Bertram James Tann (4 May 1914 – 7 July 1972) was a professional

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 le ...

and later football manager, who is best known for managing

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

for a spell of 18 years from 1950 to 1968. He is the longest-serving

post-war In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...

manager of Bristol Rovers, and their second-longest-serving of all time behind Alfred Homer. His playing and management careers were split by the

Second World War 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 opposin ...

. As a player he spent time with Clapton FC and

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...

before ending his official playing days with

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

in 1939, although he did go on to make a number of guest appearances for other clubs after this date in unofficial wartime

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

. After the hostilities ended he returned to football firstly as a coach and later as manager of Erith & Belvedere, then after a brief spell in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

where he spent a season at the helm of

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

he took over as Bristol Rovers' boss in 1950.

Early life

Tann was born in Plaistow, now part of

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, in May 1914, one of eleven children brought up in the family home. His father earned a living working as a ship painter in London's Docklands area. He showed an aptitude for sport throughout his childhood, and as well as playing football for London Boys, West Ham Boys and the Essex County F.A. he was also an accomplished

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er and

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

Playing career

Tann's career as a

was a relatively short one. He joined his first professional club,

, in 1933 and he would spend just six years among the pro ranks before League football was put on hiatus in 1939 due to 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 opposin ...

. During this time he made just nineteen appearances in 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 ...

, scoring twice. Prior to turning professional he had played as an amateur, spending a season with each of Clapton Orient (now

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

) in 1931–32 and

the following year, earning an income during this period working as a painter and decorator with his father. While no League football was being played during the Second World War he made guest appearances in unofficial friendly matches for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, for whom he played 36 times, and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

where he played just a single game.

Coaching career

After the end of the Second World War Tann opted not to take up an opportunity to return to painting and decorating in the family business, but instead decided to try to forge a career in football coaching. He was able to find work as a coach with

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

side Erith & Belvedere, and it wasn't long before he was appointed as their manager. In 1947 he was one of a number of English coaches given the opportunity to travel to

, where he was given the role of manager with

Fredrikstad FK Fredrikstad Fotballklubb (also known as Fredrikstad or FFK) is a Norwegian association football, football club from the town of Fredrikstad. With nine league championships and eleven Norwegian Football Cup, Norwegian Cup wins, FFK is one of the ...

and led them to the 1946–47 ''Østfoldserien'' championship. He began working as a staff coach at

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

and from there he was taken on as a member of the coaching staff at

in 1948. Eighteen months later, in January 1950, he was promoted to the job of first team manager, replacing

Brough Fletcher Brough Fletcher (9 March 1893 – 12 May 1972) was a footballer and football manager. He played for Sheffield Wednesday, Partick Thistle and Barnsley and managed Barnsley, Bristol Rovers and Walsall. He scored the only goal of the game in B ...

who had held the position for the previous twelve years. It was an important moment in Rovers' history as by the end of his eighteen years in charge he would be considered one of the club's greatest ever managers. Under Tann's leadership Rovers implemented a ''no-buy no-sell'' policy on players, meaning the squad would be built up almost entirely of men living locally and would prevent the loss of their best players to other clubs, as had happened previously when

Eddie Hapgood Edris Albert "Eddie" Hapgood (24 September 1908 – 20 April 1973) was an English footballer, who captained both Arsenal and England during the 1930s. Playing career Hapgood was born in Bristol and started his footballing career in the mid-192 ...

left the club as a teenager and went on to become captain of

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. The policy was a success and the club was able to build a talented team which, under Tann's leadership, they enjoyed the most successful period in the club's history. Rovers were promoted to the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

for the first time in their history in 1952–53, and he led them to 6th-place finishes in both the 1955–56 and 1958–59 seasons, as well to the quarter-finals of 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 ...

in 1950–51 and 1957–58. ''No-buy no-sell'' was made possible by the existence of football's

maximum wage A maximum wage, also often called a wage ceiling, is a legal limit on how much income an individual can earn. It is a prescribed limitation which can be used to effect change in an economic structure, but its effects are unrelated to those of mini ...

rule, which forbade clubs paying more than £20 a week in wages to any player. This rule was growing increasingly unpopular and was eventually abolished in 1961 amid threats of a strike by the players' union. The fact that they could now earn market value for their services meant that smaller clubs, like Rovers, could no longer afford to hold on to their best players as they looked for bigger pay packets elsewhere. Tann continued as manager until 1968, but never managed the same level of success as he had during the maximum-wage era. His eighteen years at the helm make him the longest-serving

manager of Bristol Rovers, and the second longest of all time behind Alfred Homer. After vacating the role of first team manager in 1968 he remained at the club and was appointed to the role of

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

and

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

, positions he held until his death five years later. On Tuesday 4 July 1972 he was admitted to hospital with heart strain and died there three days later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tann, Bert 1914 births 1972 deaths Footballers from Plaistow, Newham Association football wing halves English Football League players Leyton Orient F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players English Football League managers Fredrikstad FK managers Bristol Rovers F.C. managers Southampton F.C. wartime guest players West Ham United F.C. wartime guest players English footballers English football managers English expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Norway