Lawrence McMenemy

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 26 July 1936) is an English retired

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 ...

coach, best known for his spell as manager of

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. He is rated in the ''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' as one of the twenty most successful managers in post-war English football.

Playing career

McMenemy was born in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

. After serving in the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

he began his footballing career with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

although he never appeared in their first team. He moved to

in the late 1950s, joining the club after they had left the Football League. An injury ended his career in 1961, but he moved into coaching instead, spending three years in that role at Gateshead.

Football management

Bishop Auckland

In 1964 he was appointed manager of non-league

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

and transformed them from a struggling side into Northern League champions and also took them to the third round of 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 ...

Sheffield Wednesday and Doncaster Rovers

McMenemy then moved to

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 ...

where he spent two years as a coach before he got his big break as manager of

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

where he remained until May 1971, winning the Fourth Division Championship in 1968–69.

Grimsby Town

He then became manager of

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

, where he won a Fourth Division championship. In July 1973 he left

Blundell Park Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9, ...

to become assistant manager at

Southampton

In November 1973, four months after joining the Saints as assistant manager, he was promoted to the role of manager. He was unable to keep them in the First Division that season, but the board kept faith in him to lift the club back out of the Second Division. In 1976, McMenemy guided Southampton, then in the Second Division, to an

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

victory over

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. It was widely predicted before the game that United would easily win (one pundit said the score would go into double figures). However Southampton, who were in the Second Division at the time (the current

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

) and had a much older team, put up a stern challenge against United. The only goal of the game was scored by

Bobby Stokes Robert William Thomas Stokes (30 January 1951 – 30 May 1995) was an English footballer, best known for scoring the winning goal in the 83rd minute of the FA Cup Final for Southampton against Manchester United in 1976. Early career Stokes w ...

with just seven minutes to go, and captain

Peter Rodrigues Peter Joseph Rodrigues (born 21 January 1944) is a retired footballer. He was the captain of Southampton's 1976 FA Cup-winning team. Cardiff City Rodrigues was born in Cardiff, Wales, and originally turned out for his local schools. He went o ...

received the FA Cup from the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

. They were the second club in four seasons to win the FA Cup from outside the First Division of English football after

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in 1973 and only one more side from outside the top flight (West Ham United in 1980) has won the trophy. These are the only instances in the post-

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 opposin ...

era when the trophy has been won by a team outside the top division. In 1978, the Saints won promotion to the First Division and in 1979 reached the

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 ...

Final where they lost 3–2 to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. McMenemy was linked with the vacant Manchester United manager's job at the end of the 1980–81 season, but he ruled himself out of the running and the job went to

Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939), commonly known as "Big Ron" or "Mr. Bojangles", is an English former football player and manager. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits. Nick ...

instead. McMenemy had signed veteran

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

winner Alan Ball to aid his side, later adding serving England captain

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 and ...

when he returned from Germany in 1980. Southampton emerged as title challengers in the 1981–82 season, regularly topping the table, before they finished seventh and the title went to Liverpool. Keegan was sold to

that summer, but McMenemy made another big name signing when he captured England goalkeeper

Peter Shilton Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. His 30-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the distinction of playing over 1,000 league games, including in ...

. In 1984, he guided the club to second place in the First Division – their highest ever finish.

Sunderland

He left Southampton on 1 June 1985, but returned to football five days later when he was named manager of

, who had just been relegated to the Second Division. At the time he was the highest-paid manager in English football, but his time on Wearside was not a success and he quit in March 1987 – just weeks before Sunderland fell into the Third Division for the first time in their history. A year earlier, they had narrowly avoided a second successive relegation when they had been among the pre-season favourites for promotion, and the best supported side in the Second Division with an average attendance of more than 16,000 – higher than most of the First Division clubs that season.

England

In July 1990, he ended a three-year break from football when he was appointed assistant to England manager

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...

, managing the Under-21 side, and picking out future talents like

Darren Anderton Darren Robert Anderton (born 3 March 1972) is an English former professional footballer and pundit. As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur and Birmingham City. His twelve-year spell with ...

and Steve McManaman. In November 1993, after England failed to qualify for USA 94, Taylor and McMenemy both resigned. They had reached the 1992 European Championships in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, but failed to progress beyond the group stages.

Return to Southampton

McMenemy soon bounced back and was offered the new position of Director of Football by Southampton within weeks of leaving his role with the England team. Fans and the local media were delighted when he accepted the role, which made him the first man to be employed as a Director of Football in the English game. In McMenemy's first season back at Southampton, the Saints finished 10th in the Premiership. But it did not last long and in 1997, when

Rupert Lowe Rupert James Graham Lowe (born 31 October 1957) is a British politician, farmer and businessman, who served as a the Brexit Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the West Midlands constituency from 2019 to 2020. Lowe was chairman ...

arrived as the new

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

, neither McMenemy nor then-manager

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit. A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...

got on with him and promptly resigned, publicly denouncing the new board in the process.

Northern Ireland

A year later, in 1998 McMenemy was appointed

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

manager, but he was not successful and he resigned two years later after they failed to qualify for the 2000 European Championships. Since 2000, McMenemy has concentrated on his role as FA special ambassador, travelling to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

in 2002 to help set up a national league and liaising with the English team in the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...

. In July 2006, he was appointed a non-executive director of Southampton F.C.

Managerial statistics

Media work

McMenemy has made frequent appearances on TV football panels since 1972 as well as BBC TV's "Superkids" and TVS's "Children's Challenge". He also regularly appeared on

TV-am TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise ...

prior to 1990 as their football analyst. He presented BBC Radio's "

Down Your Way ''Down Your Way'' was a BBC radio series which ran from 29 December 1946 to 1992, originally on the Home Service, later on BBC Radio 4, usually being broadcast on Sunday afternoons. It visited towns and villages around the United Kingdom, spoke to ...

" in 1989 and was a summariser for Sky TV News & Eurosport satellite TV until 1990. He currently is in demand as an

after-dinner speaker Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech delive ...

. He has written several books on management motivation. He also writes a regular column in the

Southern Daily Echo The ''Southern Daily Echo'', more commonly known as the ''Daily Echo'' or simply ''The Echo'', is a regional tabloid newspaper based in Southampton, covering the county of Hampshire in the United Kingdom. The newspaper is owned by Newsquest, o ...

. He has appeared on the documentary Dream Fans the Spirit of Southampton in 2005. He is also the author of a testimonial in ''The Future of the NHS''. His media work also saw him as a panel member of 5 World Cups as well as TV appearances on '' This Is Your Life'' and '' Parkinson''. McMenemy is also the Chairman of the Special Olympics UK. He hosts the Special Olympics Gateshead Tyne & Wear annual awards night.

Personal life

He is married to Anne and they have three children: eldest son Chris McMenemy (former

coach), son Sean McMenemy and daughter Alison. He is related to

Harry McMenemy Henry McMenemy (26 March 1912 – 1997) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as an inside forward. Playing career Club Born in Glasgow, McMenemy played for Junior club Strathclyde in his hometown before moving to England and Newcas ...

.Harry McMenemy Toon1892 profile
/ref>

Honours

Personal

* Awarded the MBE in 2006 * Received an honorary MBA from Southampton Solent University * Freedom of the City of Southampton

As a manager

Bishop Auckland *Northern League Champions & County Cup Winners: 1965 Doncaster Rovers *

Football League Fourth Division 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 ...

champions: 1968–69 Grimsby Town *

champions: 1971–72 Southampton *

winners:

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

runners-up: 1977–78 *

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 ...

finalists:

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

runners-up: 1983–84

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Profile as Northern Ireland managerInterview in Dream Fans, the Spirit of Southampton DVD
{{DEFAULTSORT:McMenemy, Lawrie 1936 births Living people Footballers from Gateshead English footballers Gateshead A.F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. non-playing staff English football managers Doncaster Rovers F.C. managers Grimsby Town F.C. managers Southampton F.C. managers Sunderland A.F.C. managers Expatriate football managers in Northern Ireland Northern Ireland national football team managers Members of the Order of the British Empire English Football League managers England national under-21 football team managers Association footballers not categorized by position