Ron Saunders
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ron Saunders (born November 6, 1932 in Birkenhead) was an English football player.
As a player Ron Saunders was a hard-shooting centre forward. He scored over 200 goals in 13 years as a centre-forward for Everton, Tonbridge, Gillingham, Portsmouth, Watford and Charlton. Saunders was leading goalscorer for six consecutive seasons at Portsmouth and it was largely his goals that won Pompey the Third Division Championship in 1962. He remains their third highest goalscorer to this day. He retired from playing in 1967 with Charlton.
As a manager Saunders first tasted success at Norwich, guiding them to the Second Division title for the first time in 1972. A short spell at Manchester City followed, before he joined Aston Villa in 1974.
He managed Villa to League Cup in 1975 and again in 1977 before taking the club to its first Championship success for 70 years in 1981. He resigned from Villa on the verge of the club's greatest achievement, winning the European Cup, due to a disagreement with the board over his contract.
Surprisingly he moved straight to Villa's arch-rivals, Birmingham City. They went down in 1984 but he got them back into the top flight at the first attempt. In January 1986, Saunders walked out on struggling Birmingham to take charge of local rivals and fellow strugglers West Bromwich Albion. He was unable to stop Albion from sliding into the Second Division and a year later, having failed to achieve promotion, he was sacked. Saunders, who was in his 55th year when leaving Albion, never returned to management.
| Preceded by: Joe McDonald |
Yeovil Town F.C. manager 1967-1969 |
Succeeded by: Mike Hughes |
| Preceded by: Arthur Turner |
Oxford United F.C. manager 1969 |
Succeeded by: Gerry Summers |
| Preceded by: Lol Morgan |
Norwich City F.C. manager 1969-1973 |
Succeeded by: John Bond |
| Preceded by: Johnny Hart |
Manchester City F.C. manager 1973-1974 |
Succeeded by: Tony Book |
| Preceded by: Vic Crowe |
Aston Villa F.C. manager 1974-1982 |
Succeeded by: Tony Barton |
| Preceded by: Jim Smith |
Birmingham City F.C. manager 1982-1986 |
Succeeded by: John Bond |
| Preceded by: Nobby Stiles |
West Bromwich Albion F.C. manager 1986-1987 |
Succeeded by: Ron Atkinson |
Categories: 1932 births | Living people | English footballers | Everton F.C. players | Gillingham F.C. players | Portsmouth F.C. players | Watford F.C. players | Charlton Athletic F.C. players | English football managers | Yeovil Town F.C. managers | Oxford United F.C. managers | Norwich City F.C. managers | Manchester City F.C. managers | Aston Villa F.C. managers | Birmingham City F.C. managers | West Bromwich Albion F.C. managers
