Samuel Ellis (born 12 September 1946) is an English

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 ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and former player. He was most recently the assistant manager of

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 ...

. His only honour was guiding

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

to promotion from Division Four to Division Three in 1984–85.

Career

Ellis was born in

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

. In his younger days, he played as a centre-half for

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 ...

in the 1960s. As a teenager he made his debut in the 1966

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 ...

final against Everton, in which his team lost 3–

He then moved on to play for Mansfield Town F.C., Mansfield Town, Lincoln City, and

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

. It was at

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cas ...

that he became coach and assistant manager to future

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

boss

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...

. With Ellis' help, Watford climbed the divisions before turning down a new contract in favour of trying his hand at management. When the

job was advertised, Ellis applied and was given the job on 1 June 1982. Ellis was manager at the seaside for seven years, from 1982 to 1989, with no prior managerial experience, but the new board 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 ...

were confident in his ability. Despite finishing in the bottom four of the Fourth Division in his first season, thus forcing the club to apply for re-election to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

, Ellis managed to turn the side around and gain promotion two years later with only limited funds handed to him. Although he kept ''the Tangerines'' in the Third Division, they were unable to make further progress and Ellis' contract was terminated on 28 March 1989, with relegation looking a possibility. At the time of his departure, Ellis was the third longest serving Blackpool manager in terms of Football League games in charge. Ellis then had a brief spell as manager of Bury before moving to

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Peter Reid Peter Reid (born 20 June 1956) is an English football manager, pundit and former player. A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career. He built his reputation as one of England's brightest midfield tale ...

's assistant manager. In 1994, he was appointed manager of Lincoln City before returning to Gigg Lane as

Stan Ternent Francis Stanley Ternent (born 16 June 1946) is an English former footballer and manager. He managed Blackpool, Hull City, Bury, Burnley, Gillingham and Huddersfield Town. He was a scout for Hull City until January 2017. As a manager, he won th ...

's assistant the following year. When Ternent moved to

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, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

in 1998, Ellis followed him. After six years at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional footba ...

, Ellis became assistant manager to

Kevin Blackwell Kevin Patrick Blackwell (born 21 December 1958) is an English former professional football goalkeeper who since retiring as a player has worked as a coach and a manager. He is currently the manager of Thai League 1 club Nakhon Ratchasima. Ear ...

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

for 2 years. Ellis later worked with Blackwell at

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

(after a spell at

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

) and

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. On 13 July 2018, he returned to football as the new assistant manager of

replacing David Kemp who had left at the end of the previous season. After the departure of

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him on ...

, his contract was also not renewed by the club in May 2019.

Personal life

On 31 October 2001, Ellis' 28-year-old son, Timothy, was killed in a car accident. Ellis' other son, Steven, is a professional rugby player.

Honours

As a manager

Blackpool *

Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

promotion: 1984–85

References

External links

Sam Ellis
(playing history) at Soccerbase
Sam Ellis
(managerial history) at Soccerbase {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Sam 1946 births Living people English footballers Association football defenders England under-23 international footballers Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Watford F.C. players English football managers Blackpool F.C. managers Bury F.C. managers Lincoln City F.C. managers Watford F.C. non-playing staff Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff Luton Town F.C. non-playing staff Sheffield United F.C. non-playing staff Manchester City F.C. non-playing staff Burnley F.C. non-playing staff Middlesbrough F.C. non-playing staff FA Cup Final players