Cyril Spiers

Cyril Henry Spiers (4 April 1902 – 21 May 1967) was an English association football goalkeeper who played for Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers. He later went on to manage at Football League clubs for more than twenty years.[2]

Cyril Spiers
Personal information
Full name Cyril Henry Spiers
Date of birth (1902-04-04)4 April 1902
Place of birth Witton, England
Date of death 21 May 1967(1967-05-21) (aged 65)
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
?–1920 Halesowen Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1920–1927 Aston Villa 104 (0)
1927–1933 Tottenham Hotspur 169 (0)
?–1939 Wolverhampton Wanderers 8 (0)
Teams managed
1939–1946 Cardiff City
1946–1947 Norwich City
1947–1954 Cardiff City
1954–1958 Crystal Palace
1962–1963 Exeter City
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Spiers began his playing career at Halesowen Town during World War I[3] and signed for Aston Villa in 1920, where he made 104 League and 8 FA Cup appearances over a seven-year career.[4] He made his debut on Christmas Day 1920, in a 4–3 defeat to Manchester United.[3] He was forced to retire after suffering a serious injury and, believing that he could never play again, Aston Villa released him. However, he underwent experimental surgery and was able to return to football with Tottenham Hotspur, making 169 appearances between 1927 and 1932. Spiers was ever present in seasons 1929–30 and 1930–31 but missed the entire 1932–33 season through injury.[3] He eventually left the club and became player-coach, and subsequently, assistant manager, to Frank Buckley at Wolverhampton Wanderers. He made eight appearances for "Wolves".[3]

Managerial career

In 1939 he took over as secretary-manager at Cardiff City but his rebuilding of the team was cut short following the outbreak of World War II. He stayed at the club throughout the war and set up a number of nursery teams, including Cardiff Nomads who would go on to bring local football talent, including Alan Harrington and Colin Baker, to the club.[5] He fell into dispute with the club over money and left to manage Norwich City in June 1946.[3] He was back at Cardiff in December 1947[3] as manager to replace Billy McCandless, bringing the Cardiff Nomads back with him having adopted the club for Norwich when he joined. He took them to promotion during the 1951–52 season but eventually left to manage Crystal Palace in September 1954. He later had a spell scouting for Leicester City before taking his last managerial post at Exeter City in 1962.[6]

Spiers died on 21 May 1967 aged 65.[3]

Managerial statistics
Team Country From To Record
GWDLWin %
Cardiff City Wales April 1939 April 1946 1033430
Norwich City England June 1946 December 1947 6415123723.44
Cardiff City Wales April 1948 April 1954 265107738540.38
Crystal Palace England September 1954 June 1958 18352547728.42
Exeter City England May 1962 February 1963 28741725
Total 55018414622033.45

References
Specific
  1. Brum (22 August 1921). "First Division prospects. Aston Villa". Athletic News. Manchester. p. 5.
  2. "Cyril Spiers". League Managers Association. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 18 July 2009.
  3. Purkiss, Mike; Sands, Nigel. Crystal Palace: A Complete Record 1905–1989. The Breedon Books Publishing Company. p. 52. ISBN 0907969542.
  4. Ward, Adam; p.316
  5. Hayes, Dean (2006). The Who's Who of Cardiff City. Breedon Books. ISBN 1-85983-462-0.
  6. "Bob Young's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 March 2008.
General
  • Ward, Adam; Griffin, Jeremy. The essential history of Aston Villa. Headline book publishing (2002). pp. 300–319. ISBN 0-7553-1140-X.
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