Robert Hewison (25 March 1889 – 1964) was an English

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 ...

who filled various roles on the left of the pitch before going on to make his name as a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Playing career

Born in

Backworth Backworth is a village in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England, about west of Whitley Bay on the north east coast. It lies northeast of Newcastle. Other nearby towns include North Shields to the so ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, Hewison began his playing career with North East England non-league sides East Holywell Villa and Whitley Athletic before joining Newcastle United in 1910. He joined

Leeds City Leeds City Football Club was the leading professional club in Leeds, England, before the First World War. It was dissolved in 1919 due to financial irregularities, after which Leeds United was established as a replacement. History The club was ...

in 1914 but due to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and their expulsion from

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

he never appeared in an official league match for the club. After suffering a leg break during the 1918-19 season Hewison was asked to serve as City's secretary during their winding up.

Management career

Hewison briefly returned to Newcastle before joining

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

in 1920 as a player-manager. He remained in this position until 1925 when, having retired from playing, he switched to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

as manager. Under Hewison QPR adopted their familiar blue and white kit although results on the pitch were nothing special for the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

club and he was replaced by

Archie Mitchell Archibald Lionel "Archie" Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Larry Lamb. He first appeared on 8 July 2008 as a newest member of the Mitchell family—who had first appeared on the soap in 1990� ...

for the 1931-32 season. Hewison returned to management in 1932 with

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 ...

. However at City Hewison was accused of making illegal payments to amateur players and on 15 October 1938 a joint Football Association and Football League inquiry suspended him until the end of the season, as well as fining the club 100 guineas. When the ban ended in May 1939 (during which time club captain

Clarrie Bourton Clarence Frederick Thomas "Clarrie" Bourton (30 September 1908 – 1981) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Bristol City, Blackburn Rovers, Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle. He is Coventry City's all-time leading ...

served as caretaker player-manager) Hewison returned to the hot-seat and remained in charge until March 1949. He subsequently managed non-league teams such as

Guildford City Guildford City Football Club (formerly Guildford United and AFC Guildford) is a football club based in Guildford, Surrey, England. The club was established in 1921, folded in 1974 and was reformed in 1996. Guildford City play in the . Histo ...

from 1950 to 1957. Hewison went on to manage

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

; with whom he built a strong side, signing players such as,

Charlie Fleming Charles Fleming (12 July 1927 – 14 August 1997) was a Scottish footballer who played for Blairhall Colliery, East Fife, Sunderland and the Scotland national team. Fleming was nicknamed 'Cannonball Charlie' for his shooting ability, and is Ba ...

, Alan Skirton and Ian MacFarlane, captained by

Tony Book Anthony Keith Book (born 4 September 1934) is an English retired footballer and manager. Book spent a large part of his career in Non-League football with his home town club Bath City, before entering league football with Plymouth Argyle. At the ...

. Bath went on to win the league in the 1959–60 season, finishing on 67 points (in 42 matches), with the division the Southern League being viewed as; “The foremost non-League competition” at the time. In the same season, Hewison led the club on one of their best ever cup runs, beating

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

first round. and then

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

in the second round. In the third round, Bath went on to play

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

at Twerton Park, in front of a record crowd of 18,020, but lost 1–0. Hewison rose as the second most successful manager in the club's history. He stayed with Bath until his retirement in 1961.Northumberland
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hewison, Bob 1889 births 1964 deaths English men's footballers Newcastle United F.C. players Leeds City F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Northampton Town F.C. managers Queens Park Rangers F.C. managers Bristol City F.C. managers Bath City F.C. managers People from Backworth Footballers from Tyne and Wear Men's association football inside forwards