Managers - Don Welsh

Don Welsh
Birthdate: 25 February 1911
Birthplace: Manchester, England
Date of death: 2 February 1990
Other clubs as manager: Brighton & Hove Albion, Bournemouth, Wycombe Wanderers
Arrived from: Brighton & Hove Albion
Signed for LFC: 5 March 1951
LFC league games as manager: 218
Total LFC games as manager: 232
First game in charge: 23.03.1951
Contract Expiry: 04.05.1956

Manager Profile

On 5 March 1951 Liverpool persuaded Don Welsh to move north from the south-coast town of Brighton to replace George Kay, who had retired for health reasons two months earlier. Welsh already had links to Merseyside because he had been a popular guest player for Liverpool from 1943-1945 during World War II, scoring 44 goals in 39 games, and had also been keen to join Liverpool as a coach, a move his then employers Charlton Athletic refused to allow. It was at The Valley in the mid-1930’s that Don Welsh enjoyed his most successful time as a player. He was the inspiration behind a meteoric rise that saw the South-London club top the Third Division South in 1935, promoted as runners-up to second division champions Manchester United in 1936 and then finish as runners-up to United’s neighbours City in the top division just a year later. After the war, Charlton’s League form faltered but Welsh helped them reach the FA Cup final in 1946 and 1-0 extra-time victory over Burnley in 1947.

With his playing days over, Welsh started his managerial career at Brighton & Hove Albion in November 1947. He was then 36-years-old. Brighton finished bottom of Third Division South at the end of the 1947/48 season but there was no automatic relegation in those days and it was very hard for a club to enter the Football League at the expense of another that had been established there for a while, however poor their results were. Brighton recovered to finish sixth and eighth in the next two years before Liverpool came calling for Welsh’s services. Welsh was appointed Liverpool manager on 5 March but was in charge of Brighton until 21 March. A simple three-page letter on headed notepaper in copper-plate script doubled up as Welsh’s contract. He was paid £1,500 a year for three years with an addition of £500 for expenses. Welsh hadn't even been applied for the job and was thrilled to accept: "Liverpool asked me to go for an interview. The next day I was told that they had agreed to appoint me. It’s a wonderful opportunity to put my ideas into practice." Welsh wanted to make training less monotonous and aimed to cut out the ceaseless lapping of the track, and instead the players would keep fit by playing recreational games like leap-frog and tunnel-ball.

Unfortunately, Welsh inherited a Liverpool team that had been stagnating in mid-table for a few seasons and a board of directors that didn’t seem particularly ambitious. The Balmer/Stubbins era would shortly come to an end and the team relied too much on the mercurial Billy Liddell, but even the Scotsman couldn’t stop the team’s slide down the table. Despite strengthening in December for around £45,000 with David Underwood (Watford), Frank Lock and John Evans (Charlton Athletic), Geoff Twentyman (Carlisle) and Tommy McNulty (Manchester United) the club finished bottom of the pile with only nine victories and 28 points. Manager Don Welsh was downhearted but optimistic. "They were good signings, but they came in at a bad time. Things were bad and confidence was low. Now for a new start, with all the players pulling together. 
From the Chairman right down to the youngest member of the ground staff, we are all resolved to win promotion in one season." 

Welsh kept his job but the writing was on the wall when the club could only manage an eleventh place finish in 1955 during a season that included a terrible 9-1 humiliation at the hands of eventual champions Birmingham City. Welsh spent a lot of money for the time but a lot of it was on players who were either past their best or didn’t show the form they had been deemed capable of. T
he directors believed that a change was needed and Welsh was dismissed at the end of the 1955/56 season. "I came to a sudden decision and handed in my resignation," Welsh told reporters. "I may quit football."

After leaving Liverpool, Welsh became a publican for a while in the West Country before the lure of football brought him back into club management again, this time at Bournemouth in the newly-formed and non-regional Third Division just before the start of the 1958/59 season. After two average seasons finishing twelfth and tenth, he was dismissed in February 1961 following a string of poor results. He managed non-League Wycombe Wanderers for a brief spell between July 1963 and November 1964 before returning to the club where he had enjoyed such success as a player, Charlton Athletic, to become a member of their administrative staff.

Don Welsh was not a success as Liverpool manager, however much he wanted to join the club following his popularity as a war-time guest player and however hard he tried to turn things around after succeeding George Kay. The 1950’s was not a good decade for Liverpool Football Club, apart from reaching a cup final at the start and appointing Bill Shankly at the end. Maybe Welsh was the wrong man at the wrong time? Unfortunately, the club was in a worse state when he departed than when he arrived.

Statistics
Competition Total Won Draw Lost Goals for Goals against
Grand totals 232 81 58 93 387 423
League 218 75 55 88 370 409
FA Cup 14 6 3 5 17 14
League Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0
Europe 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0 0 0 0
Matches that are won or lost in a penalty shoot-out are counted as a win/loss not as a draw.
Related Articles
Liverpool life in the 2nd division

John Martin followed the team's fortunes when the team got relegated in 1954.

Related Quotes

"I liked him. He was always passionate about the game. He inherited a lot of players in their thirties when he arrived but I'll never forget him because he gave my chance."

Ronnie Moran on Don Welsh

Players bought
Player Club Fee Date
Jack Smith Bromborough Pool Free 12 March 1951
Brian Jackson Leyton Orient £6,500 * 5 November 1951
Mervyn Jones Bangor City Unknown 30 November 1951
Albert Childs Northern Nomads Free 1952
Hugh Gerhardi Thistle Unknown 1 August 1952
Alan A'Court Prescot Celtic Free 24 September 1952
Sammy Smyth Stoke City £12,000 31 December 1952
Louis Bimpson Burscough Free 28 January 1953
Barry Wilkinson Bishop Auckland Free September 1953
Fred Tomley Litherland Free September 1953
Tony Rowley Stourbridge Free 17 October 1953
Keith Burkinshaw Denaby United Free 16 November 1953
Dave Underwood Watford £7,000 16 December 1953
Geoff Twentyman Carlisle United £10,000 17 December 1953
Frank Lock Charlton Athletic £7,500 25 December 1953
John Evans Charlton Athletic £12,500 25 December 1953
Tom McNulty Manchester United £7,000 22 February 1954
Fred Perry Worthing Free 19 July 1954
Doug Rudham Johannesburg Rangers Free 17 October 1954
Alex South Brighton & Hove Albion £5,000 10 December 1954
Bobby Murdoch Bolton Wanderers Free 11 May 1955
John Molyneux Chester City £5,500 23 June 1955
Dick White Scunthorpe United £8,000 10 November 1955
Players sold
Player Club Fee Date
Tommy McLeod Chesterfield Unknown 28 June 1951
Ray Minshull Free Transfer Free * 30 June 1951
Sam Shields Airdrieonians Nominal 27 July 1951
Cyril Done Tranmere Rovers Unknown 15 May 1952
Joe Cadden Grimsby Town Nominal 30 June 1952
Cyril Sidlow Free Transfer Free * 30 June 1952
Bill Shepherd Free Transfer Unknown * 30 June 1952
Willie Fagan Weymouth Unknown 16 July 1952
Jack Haigh Scunthorpe United £4,000 1 August 1952
Ken Brierley Oldham Athletic £2,750 2 March 1953
John Heydon Millwall £3,000 27 May 1953
Bryan Williams South Liverpool Free July 1953
Mervyn Jones Scunthorpe United Unknown July 1953
Albert Stubbins Ashington Free 3 September 1953
Albert Childs Bishop Auckland Free 1954
Kevin Baron Southend £3,000 12 May 1954
Jack Smith Torquay United £2,000 13 May 1954
Bill Jones Ellesmere Port Town Free 25 May 1954
Hugh Gerhardi South African team Unknown 30 June 1954
Russell Crossley Shrewsbury Town Unknown 5 July 1954
Joseph Maloney Shrewsbury Town Unknown 5 July 1954
Sammy Smyth Bangor City £2,000 7 January 1955
Steve Parr Exeter City Free 20 May 1955
Charlie Ashcroft Ipswich Town Unknown 6 June 1955
Frank Lock Watford Unknown 20 June 1955
Fred Tomley Free Transfer Free * 30 June 1955
Jimmy Payne Everton £5,000 18 April 1956
Players used
Player Appearances Minutes Goals
Billy Liddell 214 19320 102
Laurie Hughes 146 13170 1
Ray Lambert 140 12630 1
Jimmy Payne 136 12270 27
Roy Saunders 109 9870 0
Alan A'Court 106 9600 14
Geoff Twentyman 106 9600 10
Bill Jones 100 9000 11
John Evans 95 8610 51
Bob Paisley 93 8370 7
Brian Jackson 90 8130 7
Kevin Baron 86 7740 19
Charlie Ashcroft 85 7650 0
Ronnie Moran 78 7080 0
Eric Anderson 69 6240 21
Phil Taylor 62 5580 3
Jack Smith 59 5310 14
Eddie Spicer 59 5310 0
John Heydon 53 4770 0
Russell Crossley 51 4590 0
Dave Underwood 50 4530 0
Louis Bimpson 50 4500 17
Doug Rudham 46 4170 0
Sammy Smyth 44 3960 20
Frank Lock 42 3780 0
Alan Arnell 38 3450 19
John Molyneux 37 3360 0
Barry Wilkinson 35 3150 0
Tom McNulty 32 2880 0
Bryan Williams 28 2520 5
Tony Rowley 22 1980 15
Albert Stubbins 22 1980 7
Ken Brierley 22 1980 2
Steve Parr 20 1800 0
Cyril Done 18 1620 5
Don Campbell 14 1260 0
Joseph Maloney 12 1080 0
Arthur Rowley 11 990 0
George Whitworth 9 810 0
Dick White 8 720 0
Alex South 7 660 1
Jack Balmer 7 630 0
Joe Dickson 6 540 4
Jack Haigh 6 540 2
Hugh Gerhardi 6 540 0
Mervyn Jones 5 450 0
Jimmy Melia 4 360 1
Willie Fagan 3 270 0
Albert Childs 2 180 0
Bill Shepherd 2 180 0
Fred Tomley 2 180 0
Fred Perry 1 90 0
John Price 1 90 0
Harold Jones 1 90 0
Keith Burkinshaw 1 90 0
Joe Cadden 1 90 0
Scrapbook
Don Welsh appointed Manager - From Liverpool Echo
Don Welsh appointed Manager - From Liverpool Echo
Don Welsh gave me my chance, says Ronnie Moran
Don Welsh gave me my chance, says Ronnie Moran