Alan Dicks (born 29 August 1934) is an English retired

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 ...

and football manager. He managed

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

for thirteen years and managed clubs in four countries on three continents. Born in London, he signed for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

at the age of 17, though his playing time in the first team was limited to 35 matches in six years, during this time he completed his two years

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

with the RAF and so only played one game in Chelsea's 1954–55 championship season. In 1958 he moved to

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

, and in 1962 joined

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

as assistant manager/coach under

Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including player, trade union leader, coach, manager, director ...

. In 1967 Hill recommended him for the vacant manager's job at

. He held it for thirteen years. In that time he consolidated City's position in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, and eventually, in 1976, led them to promotion to the First Division – then English football's top flight. During his spell as manager the club also made the semi-finals of the 1971 League Cup and won the 1978 Anglo-Scottish Cup. Dicks remained as manager throughout City's four-year stay in Division 1, but relegation at the end of the 1979-80 season and a poor start to the following season saw him leave on 8 September 1980.Daily Mirror - 9 September 1980. 20 months later City were in the 4th Division. Dicks also managed Ethnikos Piraeus in Greece, Apollon Limassol in Cyprus and in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

(where he won the championship with Al-Rayyan Sports Club). He managed Fulham for one season in

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

having been initially recruited to help manager

Ray Lewington Raymond Lewington (born 7 September 1956) is an English retired footballer. He was most recently assistant manager of Watford. Born in London, he started his playing career in the city at Chelsea. He went on to play for Vancouver Whitecaps, W ...

. It was his first job back in English football for over a decade. The team's performance was poor. They finished 21st in the league (a position which normally would have seen them relegated to Division Four, though they were saved from this fate thanks to league restructuring) and were eliminated from the FA Cup by

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

side Hayes. Things appeared to be going better in the following season, but a run of five successive defeats near the end of 1991 saw him sacked. After leaving Fulham he moved to the United States and subsequently became head coach of

Carolina Dynamo North Carolina Fusion U-23, formerly known as Carolina Dynamo, is an American soccer team based in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1993, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. Th ...

and then

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are one of the oldest continuously operating professional soccer clubs in th ...

in the A-League.

Manager statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dicks, Alan 1934 births Living people English footballers Chelsea F.C. players Southend United F.C. players English football managers English expatriate football managers Bristol City F.C. managers Fulham F.C. managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Expatriate football managers in Greece Footballers from the London Borough of Lambeth Association football midfielders English Football League managers People from Kennington Al-Rayyan SC managers English Football League players Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. managers Apollon Limassol FC managers Charleston Battery coaches Coventry City F.C. non-playing staff