JOE ROYLE

Born:    8/4 1949   


Record:  Year      Club
         1966-1974 Everton
         1974-1977 Manchester City
         1977-1980 Bristol City
         1980-1982 Norwich


Manager: 1982-1994 Oldham
         1994-1997 Everton
         1998-2001 Manchester City

Royle, born just along the road from the gates of Goodison Park, made his Everton debut at 16 - the youngest player in the history of the club. He is widely acknowledged to have been Everton's finest post-war striker, making 272 appearances. He was a key member of the championship-winning side of 1970, which also included former managers of the club, Howard Kendall and Colin Harvey.

Wembley holds mixed memories for Royle. He played in the 1968 FA Cup final team that lost 1-0 to West Brom but it was there he scored his first goal for England against Yugoslavia in 1973. Royle made his international debut against Malta in 1971 and gained the last of his six caps when he faced Luxembourg in 1976.

By then he was playing for Manchester City, helping them to lift the League Cup that year when they defeated Newcastle.

A year later he joined Bristol City before moving to Norwich in 1980. He was forced to quit playing in 1982 because of a knee injury and took over as manager of Oldham in July of that year. He arrived on the back of a lorry the day he was announced as boss. His car had broken down on the motorway and he had to hitch a lift.

He spent twelve years in charge at Boundary Park, turing a small time club into a Premiership outfit by 1991. Royle's teams won many friends with their care-free, cavalier style. But the bubble bursted when they were relegated and Royle left to manage Everton.

He returned to Goodison, saying: "I played for four clubs but Everton never left my heart."

And he did well; leading his team to victory in their first three matches, securing a comfortable 6th place in the league, and beating Manchester United in the FA. Cup final in his first season. The year before, Everton had avoided relegation by an inch.

But things did not work out as in the fairy tails. Royle sold popular players like Limpar and Amokachi, and brought in unknown faces like Claus Thomsen. On transfer deadline 1997, he was not permitted enough money to get the two norwegians Tore Andre Flo and Claus Lundekvam. The next day he resigned.

On Wednesday 18th of February 1998, Royle was appointed manager of Manchester City, after a year absence since quitting the job at Everton. The former management team of Frank Clark, Alan Hill, Richard Money and Peter Edwards were dismissed overnight. At a packed press conference this morning, Francis Lee, Dennis Tueart and Chief Executive Mike Turner welcomed Royle to the job, allowing him an opportunity to speak to the press.

Joe Royle said: "I'm delighted to take on this job. I've been out of the game for 11 months. Although I've enjoyed the rest I have been itching to get back into the game of late. I've had a number of offers of work, but none have really excited me apart from this one. Nobody has a bad word to say about this club. I had three good years here and have a great affection for the place. I also made a lot of good friends here and have always been made to feel very welcome at Maine Road."

Royle got only 3 years as City manager. In this short period he gained two promotions and two relegations. In the end he found himself in the 1st division, the same divison he started his roller-coaster journey with City. Royle will be remembered because he did a good job under the circumstances. He trimmed down the squad, cut down the wages and made a winning team out of the rest. But he also made some peculiar signings and handled some of his star players like Paulo Wanchope and George Weah a bit on the hard side. Most of his comback season City played without their first choice strikers, and that was perhaps the reason they were relegated.

On Monday 22nd of May 2001 Royle was sacked, and the next day he could witness his job being taken over by former Engald coach Kevin Keegan. During his period as manager Royle had helped to establish City as one of the hottest managerial posts in the country.