William Edward Barclay (14 June 1857 – 30 January 1917) was the first manager of Everton and also the first manager of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, working with club secretary

John McKenna John McKenna ( ga, Seán Mac Cionnaoith; 3 January 1855 – 22 March 1936) was an Irish businessman, professional rugby player, and the first manager of the Liverpool Football Club which has since gone on to become one of the most successful ...

. His time at Everton was short managing them for their first 22 games. When the majority of the Everton set-up left

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

in order to move to the purpose-built

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...

, Barclay was one of the people who stayed to form a new club which eventually became Liverpool F.C. While he was in charge of the side that won 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 ...

championship in 1893–94, Liverpool got relegated from the First Division the following season (with Liverpool losing a

test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

1–0). However, in his last season as Liverpool manager, Barclay led the side to the Second Division championship in 1895–96. Barclay also served two spells as Liverpool chairman and worked for

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

. Barclay remained the only person to have managed both Liverpool and Everton until the appointment of

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed club Everton. Benítez joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under-1 ...

as Everton manager in 2021.

References

Liverpool F.C. managers Liverpool F.C. chairmen and investors Everton F.C. managers 1857 births 1917 deaths Sportspeople from Dublin (city) Irish association football managers {{England-footy-manager-stub