Robert Fleming Blyth (16 October 1869 – 7 February 1941) was a Scottish

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 manager for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

from 1901 to 1904.

Football career

Blyth was born in

Glenbuck Glenbuck ( gd, Gleann Buic) is a small, remote village in East Ayrshire. It is nestled in the hills east of Muirkirk, East Ayrshire, Scotland. Glenbuck Loch The site of the village was slightly to the north-west of Glenbuck "Loch", on the Riv ...

, and was a member of the

Glenbuck Cherrypickers Glenbuck Cherrypickers Football Club was a football team in the village of Glenbuck in East Ayrshire, a district of Scotland. The Glenbuck Cherrypickers were notable for the high number of professional footballers that they produced, despite on ...

, playing alongside members of his extended family. From there he was scouted by the Rangers, playing as a wing-half (1891–1894), followed by Preston North End (1894–1899), a brief spell at Dundee (1897), and Portsmouth (1899–1901). He became player–manager of Portsmouth in 1901, winning the 1901-02 Southern League title. After retiring from his post as manager, he later served Portsmouth as director and chairman. According to the ''

Portsmouth Evening News ''The News'' is the only local paid-for newspaper in Portsmouth, England, and covers a wide area of south Hampshire. It is produced by Johnston Press, owners of Portsmouth Publishing & Printing, at their headquarters in North Harbour, Portsm ...

'', Blyth was "the only man to rise from professional player to be chairman of his club through all the intermediate positions: Captain, player-manager, manager, director, and vice-chairman."

Personal life and family

Blyth grew up in a poor mining village which managed to produce a number of football stars. Five of his nephews played professionally, including future Liverpool manager Bill Shankly and

Bob Shankly Robert Fleming Blyth Shankly (25 February 1910 – 5 May 1982) was a professional football player and manager from the village of Glenbuck in Ayrshire, Scotland. He was the elder brother to Bill Shankly the former Liverpool manager. Bob Shankl ...

, sons of his sister, Barbara. His brother William Blyth also played for Portsmouth. He married Isabella Taylor, with whom he had daughters Mary and Janet, and a son, Robert Blyth, who played for both Portsmouth and

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 ...

in the 1920s.1911 England Census Blyth was also a licensee and operated several hotels in Portsmouth. He died peacefully at

St James' Hospital, Portsmouth St James' Hospital is a mental health facility at Milton, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. It is managed by Solent NHS Trust. The main structure is a Grade II listed building. History The hospital, which was designed by George Rake in the Gothic R ...

, in 1941.

Honours

As manager

Portsmouth * Southern League championships: 1901-02

References

Rangers Player History - B

Football career

Personal life and family

Honours

As manager

References

Further reading