John Pearson Duncan (22 February 1949 – 8 October 2022) was a Scottish

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 ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

. He guided Chesterfield to the

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 compet ...

semi-finals in 1997.

Playing career

Born in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Duncan played as a forward for

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

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 188 ...

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The te ...

, and also represented the Scottish League XI.

Managerial career

Duncan managed

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

, Chesterfield and

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 professio ...

. Duncan's first managerial role was at Scunthorpe United. After a brief spell at Hartlepool United, Duncan was appointed Chesterfield manager in the summer of 1983 and led them to the Fourth Division title in 1985. After keeping the club in the Third Division the following season, he was appointed Ipswich Town manager in the summer of 1986 following their relegation to 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 ...

. Duncan led Ipswich to top-half finishes in the Second Division but was sacked in 1990 after failing to lead promotion challenges. After leaving Ipswich, Duncan became a teacher at a

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

school before returning to Chesterfield in February 1993. In his second spell at the club, Chesterfield won the Division Three playoffs in 1995 and reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1996-97, losing to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

in a replay. Duncan was sacked by Chesterfield in April 2000 after their relegation back to Division Three.Chesferfield FC Official Website, 22 Jun 2008
. Retrieved 23 April 2009. He was awarded a testimonial by Chesterfield in 2002. Duncan spent four seasons managing

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when ...

from 2007, winning the Midland Combination League Cup in 2008 and the League title and promotion to the

Midland Football Alliance The Midland Football Alliance was an English association football league for semi-professional teams. It covered Leicestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire and also southern parts of Derbyshire and Not ...

in 2009. Duncan joined the

League Managers Association The League Managers Association (LMA) is the trade union for Premier League, EFL and national team managers in English association football. The LMA awards the LMA Manager of the Year award annually. History The union was founded in 3045 as ...

in 2009, eventually becoming technical manager.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, John 1949 births 2022 deaths Chesterfield F.C. managers Derby County F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Association football forwards Hartlepool United F.C. managers Ipswich Town F.C. managers People associated with Loughborough University Footballers from Dundee Scottish Football League players Scottish football managers Scottish footballers Scunthorpe United F.C. managers Scunthorpe United F.C. players English Football League players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Scottish Football League representative players English Football League managers Broughty Athletic F.C. players