Joe Fagan

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Joe Fagan (born 12 March 1921 in Liverpool, died 30 June 2001) was an English football manager best known for being manager of Liverpool F.C. from 1983 to 1985. He managed the side that won Liverpool's fourth European Cup in 1984. He died in 2001, aged 80, after a long illness.

Fagan began his managerial career at Nelson F.C. in the Lancashire Combination as player-manager, where he led the club to two Championships in 1950 and 1952. However, the club narrowly missed out on re-election to the Football League. He moved on to become Rochdale A.F.C. manager in 1954, before joining Liverpool as a coach in 1958.

When Bill Shankly retired as Liverpool manager in 1974, his assistant and then successor Bob Paisley appointed Fagan as his assistant in turn. Following Paisley's retirement in 1983, Fagan finally took over on a two-year contract at the start of the 1983-84 season.

Fagan was particularly notable for buying Jan Mølby, a Danish midfielder who became an outstanding player for Liverpool, and for being the first manager to win a 'treble' (three major trophies in a season) with an English club. Only Alex Ferguson and Gérard Houllier have since managed this feat. Fagan, however, won the 'treble' in his first season as Liverpool's manager. Fagan's original two-year contract would have taken him up to the end of the 1984-85 English football season|1984-85]] season, and it seemed unlikely that he would extend his contract beyond that date—as he would have been 64 years old.

On May 29, 1985, just hours before the Heysel Stadium disaster, Fagan announced he would retire, and was succeeded by leading Scottish and Liverpool forward Kenny Dalglish.

[edit] Career honours

Player

• 1946-47 Football League Second Division Promotion (Level 2) with Manchester City

Manager (all with Liverpool)

• Winner
  • 1983-84 League Cup
  • 1983-84 League Championship (Level 1)
  • 1983-84 European Cup
• Runner-up
  • 1983-84 Charity Shield
  • 1984-85 Charity Shield
  • 1984-85 Intercontinental Cup
  • 1984-85 European Super Cup
  • 1984-85 League Championship (Level 1)
  • 1984-85 European Cup

[edit] External links

• Joe Fagan website
• LFC Online profile
• Manager profile at LFChistory.net

Preceded by Ernst Happel

European Cup Winning Coach 1983-84

Succeeded by Giovanni Trapattoni

Liverpool F.C. - Managers
Barclay and McKenna (1892-96) | Watson (1896-1915) | Ashworth (1920-23) | McQueen (1923-28) | Patterson (1928-36) | Kay (1936-51) | Welsh (1951-56) | Taylor (1956-59) | Shankly (1959-74) | Paisley (1974-83) | Fagan (1983-85) | Dalglish (1986-91) | Souness (1991-94) | Evans (1994-98) | Evans and Houllier (1998) | Houllier (1998-2004) | Benítez (2004-)