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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Allen King[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 15 April 1938 | ||
| Place of birth | Marylebone, England[1] | ||
| Date of death | 30 March 2016 (aged 77) | ||
| Position(s) | Wing half | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Everton | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1957–1960 | Everton | 48 | (1) |
| 1960 | Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic | 21 | (1) |
| 1960–1968 | Tranmere Rovers | 242 | (4) |
| 1968–1971 | Port Vale | 101 | (0) |
| 1971–1972 | Wigan Athletic | 12 | (0) |
| Total | 424 | (6) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1975–1980 | Tranmere Rovers | ||
| 1981–1984 | Northwich Victoria | ||
| 1985–1987 | Caernarfon Town | ||
| 1987–1996 | Tranmere Rovers | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
John Allen King (15 April 1938 – 30 March 2016) was an English football player and manager.[2] He is widely regarded as being the most successful manager in the history of Tranmere Rovers and had a stand at Prenton Park named in his honour in 2002. In November 2014, a statue of King was unveiled outside the ground.
He played at wing half and made 411 league appearances in a 14-year career in the Football League. He began his career at Everton, playing for the club in the top flight between 1957 and 1960. He then moved on to Tranmere Rovers via Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. He helped Rovers to win promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1966–67, before he signed with Port Vale in June 1968. He helped the "Valiants" to promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1969–70 before he joined non-League Wigan Athletic in May 1971.
He found more success as a manager than a player, gaining his first management post at former club Tranmere Rovers in April 1975. He led the "Superwhites" to promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1975–76 before he was sacked in September 1980. He then had successful spells in charge at non-League clubs Northwich Victoria (winning the FA Trophy in 1984) and Caernarfon Town, before making his return to Tranmere Rovers in 1987. He immediately steered the club away from losing their Football League status before taking them to promotion in 1988–89. He further took them to the Associate Members' Cup title in 1990, the Football League Trophy final in 1991, as well as promotion out of the Third Division as winners of the play-offs. His team narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League, reaching the play-offs three times between 1993 and 1995, also reaching the semi-finals of the League Cup. Despite these achievements, he was not immune to being replaced when the team's form dipped, and he was "moved upstairs" to become Director of football in April 1996.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Kentwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Johnny King 1938-2016". Mark Palios, Chairman of Tranmere Rovers FC. Retrieved 31 March 2016.