Michael James Buxton (born 29 May 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 ...

and football

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 ...

in England. He has managed

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

, Scunthorpe United and Sunderland.

Playing career

During his playing career, Buxton played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

for both

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

and

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. ...

, making a total of 53 professional appearances in nine seasons. He was plagued with injuries and broke his tibia twice while playing for Halifax

Coaching career

Buxton became Trainer at Halifax Town whilst still playing and coached at

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

, Barnsley,

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

and

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

Managerial career

Huddersfield Town

Buxton initially joined

in late 1977 from Southend United as the Physiotherapist under manager Tom Johnston. After Johnston's resignation in 1978 Buxton was appointed caretaker manager of Huddersfield Town. He quickly got the job permanently and set about revitalising the Fourth Division club. He installed John Haselden, who was already at the club, as his Assistant Manager and he would also take on the Physio duties. Buxton's first season was the 1978–79 season where Huddersfield finished 9th in the Fourth Division. It was the season after which would prove to be the catalyst for the most successful period of Town's history in the past 10 years. He offloaded the deadwood and brought in players such as Brian Stanton, Mick Laverick and

Steve Kindon Stephen Michael Kindon (born 17 December 1950) is a former professional footballer who played mainly on the left wing but also at centre forward. He was noted for his pace, and won "the Fastest Footballer in Britain award" seven times. Kindon w ...

. He would eventually go on to be one of the most successful managers in the club's recent history, winning promotion to the Third Division at the end of the 1979–80 season where the team scored 101 goals in the league. This team is still loved by the club to this day and have held reunions in 2000, 2010, 2016 and 2017 where the majority of the team and coaching staff still attend. Buxton then took Huddersfield up 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 ...

in 1983. The Terriers would remain in the second tier for five seasons, but Buxton was sacked on 23 December 1986, to be replaced by

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics * Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager * Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...

. Mick Buxton later returned to Town in March 1993 as coach under Ian Ross, and helped the Terriers on one of their best runs in recent history where they only lost once in last eighteen games to avoid relegation. Buxton resigned at the end of the season and Ian Ross soon followed suit.

Scunthorpe United

Scunthorpe United would be Buxton's next managerial appointment. He remained there for four years, with the team occasionally mounting a promotion challenge in this period. He left by mutual consent on 31 January 1991. He returned to Scunthorpe in 1996, but left the following year.

Sunderland

Following the dismissal of

Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps ...

with the side in the relegation zone, Buxton would be appointed Sunderland manager in 1993. A tightening of the team's defence led to an improvement in results and Sunderland finished the 1993-94 season in 12th place. Although a reasonable defensive record was maintained the following season, Sunderland were entangled in a relegation struggle and Buxton would be replaced by

Peter Reid Peter Reid (born 20 June 1956) is an English football manager, pundit and former player. A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career. He built his reputation as one of England's brightest midfield tale ...

Honours

Manager

;

* Fourth Division Champions (1): 1979–80 * Third Division Third Place (1): 1982–83

References

External links

* *
Mick Buxton's Legends feature (thisisthebarmyarmy.co.uk)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buxton, Mick 1943 births Living people People from Corbridge Footballers from Northumberland English footballers English football managers Association football defenders Burnley F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. managers Scunthorpe United F.C. managers Sunderland A.F.C. managers English Football League players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff