Robert H. "Bob" Kyle (c. 1870 – after 1928) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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 o ...

during the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. A native of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, Kyle was club secretary (overseeing the whole club including coaching/training) at

Distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

in the Irish League from June 1897 to 1905. During this time "the Whites" claimed three League titles, two

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

s, one City Cup, three

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Foo ...

s and one Belfast Charity Cup. Kyle was invited to become secretary-manager at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in August 1905, remaining in the role until retiring on 15 March 1928. He thus remains Sunderland's longest serving manager. During Kyle's time in charge Sunderland claimed 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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

title in 1913 and finished as runners-up in 1923. He is the only Irish manager ever to win the English top division.

Managerial stats

:''As of 16 September 2007.''

Notes

Sunderland A.F.C. managers Sportspeople from Belfast 1870s births Year of death missing Date of birth missing Place of death missing Football managers from Northern Ireland {{NorthernIreland-footy-bio-stub

Managerial stats

See also

Notes