Bill McGarry

Managerial career

Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic His post as player-manager as Don Welsh's successor at Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in 1961 was the start of a long career in management for McGarry. He led the "Cherries" to a third-place finish in the Third Division in 1961–62, just three points behind promoted Grimsby Town. They went on to finish in fifth place in 1962–63, six points behind promoted Swindon Town, in his final season at Dean Court.

Watford In July 1963, McGarry took the reins at Watford following the dismissal of Ron Burgess. He took the "Hornets" to third in the Third Division in 1963–64, his only full season in charge at Vicarage Road. They finished just two points behind Coventry City and Crystal Palace, who were both promoted.

Ipswich Town McGarry left Watford (who appointed Ken Furphy in his place) to take charge at recently relegated Ipswich Town in October 1964, following Jackie Milburn's brief and unsuccessful tenure. He led the "Blues" to a fifth-place finish in the Second Division in 1964–65. However, they dropped to 15th place in 1965–66, before posting another fifth-place finish in 1966–67 after he signed proven forward Ray Crawford. He finally won promotion as a manager in 1967–68, when he took the Portman Road club back to the First Division. Ipswich won the Second Division title, though were only one point clear of third place Blackpool. One of McGarry's signings was Charlie Woods who later became coach at Ipswich Town.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Just months into the 1968–69 campaign, he walked out on Ipswich (who appointed Bobby Robson in his stead) to take charge at fellow First Division club Wolverhampton Wanderers, who had just sacked his former teammate Ronnie Allen. He built a team around speedy winger Dave Wagstaffe, central midfield duo Mike Bailey and Kenny Hibbitt, and strike partners Derek Dougan and John Richards. Wolves dropped back down to 12th in 1974–75, though they did record a 7–1 win over Chelsea at Molineux. However, the club suffered relegation at the end of the 1975–76 season, and McGarry was promptly fired after nearly eight years at the helm. He was replaced by long-time assistant Sammy Chung.

Newcastle United via Saudi Arabia He headed abroad and replaced Ferenc Puskás as coach of the Saudi Arabia national team, but soon returned to England. Port Vale tried to hire him after sacking Roy Sproson in October 1977, but he rejected their terms. He could only take United to two mid-table finishes in the Second Division in 1978–79 and 1979–80, before he was fired just weeks into the 1980–81 season after his team were knocked out of the League Cup by Third Division club Bury. Arthur Cox was appointed as his successor.

Later career McGarry then served in a variety of posts, with spells as a scout at Brighton & Hove Albion, Zambian Power Dynamos as a coach, the Zambia national team as manager and a period as a coach in South Africa. He returned to his former club, Wolves, in September 1985 but walked out after just 61 days after a fall-out with the Bhatti Brothers. After a spell outside the game, he returned to South Africa and coached in Bophuthatswana. Murphy and Alan Oliver both noted that McGarry could often give journalists a hard time. Former Wolves player Kenny Hibbitt said that "I didn't necessarily like him, but I respected him."

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial statistics