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Willie Bell |
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Former Leeds United and Scotland full-back Willie Bell was coach at St.Andrews under Freddie Goodwin, his former Leeds colleage. When Goodwin left St.Andrews, Bell was put in charge of team affairs, being appointed managed with a two year contract. Bell introduced Syd Owen, a Blues player in the mid-1940s, as a coach, but the team still struggled, finishing one place above the relegation zone at the end of their centenary season of 1975-76. Bell used 26 players, including eight idfferent full-backs, in an attmept to find a winning combination. In 1976-77, although Blues moved up the table to finish 13th, there was still something missing. He signed John Connolly and Gary Jones, both from Everton, and goalkeeper Jim Montgomery from Sunderland. Overall performances improved but, after the Blues had lost their opening five matches of the1977-78 season, Bell's managerial carerr with Blues came to an end. Chairman Keith Coombes told him that his contract would not be renewed. Sir Alf Ramsey, a Birmingham director, offered to take over. Bell was born in Johnstone, Perth, on 3 September 1937, and joined Queens Park as an amateur in 1957. He had turned down Stoke City in order to continue an engineering apprenticeship. He won two Scottish Amateur caps before signing for Leeds United in 1960. He went on to appear in over 250 senior games foe the Elland Road club, scoring 18 goals. Bell won a Second Divison championship medal in 1964 and an FA Cup runners-up medal 12 months later. He also gained two full caps, against Brazil and Portugal in 1966. In September 1967, following the emergence of Terry Cooper at Elland Road, he was transferred to Leicester City for £45,000. He switched to Brighton in July 1969 and a year later retired to take up coaching. Bell went on to become manager of Lincoln City in September 1977, taking over from Graham Taylor. He left Sincil Bank in December 1978 to join a Baptist University in the USA, becoming a soccer coach on a Christian campus. In 2001, Willie retired to Yorkshire. | |
| Managerial Career | |||||||
| Competition | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | For | Against | Perf % |
| League | 80 | 26 | 17 | 37 | 115 | 129 | 43.1% |
| FA Cup | xx | 33 | xx | xx | xx | xx | xx.x% |
| League Cup | xx | xx | xx | xx | xx | xx | xx.x% |
| Other | xx | xx | xx | xx | xx | xx | xx.x% |