By Ian Nannestad 21-Mar-05
Bill McGarry enjoyed a successful career as a gritty hard-working right half, winning four caps for England in the 1950s, and later became a well-known manager.
Born in Stoke-on-Trent on June 10, 1927, Bill signed amateur forms with Port Vale in April 1945, turning professional shortly afterwards. He made his debut for Vale in December 1945, but it was not until the 1947-48 season that he established himself as a regular in the side.
In March 1951, he was sold to Huddersfield Town for a fee of £12,000 and although the Terriers were relegated from the top flight the following season they bounced back in 1952-53. That season Bill was a member of a remarkable defence that went through the whole campaign unchanged, lining up alongside Don McEvoy and Len Quested in the half-back line.
The following season was the clubs best ever in the post-war period and they finished in third place in the First Division. Bill's form attracted attention from the international selectors and in May 1954 he was capped for England B against Switzerland. A member of the England squad for the 1954 World Cup finals, he made his full international debut during the tournament, also against the Swiss.
He also featured for the Football League representative team and in the summer of 1956 he toured South Africa with an FA XI. Bill remained at Leeds Road until March 1961, when, having made over 350 appearances for Huddersfield, he was appointed as player-manager of Bournemouth.
This was the beginning of a second career in the game and Bill showed his talents as a manager almost immediately. The Cherries were in serious danger of relegation from the old Division Three at the time of his appointment but he successfully guided them to safety, then turned the club's fortunes around to make them promotion candidates over the next two seasons.
There then followed a spell as manager of Watford before he took over at Portman Road in October 1964, his strong, disciplined approach eventually taking Ipswich to the Second Division title in 1967-68 and a return to top flight football. In November 1968 he moved on to Wolves where he enjoyed considerable success, creating a team that were runners-up in the UEFA Cup in 1972 and then defeated Manchester City to win the Football League Cup two years later.
Bill left Molineux in May 1976 and thereafter had something of a varied career, coaching in Saudi Arabia then returning home to manage Newcastle (November 1977 to August 1980) before spells in charge of the Zambian national team, and a second, brief, period at Molineux, which lasted a matter of weeks.
Bill eventually returned to South Africa, where he was coaching Bophuthatswana in the late 1980s. He settled there and passed away at home on 15 March.
The PFA's George Berry has good cause to remember Bill with great fondness as, during McGarry's first managerial stint at Molineux, he gave the big defender his first team debut for Wolves in 1975.
George recalls: "He was a tough task-master, one of the old school who ruled with a rod of iron. But I will always be grateful to him for giving me my first big break as a pro. He was a hard man who, if he said 'jump' you didn't ask why you asked 'how high?'.
"Bill was a strict disciplinarian and he instilled great professionalism in the players under his charge. He will be sadly missed."
