Billy Birrell
From TheChels.info - The Chelsea Football Club Wiki
| Billy Birrell | |
| |
| Full Name | William Birrell |
| Date of Birth | March 1897 |
| Place of Birth | Scotland |
| Chelsea career | 1939-1952 |
| Win percentage | - |
| Honours | None |
| Other clubs | Raith Rovers Bournemouth Queens Park Rangers |
William "Billy" Birrell (March 1897 – November 1968) was a Scottish player and manager, who was manager of Chelsea between 1939 and 1952. Billy Birrell died on 29 November 1968, when he was aged 71.
Before Chelsea
He played for Raith Rovers and Middlesbrough, winning the Second Division title with the latter in 1927, before moving into management. He returned to Raith to become manager before leaving for Bournemouth in 1930 and then Queens Park Rangers in 1935. After guiding Rangers to 3rd place in Division Three South in 1938, he was appointed manager of First Division Chelsea shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Chelsea career
During his time at Chelsea, the club consistently finished in mid-table, and narrowly missed out on relegation to the Second Division in 1951 on goal average. However, Birrell guided Chelsea to two FA Cup semi-finals, in 1950 and 1952, on both occasions losing out to Arsenal in replays. He retired following the latter defeat. He also played a significant part in the development of the future by starting the club's youth system, which was to pay dividends for future managers.
| Managers |
|---|
| Robertson (1905–06) • Lewis (1906–07) • Calderhead (1907–33) • Knighton (1933–39) • Birrell (1939–52) Drake (1952–61) • Docherty (1961–67) • Sexton (1967–74) • Suart (1974–75) • McCreadie (1975–77) • Shellito (1977–78) Blanchflower (1978–79) • Hurst (1979–81) • Neal (1981–85) • Hollins (1985–88) • Campbell (1988–91) Porterfield (1991–93) • Webb (1993) • Hoddle (1993–96) • Gullit (1996–98) • Vialli (1998–00) • Ranieri (2000–04) Mourinho (2004–07) • Grant (2007–08) • Scolari (2008–09) • Hiddink (2009) • Ancelotti (2009–11) Villas-Boas (2011–12) • Di Matteo (2012) • Benítez (2012–13) • Mourinho (2013–15) • Hiddink (2015–16) Conte (2016–) |
