Dave Russell (7 April 1914 – 12 June 2000) was a Scottish
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 the Scottish Cup with
East Fife in 1938, and was manager of both
Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
and
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...
for eight years.
Playing career
Russell played for his hometown club
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 ...
before joining
East Fife. Winning the Scottish Cup in
1938
Events
January
* January 1
** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...
, Russell played 92 games for The Fifers before joining
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 of ...
for the next season, where he was an ever-present as the club finished third in Division Two. As it did with so many players,
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 ...
hampered Russell's career.
Managerial career
After a stint in the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
, Russell became a coach for the
Danish Football Association
The Danish Football Union ( da, Dansk Boldspil-Union; DBU) is the governing body of football in Denmark. It is the organization of the Danish football clubs and runs the professional Danish football leagues and the men's and women's national t ...
before returning to England in 1950 to take up a coaching role at
Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
. In 1953, Russell became the manager and led the Shakers for eight years. The club played 379 games under him between 1953 and 1961, winning 154, losing 139 and drawing 86 match. However, whilst at Bury, finances were a severe problem for Russell, and in 1957 they suffered relegation from Division Two for the first time in 63 years. Fortunes soon turned around though for the Scotsman, and he guided Bury back to Division Two in the 1960–61 season.
He then took over as manager of
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...
, at the time two divisions lower than Bury, replacing
Walter Galbraith
Walter McMurray Galbraith (26 May 1918 – November 1995) was a Scottish football player and manager. He played as a defender for Queen's Park, Clyde, New Brighton and Grimsby Town. He then managed Accrington Stanley, Bradford Park Avenue, ...
who had been in charge for less than a year. After near misses and disappointments along the way, he finally steered Rovers back to the Third Division at the conclusion of 1966–67 season. In 1969, Russell became the club's general manager to allow his long-time coach,
Jackie Wright
John Wright (24 September 1904 – 11 January 1989), credited professionally as Jackie Wright, also nicknamed Little Jackie and Uncle Jackie, was a Northern Irish comedian.
He is best known for being the bald-headed sidekick of Benny Hill on h ...
, to take over the managerial reins, having guided the team to 167 wins and 130 defeats over a 379-game and eight-year stint as manager. In 1978 Russell left the club for the final time. Since then, one of the hospitality suites at Tranmere's ground
Prenton Park
Prenton Park is a large outdoor seated association football stadium in Birkenhead, England. It is the home ground of Tranmere Rovers, as well as Liverpool's women and reserves teams. The ground has had several rebuilds, with the most recent o ...
has been named after Russell.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Dave
1914 births
2000 deaths
Scottish footballers
Footballers from Dundee
Association football midfielders
Scottish Football League players
English Football League players
Dundee F.C. players
East Fife F.C. players
Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players
Scottish football managers
Bury F.C. managers
Tranmere Rovers F.C. managers
20th-century Royal Air Force personnel