Chelsea FC Profile: Billy Birrell

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Full Name: William Birrell

Born: Saturday, 13th March 1897
Place of birth: Cellardyke, Scotland
Died: Friday, 29th November 1968 (aged 71)

Involvement with Chelsea:

Manager from 1939 to 1952


Billy Birrell became Chelsea Manager on 19th April 1939, a few weeks (and 4 games) before the end of 1938/9 season. He joined from Queens Park Rangers, where he had been manager since 1935. He cut his managerial teeth at Raith Rovers, where he had also previously been a player and then followed that with a period as manager of AFC Bournmouth, before moving to QPR. His playing career also included a 7 season spell at Middlesbrough as well as his time with Raith. During his time at Chelsea, the club consistently finished in mid-table, narrowly avoiding relegation in 1951 on goal average. Despite less than brilliant league performance, Birrell did guide Chelsea to two FA Cup semi-finals, in 1950 and 1952, on both occasions losing out to Arsenal in replays. He retired following the 1952 defeat to be replaced by Ted Drake. Billy Birrell also played a significant part in the development of Chelsea's youth system, which was to pay huge dividends over the next 20 or so years.

Playing Career:

Chelsea Manager Career Summary

Manager from: April, 1939 Manager until: April, 1952
Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Win % Goals / Game League 248 80 62 106 349 410 32.26% 1.41 F.A. Cup 37 16 12 9 58 37 43.24% 1.57 Total 285 96 74 115 407 447 33.68% 1.43
Players In Date Name Amount Jul 1940 Ron Greenwood From Juniors Jan 1944 Jimmy Bowie £25 Jul 1944 Alex Machin unknown Dec 1944 Robert Russell unknown Apr 1945 Murdoch Dickie unknown May 1945 Jimmy Bain unknown Jul 1945 Len Dolding unknown Aug 1945 Len Goulden £4,500 Sep 1945 John Harris £5,000 Oct 1945 Bill Robertson unknown Oct 1945 Reg Williams unknown Nov 1945 Tommy Lawton £11,500 Dec 1945 Danny Winter £5,000 Mar 1946 Fred Lewis unknown Jul 1946 Bill Robertson unknown Jul 1946 Willi Steffen unknown Aug 1946 John Galloway £4,000 Aug 1946 Alex Davidson unknown Sep 1946 Fred Richardson unknown Sep 1946 Tommy Walker £6,000 Sep 1946 Ray Goddard unknown Sep 1946 Sidney Bathgate unknown Nov 1946 James Macaulay unknown Nov 1946 Johnny Paton On Loan Dec 1946 Harry Medhurst unknown Dec 1946 Ken Armstrong unknown Jan 1947 Phil McKnight unknown May 1947 John McInnes unknown May 1947 Bobby Campbell unknown Oct 1947 Joseph Simner unknown Oct 1947 Benny Jones unknown Nov 1947 Charlie Dyke unknown Nov 1947 Bill Dickson unknown Jan 1948 Roy Bentley £11,000 Mar 1948 Hugh Billington £8,000 Mar 1948 Billy Hughes £12,000 May 1948 Jack Saunders unknown May 1948 Peter Pickering unknown Jul 1948 Bob Warren unknown Jan 1949 Frank Mitchell unknown Mar 1949 Billy Gray unknown Jul 1949 Jimmy Leadbetter unknown Jul 1949 Jack Allister unknown Jul 1949 Stan Willemse £6,500 Jul 1949 Freddie Jenkins £10,000 May 1950 Bobby Smith From Juniors Nov 1950 Eric Parsons £23,000 Dec 1950 Ernie Randall unknown Jan 1951 Wally Hinshelwood unknown Feb 1951 Harry Hughes unknown Mar 1951 Sid Tickridge unknown Apr 1951 James Smith unknown May 1951 Peter Tuck From Juniors Jun 1951 Andy Bowman From Juniors Aug 1951 Alan Dicks unknown Oct 1951 Jimmy D'Arcy £6,000 Oct 1951 Ralph Oelofse unknown Nov 1951 Bob Edwards unknown Nov 1951 Mike Collins unknown Mar 1952 Len Kell From Juniors	Players Out Date Name May 1939 George Gibson May 1939 Len Allum May 1939 Harold Miller May 1939 Allan Craig May 1939 Ned Barkas May 1939 Tommy Law Jun 1939 Ernest Reid Jun 1941 Bob Griffiths Jun 1941 John O'Hare Sep 1941 George Barber Jun 1942 Johnny Jackson Jun 1942 Arnold Mayes Jun 1943 George Mills Jun 1945 David Alexander Jun 1945 Ron Greenwood Jun 1945 Jack Sherborne Jun 1945 Doug Smale Jun 1945 Bob Salmond Jun 1945 Jack Smith Jun 1945 Billy Mitchell Dec 1945 Victor Woodley Dec 1945 Sam Weaver Dec 1945 Harry Burgess May 1946 Sid Bidewell Jun 1946 Alf Hanson Jun 1946 Peter Buchanan Dec 1946 Joe Payne Feb 1947 Murdoch Dickie May 1947 Jimmy Bain Jun 1947 Johnny Paton Jun 1947 Willi Steffen Jul 1947 Jimmy Argue Oct 1947 Fred Richardson Nov 1947 Tommy Lawton Jun 1948 Alex Machin Jul 1948 Alex White Jul 1948 Len Dolding Jul 1948 Ray Goddard Aug 1948 Alex Davidson Aug 1948 Robert Russell Dec 1948 Tommy Walker Dec 1948 Bill Robertson May 1949 John Galloway Jul 1949 Joseph Simner Jun 1950 Len Goulden Jun 1950 Dick Spence Jan 1951 Jimmy Bowie May 1951 Wally Hinshelwood Jun 1951 Danny Winter Jun 1951 Peter Pickering Jun 1951 Charlie Dyke Jun 1951 Freddie Jenkins Jun 1951 Billy Hughes Jun 1951 John McInnes Jul 1951 Hugh Billington Aug 1951 Bob Warren Aug 1951 James Macaulay Oct 1951 Reg Williams

Chelsea Graves Society Info & External Research Links:

View CGS profile for William Birrell on Ancestry
View CGS profile for William Birrell on Find-A-Grave

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