Dick Bayliss

14th June 1945 – 13th February 1947

Dick Bayliss is the only Coventry City manager to die in office. In 1947 at the age of 47 he passed away from an incurable kidney complaint after picking up a severe chill.

Dick was born in 1899 in Alfreton, Derbyshire, the son of former Alfreton Town player George Bayliss. Dick started his working life down a coal mine, combining this with turning out for Alfreton Rose Villa with whom he won the Erewash Valley League Cup three years running. He went on to play for Luton Town, Mansfield Town and Southend United as a wing half but had a pretty undistinguished career, making only a handful of appearances for these clubs. In 1926 he suffered a serious injury playing for Southend which required 47 stitches in his knee.

Harry Storer brought him to Highfield Road in 1931 as his chief scout and coach soon after becoming manager and the two men built up a strong partnership that served the club well during a golden period in City’s history. In the 1930s he was acknowledged to be one of the best judges of players in the country and was responsible for spotting amongst others, Les Jones, Walter Metcalf and Jack Astley. The Storer/Bayliss partnership didn’t believe in paying inflated fees for players and concentrated on a finely tuned balance of experienced players and home-grown talent which saw City win promotion from Division Three South in 1936 and go close to winning promotion to Division One in the three seasons immediately prior to World War II.

In June 1945 as the war was coming to a conclusion Harry Storer was lured away to become manager of Birmingham and the board decided that his right-hand man Dick Bayliss was the automatic choice as his replacement. It was a very difficult time for football with many players still in the armed forces & clubs still relying on guest players. Dick managed the team through a solid 1945-46 transitional season and then embarked on an innovative end of season tour of Denmark.

City were ready to resume normal league football in August 1946. They had a sound but ageing team with the majority of the 1939 team still around and supplemented by some keen local youngsters who had performed well in wartime football.

Injuries to key players like George Mason and Plum Warner affected results and Dick was grateful for the goals of Welsh international centre-forward George Lowrie who netted 29 goals. Other stars in Dick’s team were Harry Barratt, Ted Roberts, Spanish refugee Emilio Aldecoa and goalkeeper Alf Wood.

In January 1947, during the worst winter of the century, Bayliss caught a chill after being marooned in his car in a snowstorm in Yorkshire whilst returning from a scouting trip in Scotland. Dick was never the fittest of men and for weeks afterwards struggled to shake of the bug, insisting on going to work.

In mid-February he was ordered to take a complete rest and was moved into a Kenilworth nursing home. Despite his players keeping up an almost constant vigil at his bedside his health deteriorated and he died on the morning of 5 April 1947. That afternoon, before City’s game at home to Sheffield Wednesday, the players wore black armbands and there was a minute’s silence in respect to him. Four goals from Lowrie inspired City to a 5-1 win over the Owls in a sombre Highfield Road atmosphere. Chairman Fred Stringer had taken temporary charge of the team during Dick’s illness and by the end of the season he had steered the club to eighth place in Division Two. That summer, Billy Frith, a former player, was appointed manager in succession to Dick.

A month after his death the club launched a benefit fund for his widow and put on a special match against a Combined Birmingham XI, managed by his former boss Storer. The benefit match, watched by almost 9,000 people, raised over £800 for the fund.

From: 14th June 1945
First game: 23rd August 1947 v Luton Town, home, Division Two, won 4-1

Until: 13th February 1947
Last game: 5th February 1947 v Southampton, away, Division Two, lost 2-5

31 games as manager

	Lge	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Win %	Pos
1946-47	Div 2	27	8	10	9	38	37	26	29.6	10th
Totals		27	8	10	9	38	37	26	29.6

FA Cup: 4 games (2 wins, 2 losses)