William Garbutt
Encyclopedia
William Thomas Garbutt born in Hazel Grove
, Stockport
, most commonly known as Willy Garbutt was an English
football player, and later a prominent coaching figure in Italian
and Spanish
football after his retirement. Although his achievements are not widely known in his home country, Garbutt was the model for professional managers in Italy.
Garbutt laid the foundations of skilled coaching in Italian football; winning three league championships with Genoa CFC, he also managed S.S.C. Napoli
for a period and was the first ever manager of A.S. Roma
. Garbutt also had success in Spain where he coached Atletico Bilbao to victory in La Liga
.
in a small village near Stockport
. His family was large, sharing his home with his parents, grandmother, six older sisters and a younger brother. Joining the army
at a young age, the young William Garbutt first played football there for the Royal Artillery
.
After returning from duties, he began his club football playing career with Reading
during the 1903 season and played for them in the Southern League
, before leaving in December 1905.
The young winger moved to join Woolwich Arsenal
for two seasons, and made his debut in a First Division
match away to Preston North End
on 23 December 1905, which finished 2–2. He made 80 appearances for the London club in three years, including 52 in the League, despite injuries ruling him out of much of the 1906–07 season. He was part of the Arsenal side that reached two FA Cup semi-finals in successive seasons; however he was eventually displaced by Jackie Mordue
and after spending much of 1907–08 in the reserves he left for Blackburn Rovers
in May 1908.
He spent four seasons playing for Blackburn, making 82 league appearances and reaching another FA Cup semi-final; he also won a cap
playing for the Football League XI. He may have returned to Woolwich Arsenal briefly for a second spell in 1911–12, but this is not recorded in official club histories and he definitely did not play a senior-level match during this time. His playing career having been blighted by injuries, he retired from playing in 1912, aged 29.
He was appointed as the new head coach of Genoa CFC on 30 July 1912, with no previous experience and only aged 29. It is not clear how he came to be their manager, some reports say he was recommended by Vittorio Pozzo
; who would go on to coach Italy to two World Cup
s. Others state it was Genoa's youth coach, an Irishman named Thomas Coggins, who pushed for Garbutt's appointment.
Garbutt restructured the training regimes, putting a heavy emphasis on players physical fitness and tactics. This was not the only part of managing in Italy that Garbutt set the proto-type for; he conducted Italy's first ever paid player transfers, where he signed two players from Andrea Doria
and one from A.C. Milan
. As well as making Genoa the first Italian football club to play outside of Italy; thanks to his connections back home in England he was able to take Genoa to play his old club Reading.
From when Garbutt first took over in 1912, until 1927 when he left the club, Genoa were victorious in the Italian Football Championship
three different times; 1915, 1923 and 1924. The latter of which to this day, is the last time Genoa won the Serie A
championship.
, the new club in question was A.S. Roma
and Garbutt was brought in as their first ever manager. He stayed there for only two years but captured a tournament named Coppa CONI with them, as well as helping them reach third in group A of the Italian Football Championship
.
Garbutt moved on next to Naples, taking over from Giovanni Terrile at S.S.C. Napoli
. It was a legendary time for the club with stars such as Attila Sallustro
and Antonio Vojak
. This groundbreaking time for Napoli saw new club records set for the time, with them finishing third in both 1932–33 and 1933–34 seasons of Serie A
. Napoli would not achieve this again until the 1960s.
In search of a new adventure, Garbutt moved to Spain
in 1935. He took up the position as manager of Athletic Bilbao
, leading them to the Spanish Championship which they won over Real Madrid
by two points. He returned to Italy in 1937, taking over very briefly at A.C. Milan
.
His return would be short lived however, as a British citizen he was exiled under Benito Mussolini
's fascists and returned home to England. After the end of World War II
, Garbutt returned to Genoa for a third time and then returned home. He died during 1964 in Warwick
.
With A.S. Roma
With Athletic Bilbao
Hazel Grove
-Education:Hazel Grove has a number of primary schools and Hazel Grove High School, the local high school. Some do decide to go to other local high schools, such as local Marple Hall, in neighbouring village Marple. The main primary schools in the area are, Hazel Grove Primary School, Torkington...
, Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
, most commonly known as Willy Garbutt was an English
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 player, and later a prominent coaching figure in Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
football after his retirement. Although his achievements are not widely known in his home country, Garbutt was the model for professional managers in Italy.
Garbutt laid the foundations of skilled coaching in Italian football; winning three league championships with Genoa CFC, he also managed S.S.C. Napoli
S.S.C. Napoli
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli, is a professional Italian football club based in Naples and founded in 1926. The club has spent most of its history in Serie A, where it currently plays its 2011–12 season....
for a period and was the first ever manager of A.S. Roma
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...
. Garbutt also had success in Spain where he coached Atletico Bilbao to victory in La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
.
Biography
Garbutt was born, the son of a carpenterCarpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
in a small village near Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
. His family was large, sharing his home with his parents, grandmother, six older sisters and a younger brother. Joining the army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
at a young age, the young William Garbutt first played football there for the Royal Artillery
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
.
After returning from duties, he began his club football playing career with Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...
during the 1903 season and played for them in the Southern League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
, before leaving in December 1905.
The young winger moved to join Woolwich 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...
for two seasons, and made his debut in a First Division
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....
match away to Preston North End
Preston North End F.C.
Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...
on 23 December 1905, which finished 2–2. He made 80 appearances for the London club in three years, including 52 in the League, despite injuries ruling him out of much of the 1906–07 season. He was part of the Arsenal side that reached two FA Cup semi-finals in successive seasons; however he was eventually displaced by Jackie Mordue
Jackie Mordue
John "Jackie" Mordue was an English footballer who played at outside right, and won the Football League championship with Sunderland in 1912–13 and made two appearances for England.-Early career:...
and after spending much of 1907–08 in the reserves he left for Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....
in May 1908.
He spent four seasons playing for Blackburn, making 82 league appearances and reaching another FA Cup semi-final; he also won a cap
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
playing for the Football League XI. He may have returned to Woolwich Arsenal briefly for a second spell in 1911–12, but this is not recorded in official club histories and he definitely did not play a senior-level match during this time. His playing career having been blighted by injuries, he retired from playing in 1912, aged 29.
Genoa: Impact on Italian football
He moved to Genoa, Italy (which is described as the most English town in Italy), to work on the docks after retiring from playing football, in order to support his family.He was appointed as the new head coach of Genoa CFC on 30 July 1912, with no previous experience and only aged 29. It is not clear how he came to be their manager, some reports say he was recommended by Vittorio Pozzo
Vittorio Pozzo
Vittorio Pozzo 21 December 1968) was an Italian football coach who was most famous for leading the Italian national team to victory in the 1934 FIFA World Cup and 1938 FIFA World Cups; managed the side that won the 1930 and 1935 editions of the Central European International Cup, as well as the...
; who would go on to coach Italy to two World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
s. Others state it was Genoa's youth coach, an Irishman named Thomas Coggins, who pushed for Garbutt's appointment.
Garbutt restructured the training regimes, putting a heavy emphasis on players physical fitness and tactics. This was not the only part of managing in Italy that Garbutt set the proto-type for; he conducted Italy's first ever paid player transfers, where he signed two players from Andrea Doria
Andrea Doria
Andrea Doria was an Italian condottiere and admiral from Genoa.-Early life:Doria was born at Oneglia from the ancient Genoese family, the Doria di Oneglia branch of the old Doria, de Oria or de Auria family. His parents were related: Ceva Doria, co-lord of Oneglia, and Caracosa Doria, of the...
and one from A.C. Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
. As well as making Genoa the first Italian football club to play outside of Italy; thanks to his connections back home in England he was able to take Genoa to play his old club Reading.
From when Garbutt first took over in 1912, until 1927 when he left the club, Genoa were victorious in the Italian Football Championship
Italian Football Championship
The Italian Football Championship was the most senior football championship in Italy from the 1897/1898 season to the 1921/1922 season. In that last season, a concurrent championship, the Prima Divisione, was played by the richest clubs, which wanted to improve their income with a more elitarian...
three different times; 1915, 1923 and 1924. The latter of which to this day, is the last time Genoa won the Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
championship.
Post-Genoa adventures
On 22 July 1927 a new club was founded from the merger of numerous clubs in Italy's capital of RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, the new club in question was A.S. Roma
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...
and Garbutt was brought in as their first ever manager. He stayed there for only two years but captured a tournament named Coppa CONI with them, as well as helping them reach third in group A of the Italian Football Championship
Italian Football Championship
The Italian Football Championship was the most senior football championship in Italy from the 1897/1898 season to the 1921/1922 season. In that last season, a concurrent championship, the Prima Divisione, was played by the richest clubs, which wanted to improve their income with a more elitarian...
.
Garbutt moved on next to Naples, taking over from Giovanni Terrile at S.S.C. Napoli
S.S.C. Napoli
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli, is a professional Italian football club based in Naples and founded in 1926. The club has spent most of its history in Serie A, where it currently plays its 2011–12 season....
. It was a legendary time for the club with stars such as Attila Sallustro
Attila Sallustro
Attila Sallustro born in Asunción, Paraguay was a professional Italian-Paraguayan football player. He is considered the first true idol at the club S.S.C. Napoli.-Biography:...
and Antonio Vojak
Antonio Vojak
Antonio Vojak was a famous Italian football player whose career was played out during the 1920s and 1930s.He is most noted for his time with Juventus and Napoli, the latter of which he holds the second place all-time club record for goals scored in the Italian leagues.His younger brother Oliviero...
. This groundbreaking time for Napoli saw new club records set for the time, with them finishing third in both 1932–33 and 1933–34 seasons of Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
. Napoli would not achieve this again until the 1960s.
In search of a new adventure, Garbutt moved to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in 1935. He took up the position as manager of Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Club, also known as Athletic Bilbao, is an association football club from Bilbao in Biscay, Spain. The club has played in the Primera División of La Liga since its start in 1928. They have won La Liga on eight occasions...
, leading them to the Spanish Championship which they won over Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
by two points. He returned to Italy in 1937, taking over very briefly at A.C. Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
.
Later years
William Garbutt soon moved back to the club where he was held in such high regard; Genoa. Since Garbutt had left in the 1920s, Genoa had gone into a slump even being relegated at one point. But with Garbutt back at the helm he coached the club back up to 3rd in his first season back.His return would be short lived however, as a British citizen he was exiled under Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
's fascists and returned home to England. After the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Garbutt returned to Genoa for a third time and then returned home. He died during 1964 in Warwick
Warwick
Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...
.
Coach
With Genoa C.F.C.Genoa C.F.C.
Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to simply as Genoa , is a professional Italian football club based in the city of Genoa, Liguria...
- Italian Football ChampionshipItalian Football ChampionshipThe Italian Football Championship was the most senior football championship in Italy from the 1897/1898 season to the 1921/1922 season. In that last season, a concurrent championship, the Prima Divisione, was played by the richest clubs, which wanted to improve their income with a more elitarian...
: 3- 1915, 1923, 1924
With A.S. Roma
A.S. Roma
Associazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...
- Coppa Coni
- 1928
With Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Club, also known as Athletic Bilbao, is an association football club from Bilbao in Biscay, Spain. The club has played in the Primera División of La Liga since its start in 1928. They have won La Liga on eight occasions...
- Spanish Football ChampionshipLa LigaThe Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
- 1935–1936