 Don Welsh
Job Title: Manager with 21.03.1951-04.05.1956
Date of Birth: 25/02/1911
With the Reds: 1951-1956
Arrived from: Brighton
Signed for LFC: 21.03.1951
First game in charge: 23.03.1951
LFC league games as manager: 218
Total LFC games as manager: 232
Contract expiry: 04.05.1956
Former Clubs as Player:
Former Clubs as Staff: Brighton, Bournemouth, Wycombe Wanderers
Birthplace: Manchester, England
Characteristics:
Honours as Staff:
Personal Honours:
The Managerial Record
| Competition |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
% |
| League |
218 |
75 |
55 |
88 |
370 |
409 |
34.40% |
| FA Cup |
14 |
6 |
3 |
5 |
17 |
14 |
42.86% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Total |
232 |
81 |
58 |
93 |
387 |
423 |
34.91% |
Matches that are won or lost in a penalty shoot-out are counted as a draw in
those numbers. |
PROFILE
Ill health had forced George Kay to retire as Liverpool's manager early on in the
year and so pave the way for Don Welsh to replace him.
This was not the first time the former Charlton and England inside left had served
the club. He guested for the Reds during the war in the 1939/40 season. Although a brief
spell, he had been accepted as a Liverpool player just the same.
When Welsh joined from Charlton, he had a big problem. The defence was solid but
the attack was ageing. He splashed out - spending more than 50,000 pounds on the likes of
Bimpson and A'Court - but could not stop the inevitable slide towards Division Two.
In 1954 Don Welsh became the first manager to put Liverpool through relegation for
over 50 years. Unfortunately, that day also saw Everton promoted back to Div 1. He had
almost accomplished that feat the season before finishing 17th, and only a scrappy win
over Chelsea on the last day of the season kept Liverpool up. Liverpool would stay in Div
2 for eight more seasons.
On Christmas Day 1955, Welsh signed Charlton pair Frank Lock and Jonny Evans. As
there were no newspapers over the Christmas period, the first the fans knew anything was
when the team list was announced over the tannoy on match day.
Liverpool came near to going back up again in 1955-56, but Welsh was dismissed
before he could have another go at getting promotion. It was becoming obvious that
Liverpool were going nowhere. The following year, after accepting his part of the blame,
Welsh was sacked as Liverpool manager. The only Liverpool manager to ever be sacked, he
died in 1990, aged 78.
Welsh's Record:
Div 1 1951-52 43 points 11th place 1952-53 36 points 17th place 1953-54 28 points
22nd place
Div 2 1954-55 42 points 11th place 1955-56 48 points 3rd place
Thanks to Iain Hamilton for his contribution to this profile.
Don Welsh talking things over with the legendary Billy
Liddell and Phil Taylor, who succeeded Welsh as manager
Players bought
& sold by Don Welsh
|
