Clifford Samuel Britton (29 August 1909 – 1 December 1975) was an English
football player and manager.
Playing career
After playing amateur
football for a number of teams in the
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
area, his professional playing career began when he signed for
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 ...
in 1928. He made over 50 appearances for Rovers, where he was a teammate of his brother
Frank Britton. Britton was signed by
Everton in 1930.
At first he was deemed too frail and so he was playing in the reserves in the 1931–32 Championship season, but he was one of the stars of Everton's 1933
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 ...
win. He was one of the classiest playmakers of his era, who could produce miracles with short or long passes.
Dixie Dean said that he was the best crosser of the ball that he played with. Dean joked that Britton's precision ensured that the laces on the ball were turned away when Dean had to head it. Britton made 242 appearances for Everton though only scoring three goals. Between 1934 and 1937 Britton also played nine times for
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 ...
.
[
]
Management career
Burnley & Everton
After the war, Britton was made manager of 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, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...
in October 1945.[ He quickly steered Burnley to promotion from the ]Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
in the 1946–47 season and to the 1947 FA Cup Final
The 1947 FA Cup Final was the 66th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 26 April 1947 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Charlton Athletic and Burnley. Charlton were appearing in their second consecutive final after losing to Derby Cou ...
. He was appointed manager of Everton in 1948 and was regarded as a big improvement over the previous manager Theo Kelly
Theo Kelly (17 January 1896 – 30 April 1964) was manager of Everton Football Club from 1939 to 1948.
Biography
Theo Kelly was born Louis Alford Theodore Kelly in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on 17 January 1896. His father, Louis Theophilus ...
.
Unlike his predecessor Britton was an ex-player and was said to have easy-going approachability so confidence improved. Britton was also a disciplinarian and it was said that his ideal team would be eleven 'teetotallers'. However the Everton squad was of low quality and suffered eleven consecutive defeats in September to November of the 1950–51 season. In a desperate foray into the transfer market, Britton spent £28,000 on an uninspiring inside forward, Harry Potts
Harold Potts (22 October 1920 – 16 January 1996) was an English football player and manager. As a player he won promotion with both Burnley and Everton, and both from Second Division. As Burnley manager, he guided them to the First Division ...
from Burnley when a new centre forward was desperately needed. (He could have brought Tommy Lawton
Thomas Lawton (6 October 1919 – 6 November 1996) was an English football player and manager. A strong centre-forward with excellent all-round attacking skills, he was able to head the ball with tremendous power and accuracy.
Born in F ...
back for less money). In 1950–51 Everton were two points clear of the relegation zone but contrived to suffer a 6–0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
, while Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
beat Bolton Wanderers 4–0 and so Everton were relegated on goal average.
With remarkable patience the Everton board gave Britton a vote of confidence. However, in the summer of 1951, the board refused any more money for transfer fees and so Britton had to rely heavily on a policy of youth rather than on big money buys. Consequently, Everton spent three seasons in the Second Division finishing 7th and a worrying 16th before being promoted as runners-up in 1953–54.
The board continued to refuse transfer funds and Britton had disagreements with them. While Britton was abroad with the team the board wanted to appoint an acting manager. The board had also interfered with other decisions, but Britton had also made several mistakes such as dropping and then selling the talismanic Dave Hickson
David Hickson (30 October 1929 – 8 July 2013) was an English professional footballer who played for Everton, Aston Villa, Huddersfield Town, Liverpool, Cambridge City, Bury and Tranmere Rovers
Club career
Hickson started his football ...
. Eventually Britton resigned from Everton in 1956 saying that "I want all managers to have the freedom to do the job for which they were appointed." A sub-committee of the board unsuccessfully ran the Everton team for the remainder of the season until Ian Buchan was appointed.
Preston North End
After a six-month gap Britton became manager of Preston North End.[ In the next five years, Preston North End flirted with winning the League championship and Britton laid the foundations of a solid youth policy. Britton took the decision that would cause ]Tom Finney
Sir Thomas Finney (5 April 1922 – 14 February 2014) was an English international footballer who played from 1946 to 1960 as a winger or centre forward for Preston North End and England. He is widely acknowledged to have been one of the s ...
to play some of the best football of his life. At the age of 34, Finney was made centre-forward, where he was also to play three games for England. Finney was a revelation, scoring 23 goals the 1956–57 season and Preston finished third in the First Division. The next season they went one better – runners-up to Champions Wolves
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
. However Preston North End were relegated after the 1960–61 season and so Britton resigned.
Hull City
In 1961 he became manager of Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...
. Again he relied on youth rather than the transfer market until an injection of cash in 1964 allowed him to bring in new players such as Ken Wagstaff
Kenneth Wagstaff (born 24 November 1942) is an English former footballer noted for his playing career at Mansfield Town and Hull City football clubs. In 2000, club fans of both Mansfield Town and Hull City voted Wagstaff their club's player of t ...
. Consequently, Hull eventually won the Third Division championship in the 1965–66 season. He continued to trust the same group of players instead of bringing in new talent and so Hull's challenge for promotion to the First Division faltered. He became general manager of Hull City in 1970 and was instrumental in the recruitment of Terry Neill
William John Terence Neill (8 May 1942 – 28 July 2022) was a Northern Irish football player and manager. A centre-back, he captained and later managed Arsenal, guiding the club to a European final in 1980 and three consecutive FA Cup final ...
as his successor.
Managerial statistics
All competitive league games (league and domestic cup) and international matches (including friendlies) are included.
References
Official Everton history site
Biography at Hull City site
*''Everton – School of Science'' by James Corbett Pan Books 2003
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Britton Cliff
1909 births
English footballers
England international footballers
England wartime international footballers
Hanham Athletic F.C. players
Roman Glass St George F.C. players
Bristol Rovers F.C. players
Everton F.C. players
Liverpool F.C. wartime guest players
Cardiff City F.C. wartime guest players
Aldershot F.C. wartime guest players
Doncaster Rovers F.C. wartime guest players
English football managers
Burnley F.C. managers
Everton F.C. managers
Preston North End F.C. managers
Hull City A.F.C. managers
1975 deaths
English Football League players
English Football League representative players
English Football League managers
Association football wing halves
FA Cup Final players