Robert Seith (born 9 March 1932) is a Scottish former

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 ...

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 o ...

. He won league championships in both

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 ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, with

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

and

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

respectively.

Playing career

Seith began his professional career with Burnley, whom he joined in 1948 aged 16. He made his debut for the ''Clarets'' in 1953, in a 2–1 away victory against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, and soon became their regular

right half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. By 1959–60 Burnley had become a genuine title challenger and Seith played 27 games in that league campaign as they moved towards their first championship since 1920–21. However a defensive blip in a game against challengers

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

saw him dropped in March 1960 and he was still absent from the side when they eventually clinched the title. That summer, a dispute with the Burnley chairman led to Seith's transfer back to Scotland, where he joined Dundee for £7,500. The

Dens Park Dens Park, officially known as Kilmac Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yards ...

side contained famous names such as

Alan Gilzean Alan John Gilzean (; 22 October 1938 – 8 July 2018) was a Scottish professional footballer, active from 1955 to 1975. A striker, Gilzean played most prominently for Dundee and Tottenham Hotspur, and also appeared in 22 international games for ...

Gordon Smith Gordon Smith may refer to: In politics *Gordon H. Smith (born 1952), former U.S. Senator from Oregon, and current Area Authority for the LDS Church * Gordon Elsworth Smith (1918–2005), Canadian politician * Gordon Smith (academic) (1927–2009), ...

and

Ian Ure John Francombe "Ian" Ure (born 7 December 1939) is a former Scottish football player and manager. Ure started his career with Dundee, before moving to England to play for Arsenal and Manchester United. After eight years in England, Ure returne ...

and was a potent threat to the traditional dominance of the

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

, eventually winning the League title in the 1961–62 season. This allowed Seith the opportunity to compete in the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

which had been denied him by his acrimonious departure from

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional football ...

and he featured prominently in the ''Dark Blues'' run to the semi-final, where they eventually lost to eventual winners

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

Coaching career

Seith retired from playing in 1964, joining the Dundee coaching staff before moving to a similar role with Rangers; he was to resign from his Rangers post in protest at the sacking of manager

Scot Symon James Scotland Symon (9 May 1911 – 30 April 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He also played cricket for Scotland in an age when it was possible to play and excel in several sports. Footballer Symon started his professional ca ...

in 1967. He earned his first opportunity as a manager when appointed to replace Jimmy Milne at

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

but left in 1970. He had a brief period in charge of the Scottish national youth team before being hired as manager of Heart of Midlothian. It was Seith who brought striker

Drew Busby Andrew Douglas Busby (8 December 1947 – 1 July 2022) was a Scottish footballer who played for Third Lanark, Airdrieonians, Hearts, Toronto Blizzard and Morton. Busby also served Queen of the South as their player-manager. Career Busby st ...

to Tynecastle. The ''Maroons'' had endured several seasons of mediocrity prior to Seith's appointment but gradually improved under his charge and in the 1973–74 season topped the League for several months following a 13-match unbeaten run. An inconsistent finish saw them narrowly miss out on European qualification though and following a 10 games winless streak at the beginning of 1974–75, he was dismissed. Seith left the football business following his departure from Tynecastle and has since worked as a

chiropodist Podiatry () or podiatric medicine () is a branch of medicine devoted to the study, diagnosis, medical and surgical treatment of disorders of the foot, ankle, and leg. A Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM), or a podiatrist, is a healthcare ...

, based in

Broughty Ferry Broughty Ferry (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Bruach Tatha''; Scots: ''Brochtie'') is a suburb of Dundee, Scotland. It is situated four miles east of the city centre on the north bank of the Firth of Tay. The area was a separate burgh from 1864 until ...

. He was belatedly awarded a medal for his efforts in Burnley's 1959–60 league title win in 1999, having been denied one at the time due a dispute with the then club chairman. He was presented with this medal in a public ceremony prior to a Burnley home match in October 1999.

References

External links

Profile
at claretsmad.co.uk
Profile/Interview
at dundeemad.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Seith, Bobby 1932 births Footballers from Coatbridge Scottish footballers Dundee F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Scottish football managers Preston North End F.C. managers Heart of Midlothian F.C. managers Dundee F.C. non-playing staff Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Living people Scottish Football League representative players Men's association football wing halves English Football League players Scottish Football League players English Football League managers Scottish Football League managers