Les Shannon
Encyclopedia
Leslie "Les" Shannon was an English
football
player and manager.
; a centre-forward
, he started his playing career with his hometown club of Liverpool
in November 1944
. He made his debut for the Reds four years later, against Manchester City
at Anfield
on 17 April 1948, as a substitute for Albert Stubbins
. His only goal for the Merseyside
club came the following season, in a 2-1 win at Sheffield United
on 30 August 1948.
After Shannon's contract with Liverpool expired in November 1949
, he joined Burnley
. Playing on both flanks for Burnley, Shannon clocked up 263 league appearances and scored 39 goals.
Shannon retired from playing first-team football in September 1958
and captained Burnley's reserve team for a year.
, and in 1962
, he joined Billy Wright's backroom staff at Arsenal
.
After four years at Highbury
, Shannon took over as manager of Second Division
Bury
. Bury finished bottom in his first season in charge, but he guided them back the following season
as runners-up to Oxford United
, only to see them make the drop again in 1969
.
After Bury's relegation, Shannon took over as manager of Blackpool
, with whom he had instant success, finishing as runners-up to Huddersfield Town
and winning promotion back to the top flight
. This was achieved without the services of the club's star player, Tony Green
, who sat out the entire 1969-70
season due to injury. In 1970-71
, however, Blackpool finished bottom and were relegated to the league's second tier once again. Shannon had left his position only two months into the season and after only seventeen months in charge. He was replaced, in a caretaker
role, by Jimmy Meadows
.
Shannon accepted an offer to work in Greece, where he coached PAOK
from 1971 to 1974, leading them to win the Greek Cup
twice in 1972 and 1974. In 1973, PAOK were runners-up in the Greek championship race and quarter-finalists in the European Cup-Winners' Cup
, bowing out to AC Milan. He was sacked the following year, however. He moved on to another Salonica club, Iraklis, with whom he won their first and only major trophy to date, the Greek Cup, in 1976.
There followed a spell with Olympiacos
in Piraeus
, six months of coaching Panachaiki
in Patras
, two stints with OFI
in Crete
, an interlude back in England as an adviser with Port Vale
, and a two-year stay with Brann in Norway
, before he returned permanently to Britain in 1984, where he settled in Bedfordshire
. He became a scout for Luton
, and this would be his final role in football.
Shannon is still considered by Greek fans and media to have been one of the most successful foreign managers to ever work in Greek football.
Blackpool
PAOK FC
Iraklis Thessaloniki
in coordinating the football sequences of the 1981 war movie Escape to Victory
. He was also enlisted as an advisor on the Channel 4
series The Manageress in 1989.
, former Manchester United manager Wilf McGuinness
spoke about the life and times of Les, whilst one of the songs chosen was "You'll Never Walk Alone
", sung by two of his great nephews Tom Wing and James Wing, a homage to Les' beginnings in football.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player and manager.
Playing career
Shannon was born in LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
; a centre-forward
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
, he started his playing career with his hometown club of Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
in November 1944
1944-45 in English football
The 1944–45 season was the fifth season of special wartime football in England during World War II.-Overview:Between 1939 and 1946 normal competitive football was suspended in England. Many footballers signed up to fight in the war and as a result many teams were depleted, and fielded guest players...
. He made his debut for the Reds four years later, against Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
at Anfield
Anfield
Anfield is an association football stadium in the district of Anfield, Liverpool, England, with a seating capacity of 45,522. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 and was originally the home of Everton F.C. from 1884 to 1892, before they moved to Goodison Park...
on 17 April 1948, as a substitute for Albert Stubbins
Albert Stubbins
Albert Stubbins was an English footballer. He played in the position of centre forward, although his career was limited by the onset of World War II.-Life and playing career:...
. His only goal for the Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
club came the following season, in a 2-1 win at Sheffield United
Sheffield United F.C.
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...
on 30 August 1948.
After Shannon's contract with Liverpool expired in November 1949
1949-50 in English football
The 1949–50 season was the 70th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Portsmouth retained the First Division title by one of the narrowest margins in history ahead of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C....
, he joined Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
. Playing on both flanks for Burnley, Shannon clocked up 263 league appearances and scored 39 goals.
Shannon retired from playing first-team football in September 1958
1958-59 in English football
The 1958–59 season was the 79th season of competitive football in England.-Diary of the season:August 1958: The Football League season begins with the new national Third and Fourth divisions that have been created from the old Third Division North and Third Division South.September 1958: Manchester...
and captained Burnley's reserve team for a year.
Coaching and management
In 1959, Shannon moved into coaching with EvertonEverton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
, and in 1962
1962-63 in English football
The 1962–63 season was the 83rd season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*Everton won the League Championship, their first post-war title.*Manchester United won the FA Cup, their first major trophy since the Munich Air Disaster in 1958....
, he joined Billy Wright's backroom staff at Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
.
After four years at Highbury
Arsenal Stadium
Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, North London, which was the home ground of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006...
, Shannon took over as manager of Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
Bury
Bury F.C.
Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...
. Bury finished bottom in his first season in charge, but he guided them back the following season
1967-68 in English football
The 1967–68 season was the 88th season of competitive football in England.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour. * indicates new record for competition-FA Cup:...
as runners-up to Oxford United
Oxford United F.C.
Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...
, only to see them make the drop again in 1969
1968-69 in English football
The 1968–69 season was the 89th season of competitive football in England.-First Division:Leeds United won the League for the first time in their history, finishing six points ahead of Liverpool...
.
After Bury's relegation, Shannon took over as manager of Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
, with whom he had instant success, finishing as runners-up to Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town F.C.
Huddersfield Town Football Club is an English football club formed in 1908 and based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. They currently play in League One...
and winning promotion back to the top flight
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
. This was achieved without the services of the club's star player, Tony Green
Tony Green (footballer)
Anthony "Tony" Green is a Scottish former professional footballer.-Club career:Glasgow-born Green began his career at Albion Rovers in his native Scotland.-Blackpool:...
, who sat out the entire 1969-70
Blackpool F.C. season 1969-70
The 1969-70 season was Blackpool F.C.s 63rd season in the Football League. They competed in the 22-team Division Two, then the second tier of English football, finishing second...
season due to injury. In 1970-71
1970-71 in English football
The 1970–71 season was the 91st season of competitive football in England.-First Division:Arsenal won the league championship at the end of a season which would soon be followed by their FA Cup final tie with Liverpool. Arsenal secured the league title at White Hart Lane, the home of bitter rivals...
, however, Blackpool finished bottom and were relegated to the league's second tier once again. Shannon had left his position only two months into the season and after only seventeen months in charge. He was replaced, in a caretaker
Caretaker manager
In association football, a caretaker manager is someone who takes temporary charge of the management of a football club, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caretaker may also be appointed if the regular manager is ill or unable to attend to his...
role, by Jimmy Meadows
Jimmy Meadows
James "Jimmy" Meadows was an England international who started his playing career in 1949 at Third-Division Southport, with whom, later in life, he had his most successful period in management...
.
Shannon accepted an offer to work in Greece, where he coached PAOK
PAOK FC
P.A.O.K. F.C. is a Greek association football club based in Thessaloniki, Greece. It is the largest supported football club in Macedonia.PAOK FC is the football department of Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans , a multi-sport club. Since its formation in 1926 the football club...
from 1971 to 1974, leading them to win the Greek Cup
Greek football Cup
The Greek Football Cup , commonly known as the Greek Cup or for sponsorship reasons the Football Cup OPAP, is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation....
twice in 1972 and 1974. In 1973, PAOK were runners-up in the Greek championship race and quarter-finalists in the European Cup-Winners' Cup
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
, bowing out to AC Milan. He was sacked the following year, however. He moved on to another Salonica club, Iraklis, with whom he won their first and only major trophy to date, the Greek Cup, in 1976.
There followed a spell with Olympiacos
Olympiacos CFP
----Olympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus, , , transliterated Olympiakos Sindesmos Filathlon Pireos, is the most popular multisport club and the most successful in Greece, based in Piraeus....
in Piraeus
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
, six months of coaching Panachaiki
Panachaiki
Panachaiki, known officially as Panachaiki GE , the Pan-Achaean Athletic Union, is a Greek multisport club based in the city of Patras, Greece.- History :...
in Patras
Patras
Patras , ) is Greece's third largest urban area and the regional capital of West Greece, located in northern Peloponnese, 215 kilometers west of Athens...
, two stints with OFI
OFI Crete
OFI , the Sportfriends Association Heraklion, is a Greek association football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. Outside Greece, the club is generally known as OFI Crete F.C., however, the name Crete is not actually part of the club's official title.OFI is the club with most...
in Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, an interlude back in England as an adviser with Port Vale
Port Vale F.C.
Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...
, and a two-year stay with Brann in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, before he returned permanently to Britain in 1984, where he settled in Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....
. He became a scout for Luton
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
, and this would be his final role in football.
Shannon is still considered by Greek fans and media to have been one of the most successful foreign managers to ever work in Greek football.
Managerial
Bury- Promotion from Division Three: 1967-68
Blackpool
- Promotion from Division Two: 1969-70
PAOK FC
- Greek Cup winners: 1972, 1974
Iraklis Thessaloniki
- Greek Cup winners: 1976
Film and TV advisor
Shannon's knowledge of football led to his working alongside PeléPelé
However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
in coordinating the football sequences of the 1981 war movie Escape to Victory
Escape to Victory
Escape to Victory, known simply as Victory in North America, is a 1981 film about Allied prisoners of war who are interned in a German prison camp during World War II...
. He was also enlisted as an advisor on the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
series The Manageress in 1989.
Death
Shannon died after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease. At his memorial service at the Square Methodist Church, DunstableDunstable
Dunstable is a market town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. These geographical features form several steep chalk escarpments most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north.-Etymology:In...
, former Manchester United manager Wilf McGuinness
Wilf McGuinness
Wilfred "Wilf" McGuinness is a former English football player and manager, who played twice for England. He is best known for taking over from Matt Busby as manager of Manchester United...
spoke about the life and times of Les, whilst one of the songs chosen was "You'll Never Walk Alone
You'll Never Walk Alone (song)
"You'll Never Walk Alone" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.In the musical, in the second act, Nettie Fowler, the cousin of the female protagonist Julie Jordan, sings "You'll Never Walk Alone" to comfort and encourage Julie when her husband, Billy Bigelow, the...
", sung by two of his great nephews Tom Wing and James Wing, a homage to Les' beginnings in football.
Further reading
- Calley, Roy (1992). Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887-1992, Breedon Books, ISBN 1-873626-07-X