Ernie Tagg (15 November 1917 – 29 November 2006) was an English professional football player and manager, particularly associated with

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

Playing career

A promising schoolboy player who represented the Cheshire county side and had trials for England schoolboys, Tagg originally joined Crewe Alexandra in October 1937 as an inside forward. His first team debut was on 15 January 1938 against

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

, and he scored his first senior goal three weeks later, against

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

on 5 February 1938. In total, he made 19 appearances for Crewe, scoring seven goals. In 1939, he was transferred to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

for a then club record fee of £1800, but made just one appearance due to the start of 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 opposi ...

. Post-war, he played for Bournemouth and Carlisle United before returning to south Cheshire to play for non-league

Nantwich Town Nantwich Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. The club was founded in 1884 and is nicknamed ''The Dabbers'', a reference to the town's tanning industry. They currently compete in and pla ...

Management career

Tagg returned to Crewe in the early 1950s as coach under the then manager Ralph Ward, becoming manager himself in 1964. He retained the post until effectively sacking himself in 1971 because he felt a younger manager should take charge of the club. He was replaced by

Dennis Viollet Dennis Sydney Viollet (20 September 1933 – 6 March 1999) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United and Stoke City as well as the England national team. He was famous as one of the Busby Babes and survived the Munich air disa ...

(though he also acted as club secretary until 1972; at different times, other roles included ball-boy and groundsman). He returned as manager during 1974 before

Harry Gregg Henry Gregg, (27 October 1932 – 16 February 2020), was a Northern Irish professional footballer and manager. A goalkeeper, he played for Manchester United during the reign of Sir Matt Busby, with a total of 247 appearances for the club. He ...

arrived at the club in January 1975. Players developed during his time at Crewe included internationals Stan Bowles and

John Mahoney Charles John Mahoney (June 20, 1940 – February 4, 2018) was an English-born American actor. He was known for playing Martin Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Frasier'' (1993–2004), and won a Screen Actors Guild Award for the role in 2000. Mahone ...

. Tagg is often quoted in respect of Bowles's gambling problems; he used to give Stan's wages direct to his wife, saying: "If he could pass a bookies as well as he passes a football, he'd be a very rich man." Tagg was also acknowledged by soccer coach Alan Hargreaves for giving him the opportunity to enter professional football.Acknowledgements (p.xi) in Hargreaves' book ''Skills and Strategies for Coaching Soccer'' (1990) Being manager at Crewe was not well-paid, and Tagg supplemented his income by delivering milk and managing a beer delivery round. He later managed a Crewe

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, The Vine. Stan Bowles said: :"It was Ernie Tagg who made that crack about my ability to pass a betting shop. It was a bit rich, coming from him. Ernie had a pub he Vine and I remember him staying there for a darts match instead of watching a game once. At least I used to turn up!" He was made an Honorary Life Vice President of the club in 1984, and was included in

Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

's Roll of Honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tagg, Ernie 1917 births Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Nantwich Town F.C. players 2006 deaths Association footballers not categorized by position English footballers English football managers Crewe Alexandra F.C. managers