Robert Burnitt Ferguson (8 January 1938 – 28 March 2018) was an English professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager. He was best known for his spell at

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

, as a coach and then manager, from 1970 to 1987. While at Ipswich, he was reserve team coach and first team coach in

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

and

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

-winning teams, and was appointed manager after Robson's exit.

Playing career

Born in Dudley, Northumberland, Ferguson's father

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

and uncle

Ted TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depa ...

were both professional footballers. Having represented England at schoolboy level, he began his career with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

as a

left back 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 made only eleven league appearances over seven years as he was unable to displace

Alf McMichael Alfred McMichael (1 October 1927 – 7 January 2006) was a footballer who played as a left back. Belfast-born McMichael began his career at Linfield, before signing for Newcastle United in 1949. He remained at Newcastle until 1962, appearing ...

from the first-team. He later played for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

before joining

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

on 31 December 1965 for a fee of £5,000. With Cardiff, he reached the semi-finals of the

1967–68 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1967–68 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup club football tournament was won by Milan following their final victory against Hamburg, the fourth West German finalist in four years. Milan beat defending champions Bayern Munich en route to ...

and made over 100 appearances in all competitions before losing his place in the side to

Gary Bell Gary Bell may refer to: * Gary Bell (baseball) (born 1936), American Major League Baseball pitcher * Gary Bell (footballer) (born 1947), English footballer * Gary Bell Jr. (born 1992), American basketball player {{hndis, Bell, Gary ...

. He joined Barry Town in January 1969 as player-manager. However, six months later he returned to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

in the same role at Newport County, signing for a fee of £250. Replacing

Leslie Graham Robert Leslie Graham (14 September 1911 – 12 June 1953) was a British motorcycle road racer who competed in the 1930s and 1940s. He won the inaugural Grand Prix motorcycle racing 500 cc World Championship in 1949. Early Career (1929 ...

, he became the youngest manager in the Football League at the age of 31 but finished 21st in the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in his first season. The club won re-election to stay in the Football League but a 6–1 defeat to

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

in the

in November 1970 resulted in his dismissal.

Coaching career

Ferguson was appointed by fellow northeasterner

into the coaching staff at

in 1970. He was coach of the Ipswich team than won the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

in 1973 and 1975, and as the reserve team coach he developed several young players including

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 ...

and

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...

. While reserve team coach, he rejected the offer to manage

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

. After Ipswich won the

1978 FA Cup Final The 1978 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Arsenal and Ipswich Town on 6 May 1978 at the old Wembley Stadium, London. It was the final match of the 1977–78 FA Cup, the 97th season of the world's oldest football knockout com ...

, he replaced Cyril Lea as the first team coach, and the team went on to win the 1981 UEFA Cup Final. In 1982, Robson left Ipswich to become

England national football team manager The role of an England national football team manager was first established in 1946 with the appointment of Walter Winterbottom. Before this, the England national football team was selected by the "International Selection Committee", a proces ...

, and Ferguson was named the new Ipswich manager. His tenure was marked by financial constraints due to the construction of the Pioneer Stand at the team's

Portman Road Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly internatio ...

stadium. After several near misses, the club were relegated in 1986, and Ferguson was given an ultimatum that he would be dismissed if Ipswich were not promoted immediately back; they lost 2–1 on aggregate to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

in the 1987 play-off semi-finals. Ferguson became the first Ipswich manager to be sacked. After leaving Ipswich, Ferguson travelled to Kuwait to work as a coach for Al-Arabi SC, managed by the Scotsman

Dave Mackay David Craig Mackay (14 November 1934 – 2 March 2015) was a Scottish football player and manager. Mackay was best known for a highly successful playing career with Heart of Midlothian, the Double-winning Tottenham Hotspur side of 1961, an ...

. On returning to England, he had the same role for his former player Butcher's

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and Mackay's

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

Later life and death

Ferguson settled in Ipswich. He spent his later life watching Ipswich Town and races at

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...

, as well as playing golf. He and his wife Ann had a son and a daughter. Ferguson died on 28 March 2018, at the age of 80. Ipswich announced that they plan to hold a minute's silence and wear black armbands at their next home match, against Millwall on 2 April 2018.

Honours

Player

Cardiff City *

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

Manager

Al-Arabi *

Kuwait Premier League The Kuwait Premier League (), known as STC Premier League due to sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Kuwait football pyramid system. Formed in 1961, Al-Arabi, Qadsia and Kuwait both hold the best record in the competition, having won ...

: 1987–88, 1988–89 Individual * Ipswich Town Hall of Fame: Inducted 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Bobby 1938 births 2018 deaths English footballers Association football fullbacks Newcastle United F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players English football managers Ipswich Town F.C. managers Newport County A.F.C. managers English Football League players Southern Football League players Sunderland A.F.C. non-playing staff Barry Town United F.C. managers English Football League managers Barry Town United F.C. players Footballers from Tyne and Wear English expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait Birmingham City F.C. non-playing staff People from the Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside Al-Arabi SC (Kuwait) managers English expatriate football managers Kuwait Premier League managers Expatriate football managers in Kuwait Association football coaches