Norman John Trollope

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 14 June 1943) is a former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

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 ...

and coach who served

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

in various capacities for nearly 40 years. Trollope holds the record for the number of

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

appearances made for one club - turning out for the Town in 770 games between 1960 and 1980, an achievement which saw him receive the MBE.

Playing career

Trollope made his debut for the club on 20 August 1960 in a 1–1 draw with

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

, when he was aged seventeen and missed two matches that season. Trollope was an ever-present in the side in the 1962–63 season - a trend which continued for seven seasons. A run of 368 consecutive matches was brought to an end in August 1968, when he sustained a broken arm in a match at

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 ...

. He didn't return to the team until January - by which time he had missed most of Swindon's

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

run. He only appeared in the competition twice that season - in the first game against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

, and in the final at

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, where Swindon beat

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3–1. Trollope continued to be a regular member of the side right up until the 1978–79 season, when he made sixteen appearances. He announced his retirement at the end of the season, and moved into the club's backroom staff. However, after an appalling start to the 1980–81 season, Trollope was pushed back into action - a move which allowed him to break the appearance record - previously set at 764 appearances by

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Jimmy Dickinson James William Dickinson Order of the British Empire, MBE (25 April 1925 – 8 November 1982) was an English association football, footballer who played as a wing half, left half. Dickinson holds the record for number of league appearances fo ...

. He finally retired from the playing staff at the end of that season.

Managerial career

Following his retirement from playing, Trollope replaced Bobby Smith as the club's manager early in the following season. His time as manager was far from successful - working on a shoestring budget, he led Swindon to their first ever relegation to

Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

. He made way for

Ken Beamish Kenneth George Beamish (born 25 August 1947) is an English former Association football, football player, coach and manager. In his playing days he was a Forward (association football), forward, and he scored a total of 198 goals in 642 league a ...

near the end of the 1982–83 season. Even this wasn't the end of Trollope's times at Swindon - he was appointed assistant manager to

Lou Macari Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Ken ...

during Easter 1985, and he took charge of the youth team under

Ossie Ardiles Osvaldo César Ardiles (born 3 August 1952), often referred to in Britain as Ossie Ardiles, is an Argentine football manager, pundit and former midfielder who won the 1978 FIFA World Cup as part of the Argentina national team. He now runs ...

Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport. He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and ...

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and

Steve McMahon Stephen Joseph McMahon (born 20 August 1961) is an English football manager, former professional footballer and current television pundit. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1979 to 1998, most notably playing for Liverpool in the late 1980s. ...

before finally leaving the club in 1996. His time on the coaching staff took in Swindon's climb from the old Fourth Division to the

FA Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

between 1986 and 1993, although by the time he left they had suffered two consecutive relegations and were on the verge of another promotion. He would later work for

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 ...

, before returning to Swindon in 2008 to take up the role of Under 15's coach in the Centre of Excellence.

Personal life

Trollope's son

Paul Trollope Paul Jonathan Trollope (born 3 June 1972) is a football coach and former professional footballer, who played as a midfielder. He is currently joint-assistant manager of Luton Town Born in England, he represents Wales internationally. As a playe ...

became a professional footballer who played for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

internationally, before becoming a manager.

Career statistics

Honours

Swindon Town *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

: 1968–69

References

External links

Profile
at Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Trollope, John 1943 births Living people English footballers Swindon Town F.C. players English football managers Swindon Town F.C. managers Members of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from Swindon Association football defenders