Fred Stewart (football manager)

Frederick Stewart (1872-11 February 1954) was an English football manager. Despite managing for 39 years he only ever took charge of two clubs, Stockport County and Cardiff City, and he holds the record for longest serving manager in the history of both clubs.[1][2]

Fred Stewart
Personal information
Full name Frederick Stewart
Date of birth 1872
Place of birth England
Date of death (1954-02-11)11 February 1954 (age 81)
Place of death Cardiff, Wales
Teams managed
Years Team
1894–1911 Stockport County
1911–1933 Cardiff City

Career

Stewart was appointed manager of Stockport County in 1894 and was in charge of the club when they were elected to The Football League in 1900. He remained in charge of the club until 1911 and remains the longest serving manager in the club's history by date, serving in the role for 17 years.[3] However, his record of matches in charge was subsequently surpassed by Jim Gannon in his third spell in charge.[4]

He took over as manager of Southern Football League Second Division side Cardiff City after responding to an advert placed in the Athletic News.[5] Cardiff had turned professional and joined the English football league system in 1910, finishing fourth in their first campaign under player-manager Davy McDougall.[6] At the end of the season, the club's board decides that a full-time manager was needed to allow further progress, with Stewart the chosen candidate. He received £4 a week in wages, equal to the maximum wage for a player at the time, with further bonuses based on success.[5]

Stewart quickly began reshaping the squad and released all but four of the players he inherited from McDougall. His first signing was one of his former Stockport players, Billy Hardy, who would go on to be a lynchpin of the side during the club's success under Stewart. Due to the financial plight of the club at the time, Stewart paid Hardy's £25 transfer fee with his own money,[7] although he was later reimbursed.[5] In his first season, the club kept pace with the league leaders but lost form during February and finished the campaign in third place, seven points behind promoted sides Merthyr Town and Portsmouth.[8][9] He did however lead the club to its first Welsh Cup victory by defeating Pontypridd 3–0 in the final to become the first team from the south of Wales to win the competition.[8]

In his second year, he began to improve the club's fortunes as they were promoted into the First Division of the Southern Football League. Stewart made several signings before the start of the campaign and led the side to the Second Division title, having lost only one of their 24 games.[8] In the First Division Cardiff initially struggled, losing their opening five matches, but Stewart was able to improve results and spent a club record £1,000 to sign Charlie Brittain from Tottenham Hotspur.[10] The finished the season in 10th place and results improved even more in the 1914–15 season as they achieved third place in the First Division.[11] The progress under Stewart was put on hold soon after as the First World War broke out. Numerous first team players left the club to serve, but Stewart was able to organise a team to compete in regional war leagues.[12]

It was after the end of World War I that he achieved his greatest success. The club were into the Football League in 1920, beginning with a 5–2 victory over Stewart's previous employers Stockport. The club gained promotion to Division One in their first season, finishing second on goal difference to Birmingham, and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup.[13] In 1924, Stewart summarised his approach to management and the bond he possessed with his players, commenting "We get players of decent ability, and each man does his best, with unity of feeling and purpose... We never make a change in the team without consulting with the players. Their opinion is worth having."[14]

Stewart's success in the FA Cup continued as they reached the quarter-finals in two of the following three years before reaching their first final in 1925. They went on to lose 1-0 to Sheffield United, with the only goal being scored by England international Fred Tunstall, but it would only take two years before the club returned to a final, this time in 1927. They faced Arsenal and the match was tied at 0-0 until Hughie Ferguson's shot was fumbled into the net by Dan Lewis in the 74th minute, giving Stewart the record of being the only manager ever to take the trophy out of England. Unfortunately they were never able to reproduce their trophy winning exploits and the club steadily went downhill before being relegated to Division Two in 1929, just two years after their FA Cup final victory. The club's slide continued and they were relegated again in 1931, this time down into Division Three South. The low point came in 1933 when a 19th-place finish saw Stewart decide to step down and retire.

After his retirement he remained in Cardiff to concentrate on his businesses. He died in 1954, aged 81.[15]

Managerial statistics
Team Country From To Record
GWDLWin %
Stockport County August 1894 May 1911 3731117618629.76
Cardiff City May 1911 May 1933 60524413622540.33
Total 97835521241136.3

Honours
Stockport County
1899–1900
1904–05
1897–98, 1898–99
1905–06


Cardiff City
1923–24
1920–21
1926–27
1924–25
1927–28
1921–22, 1922–23, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1929–30
1928–29

References
  • Hayes, Dean (2006). The Who's Who of Cardiff City. Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-462-0.
  1. "Cardiff City managers". Leaguemanagers.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  2. "Longest Serving Managers". League Managers Association. Archived from the original on 6 January 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  3. "Stockport County managers". Leaguemanagers.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
  4. "Jim signs contract extension at County". Stockport County F.C. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  5. Lloyd 1999, p. 45
  6. Lloyd 1999, p. 41–42
  7. "Cup friends reunited". BBC Sport. 4 January 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
  8. Lloyd 1999, p. 46
  9. Abbink, Dinant. "England – Southern League Final Tables". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  10. Lloyd 1999, pp. 48–49
  11. "Cardiff City". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  12. Lloyd 1999, p. 53
  13. Lloyd 1999, p. 64
  14. Lloyd 1999, p. 61
  15. "The Foundations and Early Years (1899-1920)". Cardiffcityfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 March 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2013.

Bibliography

  • Lloyd, Grahame (1999), C'mon City! A Hundred Years of the Bluebirds, Seren, ISBN 1854112716CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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