Terry Venables
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| Terry Venables | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Terence Frederick Venables | |
| Date of birth | January 6, 1943 (age 64) | |
| Place of birth | London, England | |
| Nickname | El Tel; The Godfather of Football | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1958-1960 | Chelsea | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1960-1966 1966-1969 1969-1974 1974-1976 1977 |
Chelsea Tottenham Hotspur Queens Park Rangers Crystal Palace St Patrick's Athletic |
202 (26) 115 (19) 179 (19) 14 (0) 2 |
| National team | ||
| 1964 | England | 2 (0) |
| Teams managed | ||
| 1976-1980 1980-1984 1984-1987 1987-1991 1994-1996 1996-1997 1996-1997 1998-1999 2000-2001 2002-2003 2006- |
Crystal Palace Queens Park Rangers FC Barcelona Tottenham Hotspur England Portsmouth Australia Crystal Palace Middlesbrough (head coach) Leeds United England (assistant manager) |
|
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Terence Frederick Venables (born January 6, 1943 in Dagenham, London) is the Assistant England national football team manager and a former English international footballer. He has also previously had stints as the manager of the English national football team and the Australian national football team, as well as management stints at various clubs in England.
Contents |
[edit] Playing career
Venables joined Chelsea as an apprentice in 1957 and signed as a professional for them in 1960. He emerged as the captain and one of the key players in the Chelsea side which challenged for honours in the 1960s, narrowly missing out on League and FA Cup success, and winning the League Cup in 1965. But Venables' deteriorating relationship with his manager, Tommy Docherty, an equally strong personality, culminated in him and seven other players being sent home for breaking a pre-match curfew and ultimately led to his sale to Tottenham Hotspur for £80,000 in 1966. He made 202 appearances for Chelsea and scored 26 goals.
He played 115 League games and scored 19 goals for Spurs, with the highlight being an FA Cup Final win over his old side in 1967. In June 1969 he transferred to Queens Park Rangers F.C. for £70,000 playing 179 games and scoring 19 goals, eventually in 1974 he transferred to Crystal Palace F.C. for the same fee, but only played 14 games for them before being appointed manager in June 1976.[1]
As well as receiving two International Caps for England, Venables was the first to play at all international levels (schoolboy, youth, amateur, Under-23, and for the full international team).[2]
[edit] Managerial career
He took over as manager of Crystal Palace when they were in the Third Division, he coached them to the Second Division in 1977 and the First Division (now the Premiership) in 1979. After a mid-table finish in 1980 he left that October for Queens Park Rangers, whom he led to promotion as Champions in 1983 and a very respectable 5th place in the First Division the following season. He also guided Rangers to the FA Cup final in 1982 whilst still a second division side, but lost in a replay against Tottenham Hotspur.
His growing reputation bought him offers from some of Europe's most prestigious clubs and in 1984 he took the role of manager at Barcelona, earning the sobriquet El Tel. Venables was recommended by Bobby Robson, a good friend of the Barcelona President and who himself, years later, would take over the team. Terry used a very English system, a classic 4-4-2, which took advantage of outstanding defenders like Gerado, Migueli and Julio Alberto and a very hard-working midfield led by the superb German, Bernd Schuster. During his three seasons in Catalonia, Venables led the club to the Spanish title and League Cup but lost in the final of the first post-Heysel European Cup to Steaua Bucharest on penalties. He was sacked in September, 1987, after failing to repeat his title success at the Camp Nou.
On 23 November 1987, he returned to the UK to manage Tottenham Hotspur. His success with the north London team was varied, with the side finishing in mid-table for most of his tenure, though they did win the FA Cup in 1991 and finished 3rd in 1990. Venables had brought both Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne to Spurs and was a favourite to replace Bobby Robson as England national football team manager when the job became vacant in 1990 but doubts about his probity led him to be passed over. After a failed £20m bid to take over Spurs with Larry Gillick Venables was appointed chief executive by Alan Sugar who had won the takeover battle against Robert Maxwell in June 1991.[1] A clash of personalities developed and Sugar dismissed Venables on 14 May 1993, over his business dealings. After gaining a temporary injunction he was reinstated, but lost a 3-day high court hearing and ordered to pay costs.[1]
By November 1993, the England national football team had reached a nadir under Graham Taylor, who resigned after being unable to take England to the World Cup finals. Venables, though not active in the game, seemed to have the presence and charisma that could re-ignite some patriotic pride and achievement. He was appointed manager on 28 January 1994.
However, the speculation coincided with Venables' business dealings falling under some scrutiny and censure. The Football Association struggled to identify an alternative candidate but their discomfort with his soiled reputation for probity was articulated in their appointment of him as England coach rather than under the traditional title of manager. His highest achievement came through his masterful tactical insights during the 1996 European Football Championship. His skill in analysis, coaching and motivation resulted in some of England's best ever footballing performances, including a famous 4-1 demolition of the Netherlands, and only ended in the bitter disappointment of losing to Germany on penalties in the semi-final.
Venables' business dealings offered a constant distraction and he left the England job shortly afterwards, going on to become a consultant and then chairman at Portsmouth. He purchased a 51% controlling interest in the club for £1 in February 1997 but left in controversial circumstances in January 1998. His company Vencorp received a £300,000 bonus in the summer of 1997 and he is thought to have been paid around £250,000 upon leaving the club, but he left them bottom of the First Division.[3]
This period ran parallel with a spell coaching the Australian national team. His side swept through the Oceania World Cup qualifying group but were beaten in a play-off by Iran on away goals after letting slip a 2-0 second leg lead.
On 14 January 1998, he was disqualified by the high court from acting as a company director for seven years under section 8 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986 for alleged mismanagement of four companies - the London drinking club Scribes West Ltd, Edenote plc, Tottenham Hotspur plc and Tottenham Hotspur Football and Athletic Company Ltd.[4] The case was brought by the Department of Trade and Industry who cited instances of bribery, lying, deception, manipulation of accounts and taking money that should have been given to creditors.[5]
In the same year he returned to Palace, who had just been taken over by Mark Goldberg, and then relegated from the FA Premier League, for a brief period, before leaving acrimoniously in January 1999, as the south-London club went into administration.
His first experience of the FA Premier League came in 2000 when under-fire Middlesbrough manager Bryan Robson appointed him as his assistant in a bid to help the club avoid relegation. The club eventually finished 14th and survived. However, Venables felt Teesside too remote a base for his media and business interests and he left the club in 2001.
In July, 2002, Venables joined Leeds United as manager. Despite Venables inheriting a stronger squad than the one that had qualified for the UEFA Champion's League two years earlier, by December of that year the side had crashed out of both the League Cup and the UEFA Cup and were languishing in the bottom half of the table. Venables' falling-out with the vital midfield pairing of Olivier Dacourt and David Batty was widely blamed for this decline.[6][7] Further rancour was to follow in January, 2003, when Jonathan Woodgate was sold to Newcastle United without Venables' knowledge, in an attempt to meet mounting debts. With the club spiralling towards relegation, Venables was sacked in March 2003.[8]
He was set to become the technical director of the Newcastle United Jets, and participate in the replacement for the Australian National Soccer League, the A-League in 2005. However, his many commitments in the UK prevented him from taking up a role within the club, subsequently his agent announced that he did not sign any deal with the club.
On May 27 2006 Venables guided the England Legends and Celebrities squad to victory in the charity Soccer Aid programme.[1]
In May 2006 he nearly returned to full time management with Middlesbrough F.C. and was close to accepting the post, but after much agonising he decided that at his current age he wasn't able to manage a Premier League football club full time.
In August 2006 he agreed to become the assistant manager in the new England coaching setup under Steve McClaren.
[edit] Other interests
In 2002 Venables recorded a single for the World Cup together with the band Rider. England Crazy reached number 46 in the UK charts.
In addition to his widespread business interests, Venables has co-authored four novels with writer Gordon Williams and is credited as co-creator of the ITV detective series Hazell. Having been a football pundit for BBC since the mid-80s, he left for ITV in 1994, following a legal dispute with the corporation over allegations made against him in the Panorama programme. Terry Venables is rumoured to be a talented jazz singer, although not much is known of his work.
In 1990 Terry Venables co-devised the board game, "Terry Venables invites you to be... The Manager". This is a football management game and is a cross between the Game of Life, Risk and Trivial Pursuit.
[edit] Trivia
Venables described the Baddiel and Skinner hit 'Three Lions' as 'a real key tapper' whilst being in charge of the England team.
Venables is left-handed.
Is also affectionately known as Terry Vegetables, or El Tel (during and after his time in Barcelona). Some Leeds United fans refer to him as "Hell Tel"
Venables appeared on the cover of Morrissey's single Dagenham Dave.
He was Arsenal player George Graham's best man.
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] Football
- Venables, T & Hanson, N (1995) Venables: The Autobiography ISBN 0-14-024077-2
- Venables, T (1996) Venables' England: The Making of the TeamISBN 0-7522-1664-3
- - (1997) The Best Game in the World ISBN 0-09-918562-8
[edit] Fiction
- Venables, T & Williams, G (1973) They Used to Play on Grass ISBN 0-583-12077-6
- - (1994) Hazell Plays Solomon ISBN 0-14-024416-6
- - (1994) Hazell and the Menacing Jester ISBN 0-14-024418-2
- - (1995) Hazell and the Three Card Trick ISBN 0-14-024419-0
[edit] References
- ^ a b c The Guardian, Terry Venables factfile, 8-July-2002.
- ^ BBC Sport, Ask Albert - Number 5, 19 February 2001.
- ^ BBC Sport, Venables quits Portsmouth taking a tidy profit 13 January, 1998.
- ^ BBC Business news, Seven-year director's ban for Venables 14 January, 1998.
- ^ BBC Sport, Venables fans' choice despite flaws, 11 October, 2000.
- ^ RTE Sport, Venables furious at Dacourt comments, 8 December, 2002.
- ^ RTE Sport, Venables explains decision to drop Batty, 1 December, 2002.
- ^ BBC Sport, Venables leaves Leeds, 21 March, 2003.
[edit] External links
- Terry Venables management career stats at Soccerbase
- Interview on FA website
- Venables in line for 'one last big job' on Teesside
Categories: 1943 births | Living people | English footballers | England international footballers | Chelsea F.C. players | Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players | Queens Park Rangers F.C. players | Crystal Palace F.C. players | St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players | Football League of Ireland players | English football managers | England national football team managers | Crystal Palace F.C. managers | Queens Park Rangers F.C. managers | Tottenham Hotspur F.C. managers | Middlesbrough F.C. managers | Leeds United AFC managers | FC Barcelona managers | La Liga managers | FA Premier League managers | UEFA Euro 1996 managers | People from Dagenham
