Alexander Ewan Fenton, more commonly known as Ewan Fenton (17 November 1929 – 3 April 2006) was a Scottish professional footballer. He spent thirteen seasons at Blackpool, with whom he was victorious in the famous FA Cup Final of 1953.

Playing career

Born in Dundee, Fenton began his career with Scottish junior side

Lochee Harp Lochee Harp Football Club are a Scottish Junior football club historically based in the Lochee area of the city of Dundee. Formed in 1904 and nicknamed ''"the Harp"'', they play at Lochee Community Sports Hub. The team moved into this new gro ...

. In 1946, at the age of 17, he signed professional forms with Blackpool. He made his Seasiders debut at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...

two years later, in September 1948, as understudy to skipper

Harry Johnston Sir Henry Hamilton Johnston (12 June 1858 – 31 July 1927), known as Harry Johnston, was a British explorer, botanist, artist, colonial administrator, and linguist who travelled widely in Africa and spoke many African languages. He publishe ...

. In 1952–53, his patience was rewarded when he appeared regularly in the first team. He had established himself enough to the liking of manager Joe Smith that he made the starting eleven for the FA Cup Final. In

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

, Fenton was named club captain. Fenton had a transfer request turned down in 1958, but in May of

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, he was released, and joined

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

for a small fee. He spent just over a year at the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground ( cy, Y Cae Ras) is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C. It is the world's oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches, having hosted Wales' first home ...

, although a serious injury almost ended his career.

Managerial career

At the start of the 1960–61 season, Fenton joined Irish club

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

as player/manager, the same season they played in the European Cup. He played in the

1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1965–66 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup club football tournament was won by Borussia Dortmund in an extra-time final victory over Liverpool at Hampden Park in Glasgow. This season of the Cup Winners' Cup was the first instance of t ...

against

PFC CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

. In 1967, he moved north of the border to become manager of Linfield. Three years later, however, he returned to Limerick, this time as full-time manager. In 1971, under his guidance, Limerick won their first ever cup, the FAI Cup, beating Drogheda in the final. In 2003, Fenton returned to Bloomfield Road to attend a 50th anniversary reunion of the Tangerines' FA Cup victory with fellow surviving teammates.BlackpoolOnline.co.uk
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Personal life

Fenton settled in

in 1960 and operated a driving school, "Ewan Fenton's School of Motoring" from 1965 to the late 1990s. He died there in 2006 at the age of 76 after a short illness and was survived by his Blackpool-born wife, Vera, son Ewan, and three grandchildren.Death og Ewan Fenton
, northernireland-mad.co.uk; accessed 30 August 2015.

Honours

As a player

;Blackpool *

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 ...

winner:

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...

As a manager

;Linfield *

IFA Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and colloquially as the Irish League or Irish Premiership, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northe ...

winner: 1968–69 *

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

winner: 1970 ;Limerick * FAI Cup winner: 1971 *

FAI League Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited ...

winner: 1975–76

Notes

References

External links

Obituary in ''The Courier''

Obituary at Norn Iron Mad
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fenton, Ewan 1929 births 2006 deaths Footballers from Dundee Scottish men's footballers Lochee Harp F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players English Football League players Limerick F.C. players Limerick F.C. managers League of Ireland players League of Ireland managers Men's association football defenders Linfield F.C. managers Dundee North End F.C. players Scottish football managers