Billy Bingham

William Laurence Bingham (5 August 1931 – 9 June 2022) was a Northern Ireland international footballer and football manager.

As a player, his first professional club was Glentoran, whom he played for between 1948 and 1950. Making the move to England, he then spent eight years with Sunderland, making 227 appearances. In 1958 he switched to Luton Town, making close to 100 league appearances in a three-year spell. This was followed by a two-year association with Everton, where he again went close to 100 league appearances. He finished his career after breaking his leg in a match for Port Vale in 1964, at the age of 33. He had scored 133 goals in 525 appearances in all domestic competitions. Between 1951 and 1963, he won 56 caps for Northern Ireland, scoring 10 international goals, and played at the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

His managerial career started at Southport in 1965. He was appointed manager of Northern Ireland two years later, after taking the "Sandgrounders" to promotion out of the Fourth Division. During his time as an international manager he also took charge at Plymouth Argyle, and later Linfield. He led Linfield to a quadruple in 1970–71, his only season in charge. In 1971, he was appointed the head coach of the Greece national side. Two years later he returned to the domestic game with Everton of England. He returned to Greece for a brief spell in 1977, taking the reins at PAOK. The following year he went back to England to take charge of Mansfield Town for one full season. In 1980, he was re-appointed Northern Ireland manager, his final position, and a post he would hold for the next thirteen years. He led his nation to the finals of the FIFA World Cup in 1982 and 1986.

Playing career

Club career

Glentoran

Bingham attended Elmgrove Primary School, and was captain of the school's football team, also being selected for Northern Ireland schoolboy games. Born in the Bloomfield area of Belfast, he grew up alongside Jackie Blanchflower. He began his career with Glentoran on £6-a-week. He made his senior debut on 12 March 1949, in a 1–1 draw with Ballymena United. The "Glens" finished second in the Irish League in 1949–50. While with Glentoran, Bingham also made two appearances for the Irish League representative team.

Sunderland

Bingham joined Sunderland in October 1950 for £10,000. In addition to playing professional football at Roker Park, Bingham continued his shipbuilding apprenticeship on the Sunderland shipyards. His speed and ball-control made him a popular player with the "Black Cats", and he gradually worked his way into Bill Murray's first team plans in 1950–51. He established himself as the first choice outside-right in 1951–52, however he lost his place to Tommy Wright in 1952–53. He made just 19 appearances in 1953–54, as Wright continued to hold on to his first team place. Bingham regained his place in 1954–55, scoring ten goals in 42 games, as Sunderland finished fourth in the First Division, four points behind champions Chelsea. They also reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they lost to Manchester City at Villa Park. They slipped to ninth in 1955–56, and again exited the FA Cup at the semi-finals, this time losing 3–0 to Birmingham City. The 1956–57 campaign started poorly, and Bingham was dropped in October; he put in a transfer request, which was turned down. New boss Alan Brown signed outside-right Amby Fogarty from Glentoran, and led the club to relegation in 1957–58. Out of the first team, Bingham fell out with Brown, and left the club in the summer on a £8,000 transfer to top-flight Luton Town. In total he made 227 appearances and scored 47 goals during his time in the North East.

Luton Town

The "Hatters" finished 17th in the league in 1958–59, but reached the 1959 FA Cup Final after Bingham scored the winning goal in the semi-final clash with Norwich City. In the Wembley final, his corner set up Dave Pacey for Luton's consolation in a 2–1 defeat to Nottingham Forest. Despite Bingham scoring 16 league goals to become the club's top scorer, Luton were relegated under Syd Owen in 1959–60. New manager Sam Bartram failed to keep Bingham at Kenilworth Road for long, and after three goals in 11 Second Division games, including a 35-yard volley against Liverpool at Anfield, he soon attracted attention from Everton and Arsenal.

Everton

He joined Everton for a fee of £15,000 in October 1960. Signed by Johnny Carey, Harry Catterick took charge at Goodison Park following a fifth-place finish in 1960–61. A fourth-place finish followed in 1961–62, and the "Toffees" won the league title in 1962–63. However Catterick signed Scotsman Alex Scott in February 1963 for £40,000, and so Bingham's days at Merseyside were numbered. During his time at Everton, he made 98 appearances and scored 26 goals.

Port Vale

Bingham joined Port Vale for a then joint- club record fee of £15,000 in August 1963. He scored seven goals in 38 appearances in 1963–64, as Freddie Steele's "Valiants" finished 13th in the Third Division. Johnny Carey, now manager at Nottingham Forest, offered £12,000 to take Bingham back into the top-flight, but he elected to remain at Vale Park. He retired from playing after breaking his leg in a 4–0 defeat at Brentford on 5 September 1964. He left for Southport on a free transfer in April 1965 to become their trainer-coach.

International career

He was a Northern Ireland international, having won his first cap against France as a 19-year-old. Manager Peter Doherty selected him to compete in the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden. This was after Bingham had scored against Portugal in Lisbon to help his country win a qualification place at the expense of Portugal and Italy. In the tournament itself, Northern Ireland beat Czechoslovakia and drew with West Germany, before beating Czechoslovakia again in a play-off match to advance into the quarter finals, where they lost 4–0 to France. He was awarded a total of 56 full caps, a record at the time, and also scored 10 goals, half of which were scored in British Home Championship matches against Scotland.

Style of play

Bingham played at outside-right and had excellent tactical and positional skills, as well as good scoring ability.

Managerial career

Southport

Bingham became a coach at Southport in June 1965, and was appointed manager at the end of the year, at the expense of Willie Cunningham. He led the team to a tenth-place finish in the Fourth Division in 1965–66. In his first full season in charge, 1966–67, he led the "Sandgrounders" to promotion as runners-up – the club's first ever promotion. He departed Haig Avenue in October 1967, with Southport in safe hands as they finished the 1967–68 Third Division campaign in 13th place under Don McEvoy's stewardship.

Northern Ireland, Plymouth & Linfield

He left Southport to take charge of the Northern Ireland national team in October 1967. The position was not a taxing one however, and Bingham took charge at Plymouth Argyle in February 1968, replacing Derek Ufton. He was unable to steer the club away from relegation, as the "Pilgrims" finished bottom of the Second Division. He took the club to fifth in the third tier in 1968–69, some 15 points behind second placed Swindon Town. A battle against relegation followed in 1969–70, and Bingham departed Home Park

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