Bob Brocklebank

Date Hired : January 1949 Resigned : October 1954 First Game : xx-xx-xxxx (H - xxxx) Last Game : xx-xx-xxxx (H - xxxx) Success Rate : xx.xx%

Comments Bob Brocklebank was born in Finchley, North London on 8 April 1908. He joined Finchley FC in August 1925 and moved to Aston Villa in May 1929. He had few first-team outings at Villa Park but, after moving to Burnley in March 1936, he became an outstanding goalscorer, making well over 300 appearances and scoring 110 goals for the Turf Moor club, the majority coming during wartime football. Brocklebank went into management with Chesterfield in September 1945 and, after extablishing them in Division Two, moved to St.Andrews in January 1949, after the BLues had been without a manager for six weeks following Harry Storer's departure. Brocklebank was not overawed by the prospect of replacing Storer and, although Blues suffered relegation from Division One at the end of his first full season, he took them to the FA Cup semi-finals in 1951. During his five and a half years at St.Andrews he secured some fine players, signing center forwards Tommy Briggs and Eddie Brown, Welsh international Noel Kinsey, Roy Warhurst and a trio of Plymouth Argyle players in wingers Gordon Astall and Alex Govan and wing-halg Len Boyd, who was Brocklebank's first signing for the club. He also gambled on taking on youngsters who, in later years, proved to be splendid club men. They included Trevor Smith, Graham Sissons, full-backs Brian Farmer and George Allen, goalkeeper Johnny Schofield, 'Bunny' Larkin and Jeff Hall, who wnent on to play in 17 consecutive internationals at right-back for England. It was Brocklebank who put together the Blues 1954-55 promotion and 1955-56 Cup Final sides, although he left in October 1954. He was on West Brom's staff when Hull City invited him to be their manager in 1955, and he spent six years at Boothferry Park, taking the tigers into Division Two, albeit for one season. He was in charge of Bradford City from May 1961 until October 1964, when he retired to Brixham, where he died in September 1981. Managerial Career Competition Played Won Lost Drawn For Against Perf % League 243 93 66 84 342 334 51.9% FA Cup xx 33 xx xx xx xx xx.x% Other xx xx xx xx xx xx xx.x%