James Mullen (born 8 November 1952 in Jarrow, County Durham) is an English football manager who last managed at Market Drayton Town. He twice won promotion with

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, in 1991–92 and 1993–94.

Playing career

In his playing days, Mullen spent most of his career at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

, and was their captain when they won promotion from Division Three in 1979/80. The following season, however, he went one better with

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

, captaining the Millers to the Division Three title. After a short loan spell at Preston, he moved to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, where he again won promotion in 1982/83. Following the resignation of Cardiff manager

Len Ashurst Leonard Ashurst (10 March 1939 – 25 September 2021) was an English football player, manager and administrator. He spent most of his playing career with Sunderland, making 458 appearances, the second most in the club's history. He retired a ...

in March 1984, Mullen and Assistant Manager

Jimmy Goodfellow James Goodfellow (16 September 1943 – 22 April 2020) was an English professional Association football, footballer and manager. A midfielder, he scored 39 goals in 535 league and cup appearances in a 13-year career in the English Footbal ...

were appointed joint Caretaker Managers until the end of the 1983/84 season. At the end of the season, Goodfellow was appointed as sole manager of the club, and Mullen continued as a player under Goodfellow and

Alan Durban William Alan Durban (born 7 July 1941) is a Welsh former international footballer and manager, whose career was at its peak between the 1970s and 1990s. He played in the Football League for Cardiff City, Derby County and was player-manager of ...

upon Goodfellow's sacking. After Durban led the club to two successive relegations, leaving them in the old Fourth Division, he was sacked and Mullen was appointed caretaker manager until the end of the season. Mullen was replaced by

Frank Burrows Frank Burrows (30 January 1944 – 24 November 2021) was a Scottish football player and manager who played as a central defender. Life and career Frank Burrows began his football career at Scottish club Raith Rovers. In 1965 he moved south to ...

in the summer of 1986 and he then moved on to near-neighbours Newport County, where he would end his playing days.

Management

On 28 March 1989 Mullen was asked to take charge of Blackpool for the last eleven games of the season after the departure of Sam Ellis. With the help of

, he guided ''the Seasiders'' to five victories and avoided relegation. Soon afterwards, Mullen was given the job on a full-time basis. In light of Ellis' success and popularity at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...

, Mullen only lasted eleven months before being replaced by

Graham Carr William Graham Carr (born 25 October 1944) is an English former professional footballer, manager and scout. He is currently an associate director for Northampton Town. Club career Carr, a half-back, joined his first professional club, North ...

. One notable signing made by Mullen in his short stay at the seaside was David Eyres from

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the historic boundaries of Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at the mouth of the River Clwyd ( Welsh: ''Afon Clwyd''). To the we ...

. In 1990–91, Mullen was offered and accepted the assistant-manager role at

by manager

Frank Casper Frank Casper (born 9 December 1944) is an English former professional football player, coach and manager, born in Barnsley. As a player, he made nearly 400 appearances in the Football League as a striker for Rotherham United and Burnley. He ...

. Casper resigned eight games into the 1991–92 season, and Mullen was put in temporary charge of team affairs. Mullen managed to guide ''the Clarets'' to promotion to the new Division Two as the old Fourth Division champions. His success continued in 1993–94. Burnley won promotion to the First Division via the play-offs, and Mullen's hero-like status was confirmed. His fourth season at the Turf would prove a difficult one. Mullen survived eight consecutive defeats in the New Year of 1995, but it resulted in ''the Clarets'' returning to Division Two. After another unsuccessful 1995–96 season, Mullen was given the sack by the Burnley board and subsequently had short spells scouting for the likes of Bolton Wanderers and

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. He then took over at Irish side Sligo Rovers during the 1996–97 campaign and stayed until the end of the season before departing for family reasons and began to work for the

Welsh FA The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Welsh national football team, its corresponding women's team, as well as the Welsh ...

while assisting

Neville Southall Neville Southall (born 16 September 1958) is a Welsh former international footballer. He has been described as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation and won the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 1985. He joined Bury from Winsford ...

with the Welsh under-19s. He was appointed manager of Bridgnorth Town during the 2002–03 season, but left at the end of the season. Mullen later managed Welsh outfit

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

but resigned after only one season in charge. He also managed Market Drayton and Telford United. He then joined Bromsgrove Rovers as manager, until his resignation in 2006. In May 2007, Mullen was appointed the assistant manager of

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

. On 28 September 2007, it was announced that Mullen had joined the backroom staff at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

.Hednesford Town official website
/ref> In April 2008, he was appointed caretaker manager of Walsall following

Richard Money Richard Money (born 13 October 1955) is an English former footballer and manager who was most recently manager of National League club Hartlepool United. Before this, he managed Cambridge United, overseeing the side's return to the Football Leag ...

's resignation. The position was made permanent the following month, but on 10 January 2009 he was sacked as manager following a run of four wins in sixteen games. On 24 September 2009, Mullen was appointed the assistant manager of

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

under

Ronnie Moore Ronald David Moore (born 29 January 1953) is an English football manager and former player. He has taken charge of several clubs including Rotherham United, Tranmere Rovers and Hartlepool United. He played for many different clubs in a care ...

. In October 2011 he was appointed caretaker manager at Market Drayton Town. He left as manager of Market Drayton in 2013.

References

External links

Clarets MAD Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullen, Jimmy 1952 births Living people English footballers English football managers Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. managers Blackpool F.C. managers Burnley F.C. managers Telford United F.C. managers Newport County A.F.C. managers Walsall F.C. managers League of Ireland managers English Football League players Sligo Rovers F.C. managers A.F.C. Bridgnorth managers Colwyn Bay F.C. managers Sportspeople from Jarrow Footballers from Tyne and Wear Market Drayton Town F.C. managers Men's association football defenders