Norman Bullock (8 September 1900 – 22 October 1970) was an English professional

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 ...

, who played as both a forward and a defender, and manager. He began his career playing local amateur football before signing for Bury in 1920. In 15 years with the club, he set new club records for both appearances and goals, scoring 125 league goals in over 500 appearances. During his career he also represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at international level, scoring twice. After retiring from playing in 1935, he was appointed manager of Bury and remained in the role until 1938 when he left to manage Chesterfield. He returned to manage Bury for a second spell between 1945 and 1949 before leaving again to join

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. He won promotion to the First Division with Leicester in 1954 but resigned the following season with the club in the relegation zone.

Early life

Bullock was born in

Monton Monton is a suburb of Eccles, Greater Manchester, England, in the metropolitan borough of the City of Salford. Geography and administration Historically in Lancashire, Monton was administered by the municipal borough of Eccles until its abolition ...

, Eccles,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

. He was one of six children born to Robert James Bullock, a

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period, ...

, and his wife Sarah Jane.

Playing career

Bullock played youth football for Salford Schools before playing amateur football for local sides Broughton St John's and Sedgley Park. In 1920, he joined

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 t ...

side Bury as an amateur, scoring twice on his debut. He turned professional with the side in February 1921 and soon established himself in the first team as a forward. He went on to become club captain and later converted to playing as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He spent 15 years with Bury as a player, setting club records for both appearances and league goals with 125 in 506 appearances. His goalscoring record was surpassed by Craig Madden in the 1980s. During his career, Bullock won three

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

at international level. He made his debut on 19 March 1923 in a 6–1 victory over

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Arsenal Stadium Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, London, which was the home of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006. It was popularly known as "Highbury" due to its location and was given the affectionate nicknam ...

, scoring his side's final goal of the game. He was forced to wait three years before winning his second cap, playing in a 3–1 defeat to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in February 1926. He won his third and final cap later in October of the same year during a 3–3 draw with

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, scoring England's equaliser in the 80th minute.

Managerial career

Bullock was appointed manager of Bury in 1935 and remained in the role until leaving to join Chesterfield in 1938. He managed the club for one season before the outbreak of

World War II 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 opposing ...

and remained in charge during the hostilities. During the war, he worked as an analytical chemist for Staveley Coal and Iron Company. He returned to Bury in 1945, becoming the first manager to be handed the responsibility of picking the team. In December 1949, Bullock was appointed manager of Second Division side

, replacing Johnny Duncan. Upon his arrival, he outlined his "five-year plan" with the goal taking Leicester into the First Division. Bullock set about restructuring the playing squad, replacing several senior players who he deemed to hold too much power at the club, and implemented several new rules at the club. These included players being banned from riding on motorcycles. During the 1953–54 season, he led the club to the Second Division title and promotion to the First Division with an attacking philosophy centred around forwards

Arthur Rowley George Arthur Rowley Jr. (21 April 1926 – 19 December 2002), nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his explosive left-foot shot, was an English football player and cricketer. He holds the record for the most goals in the history of English lea ...

and

Derek Hines Derek Jabez Hines (8 February 1931 - August 2001) was an English football player who played for Derby County, Shrewsbury Town, Rugby Town and most notably Leicester City. During his time at Leicester he forged a prolific strike partnership wit ...

. His side set a new club record by scoring 97 goals during the league season to win the title on

goal average A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

, bettering second placed Everton by 0.3 of a goal. However, his side struggled to adapt to the First Division and by the end of the year the team was placed in the relegation zone. With Bullock's position already under threat, the club's record signing Johnny Morris was given a 14-day ban by the board for a breach of discipline. The ban was designed to force Bullock into resigning, which ultimately succeeded. Despite his departure, Bullock was allowed to live rent free for three months in the house provided by the club and received £1000 compensation. Leicester remained manager-less for the remainder of the season with the board taking over responsibility for the team selection and were relegated to the Second Division.

Managerial statistics

Source:

Later life

After his departure from Leicester, Bullock moved away from football and purchased a printing business provided by Leicester City chairman Len Shipman. He died in 1970.

Honours

Manager

Leicester City *

winners: 1953–54 season

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bullock, Norman 1900 births People from Eccles, Greater Manchester English footballers Bury F.C. players England international footballers English football managers Bury F.C. managers Chesterfield F.C. managers Leicester City F.C. managers 1970 deaths English Football League players English Football League representative players English Football League managers Association football forwards Association football defenders