (born 5 October 1954) is an English former footballer who made 88 Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 a ...

, Bobby MacDonald and Jim Blyth played attacking football that swept many teams aside, often by large margins of victory. Milne became boss 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 August 1982, winning promotion in 1982–83 and staying until 1986. He managed

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

in Turkey for seven years (1987–1994) (where he won three successive titles, during the early 1990s). He has succeeded in creating one of the most successful periods in the history of

and is still a legend for the Beşiktaş fans. He also managed

Nagoya Grampus Eight ; formerly known as is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, and have for all but one season since the inauguration of the league, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture an ...

in Japan, before returning to Turkey to take charge of

Bursaspor Bursaspor Kulübü Derneği, commonly known as Bursaspor, is a Turkey, Turkish professional sports club based in the city of Bursa. Founded in 1963, the club is best known for its football team, which has a rich history in Football in Turkey, Turk ...

(1996–1997) and then

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

(1998–1999). Milne then accepted the role of Director of Football at

, and worked alongside manager

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English football player and coach. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich Town. ...

between 1999 and 2004. After a spell as chief executive of the League Managers Association, Milne was employed as Director of Football at

in 2006.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* *
Thisisanfield.com Forgotten Heroes

www.englandfc.com player profile

Player profile at LFChistory.net
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milne, Gordon 1937 births Living people English people of Scottish descent English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Liverpool F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players England men's international footballers English football managers Wigan Athletic F.C. managers Coventry City F.C. managers Leicester City F.C. managers Beşiktaş J.K. managers Nagoya Grampus managers Bursaspor managers Trabzonspor managers English Football League managers Süper Lig managers J1 League managers English expatriate football managers English expatriate sportspeople in Turkey English expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate football managers in Turkey Expatriate football managers in Japan