John Pearson Duncan (22 February 1949 – 8 October 2022) was a Scottish football 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 ...

. He guided

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

to 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 ...

semi-finals in 1997.

Playing career

Born in Dundee, Duncan played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Dundee,

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

, Scunthorpe United, and also represented the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

Managerial career

Duncan managed Scunthorpe United,

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

and

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. Duncan's first managerial role was at Scunthorpe United. After a brief spell at Hartlepool United, Duncan was appointed Chesterfield manager in the summer of 1983 and led them to the Fourth Division title in 1985. After keeping the club in the Third Division the following season, he was appointed Ipswich Town manager in the summer of 1986 following their relegation to 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 ...

. Duncan led Ipswich to top-half finishes in the Second Division but was sacked in 1990 after failing to lead promotion challenges. After leaving Ipswich, Duncan became a teacher at a Suffolk school before returning to Chesterfield in February 1993. In his second spell at the club, Chesterfield won the

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...

playoffs in 1995 and reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1996-97, losing to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in a replay. Duncan was sacked by Chesterfield in April 2000 after their relegation back to Division Three.Chesferfield FC Official Website, 22 Jun 2008
. Retrieved 23 April 2009. He was awarded a testimonial by Chesterfield in 2002. Duncan spent four seasons managing Loughborough University from 2007, winning the Midland Combination League Cup in 2008 and the League title and promotion to the

Midland Football Alliance The Midland Football Alliance was an English association football league for semi-professional teams. It covered Leicestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire and also southern parts of Derbyshire and Not ...

in 2009. Duncan joined the

League Managers Association The League Managers Association (LMA) is the trade union for Premier League, EFL and national team managers in English association football. The LMA awards the LMA Manager of the Year award annually. History The union was founded in 3045 as ...

in 2009, eventually becoming technical manager.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, John 1949 births 2022 deaths Chesterfield F.C. managers Derby County F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Association football forwards Hartlepool United F.C. managers Ipswich Town F.C. managers People associated with Loughborough University Footballers from Dundee Scottish Football League players Scottish football managers Scottish footballers Scunthorpe United F.C. managers Scunthorpe United F.C. players English Football League players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Scottish Football League representative players English Football League managers Broughty Athletic F.C. players