Robert Francis Dudgeon Ancell (16 June 1911 – 5 July 1987) was a Scottish football player and

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 ...

. He played as a left back for St Mirren, Newcastle United, Dundee and

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. He won two full

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 Ja ...

with the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the thr ...

who he also represented in an unofficial war time match. He managed

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, just south of the border with Scotland. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite hailing fr ...

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

, Motherwell and Dundee during the 1950s and 1960s.

Player

Born in Dumfries, Ancell grew up with a marked aptitude for sport, thanks in no small part to his father, a physical training instructor at

Dumfries Academy Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

. As a teenager, he represented his home town at both cricket and rugby and one of his first jobs was as an assistant golf professional, a sport in which he retained a keen interest, eventually playing off a handicap of three.Bobby Ancell
Queen of the South FC, 10 December 2011 Ancell's playing career began with local side Mid Annandale, from where he moved to St Mirren in 1930. He was a stylish, intelligent full back. Ancell stayed with the Paisley club for six years, where the best league finishes were fifth in 1932 and seventh in 1933. In 1934 he played for St Mirren in a Scottish Cup final defeat against Rangers in front of a crowd of 113,430.Few Thrills at One-sided Cup Final Rangers Outplay St Mirren at Hampden
The Glasgow Herald, 23 April 1934 However the team was in decline and was relegated in 1935 - this was the only relegation of Ancell's career as either player or manager. The drop of a division was short lived though, and promotion straight back up followed the season after. Ancell was signed by Newcastle United for a fee of £2,750 for the start of season 1936–37. Within months of joining Newcastle, Ancell received international recognition. He made his

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

debut in a 3–1 victory over

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. He second and last cap was shortly after in the season against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. Ancell received a third, unofficial cap, against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in December 1939 played at Newcastle's St. James' Park. Having returned north upon the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Ancell served the war as a PT instructor as many players did. Guesting for numerous teams before joining Dundee in 1944, he had a spell as coach to the Norwegian army. Ancell helped Dundee lift the Second Division championship in 1946–47 and their first season back in the top flight ended in fourth spot. In season 1948–49 he left the ''Dark Blues'' to join a side managed by a fellow native of Dumfries,

Dave Halliday David Halliday (11 December 1901 – 5 January 1970) was a Scottish association football player and manager. He achieved numerous distinctions and high rankings as a prolific goal-scoring forward with six senior clubs; St Mirren, Dundee, Sunde ...

.Bobby Ancell
AFC Heritage Trust Ancell returned to Dundee play a small number of games in the season after.

Manager

Ancell then turned his hand to management in 1950 with

, then of the

East of Scotland League The East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL) is a senior football league based in the east and south-east of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–9 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. Fo ...

, turning down an offer from

who at that point were making headlines from board room disputes. Ancell was then approached by Dunfermline again in 1952 and with a completely new set of directors running the club, and accepted the offer. The ''Pars'' had been without a manager during the previous season and, having released no fewer than eighteen players at the end of it, Ancell had to rebuild the squad with very little money. The upheaval led to a mediocre season but Ancell was happy to develop young talent and shape them into the kind of players he wanted. One of his first signings was 17-year-old Jimmy Millar. The Dunfermline improved in all three seasons under Ancell and achieved promotion to the First Division in 1955 after an absence of eighteen years; however Ancell moved on. Bobby_Ancell_Motherwell_Underpass

Motherwell was Ancell's next port of call in 1955 where he appointed ex-Dundee teammate Reuben Bennett to his training staff. At

Fir Park Fir Park Stadium is a football stadium situated in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell and was the temporary home of Gretna for the 2007–08 SPL season. M ...

, he was able to put his purist principles into practice and developed a dynamic young side known as the 'Ancell Babes'.Ancell's Babes: Steelmen, Sinners and the Saint
The Football Pink, 12 February 2019 Under his guidance, no fewer than eight players gained international recognition featuring players like

Ian St John John "Ian" St John (; 7 June 1938 – 1 March 2021) was a Scottish professional football player, coach and broadcaster. St John played as a forward for Liverpool throughout most of the 1960s. Signed by Bill Shankly in 1961, St John was a key me ...

, Charlie Aitken and Willie Hunter. The club's best finish in Ancell's tenure was third place in 1959 followed by finishes in fifth spot in the two subsequent seasons. Ancell next rejoined former club Dundee where his best finish was sixth in 1967. He took Dundee to an autumn 1967 Scottish League Cup Final against the previous season's European Cup winners, Celtic. Ancell's team scored three times at Hampden Park in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

but still lost out 5–3. In the

1967–68 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The tenth Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was played over the 1967–68 season. The competition was won by Leeds United over two legs in the final against Ferencváros. It was the first English victory in the competition, despite sides from the country hav ...

, Dundee eliminated opposition from Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland to meet

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

in the semi final; after a 1–1 draw at Dens, a 1–0 second leg win took Leeds through on their way to lifting the trophy. From his first to last season in management, not once did his side finish a season having been fighting for divisional survival. After a year working as reserve team coach at Dens Park, he acted for

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in a scouting role before finally retiring from the game to spend more time on the golf course prior to his death on 5 July 1987.

Honours

Player

St Mirren *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maxi ...

Dundee *

Scottish Division Two The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

: 1946–47

Manager

Dunfermline Athletic *

: promotion 1951–52 Dundee *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

: Runners-up 1967–68 *

Forfarshire Cup The Forfarshire Cup is a football competition in Scotland competed for by teams in the Forfarshire Football Association from Angus, Dundee and Perth. The name of the competition is often baffling to some, as "Forfarshire" is an archaic and angli ...

: 1965–66, 1966–67

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ancell, Bobby 1911 births 1987 deaths Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Mid-Annandale F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Scottish football managers Berwick Rangers F.C. managers Dunfermline Athletic F.C. managers Motherwell F.C. managers Dundee F.C. managers English Football League players Scottish Football League players Scottish rugby union players Footballers from Dumfries Scottish Football League managers Scotland wartime international footballers Association football fullbacks Association football coaches Association football scouts Burnley F.C. wartime guest players Derby County F.C. wartime guest players Blackpool F.C. wartime guest players Blackburn Rovers F.C. wartime guest players Aberdeen F.C. wartime guest players Rochdale A.F.C. wartime guest players British Army personnel of World War II