Noel Cantwell

13th October 1967 – 12th March 1972

Noel Cantwell had the unenviable task of following Jimmy Hill as Coventry City manager when the great man left to become a television executive in 1967. It was Cantwell’s first job as a manager and he worked miracles to keep the club in the First Division by the skin of their teeth for the first two years and then, took them to sixth place and into Europe for the only time. He remains the only man to have managed the Sky Blues in the top division to achieve that feat.

Born in Cork on 28 February 1932 he played for Cork Athletic as a teenager before coming to England to try his luck in 1952. He signed for West Ham and played almost 250 games for the Hammers between 1952 and 1960, appearing alongside many future top managers including Malcolm Allison, Dave Sexton, John Bond, Frank O’Farrell and Ken Brown.

Noel was a stylish full-back and was soon recognised as a natural leader and captained West Ham when they won promotion to Division One in 1958. Matt Busby was rebuilding the Manchester United team after Munich and wanted a captain. He paid £30,000 for Cantwell in November 1960 and the Irishman played a major part in the Reds’ resurgence in the following decade.

He captained United in their 1963 FA Cup triumph but played only a handful of games when they won the League Championship two years later. Towards the end of his days at United he concentrated on coaching and many thought he would eventually succeed Busby as manager. He also captained the Republic of Ireland, winning a record 36 caps, and played cricket for All-Ireland.

A charming, articulate man, Cantwell put his skills to good effect by succeeding Jimmy Hill as the chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association.

His achievements in his first season as a manager were nothing less than miraculous. The purchase of his old teammate Maurice Setters was an inspired one and although City looked doomed in January, he saved them from relegation, although the issue was not decided until the final game of the season at Southampton.

After another relegation struggle the following season, the 1969-70 campaign was the zenith of Cantwell’s career at Coventry. The team developed a meaner streak, won ten away games and a place in the European Fairs Cup with a best ever finish of sixth. The following season, though, the goals dried up and Cup defeats in Munich and Rochdale put him under pressure. In an effort to boost the goals for column he spent £92,000 on Chris Chilton. The gamble didn’t pay off, Chilton flopped and in March 1972, shortly after another embarrassing Cup defeat, this time by Hull, he was sacked. Chairman Robins, who had put substantial funds at the manager’s disposal, was hungry for success and Cantwell was not delivering any more. Who knows what would have happened if Robins had been as patient as Hill was later to be with Gordon Milne.

Cantwell took the manager’s job at Peterborough United and, in his first full season, the Posh won promotion from Division Four. He resigned in 1977 and for a number of years managed in the North American Soccer League with New England Tea Men and Jacksonville Tea Men. In the late 1980s he had a further spell with Peterborough and was general manager there before parting company with the club in April 1989. He ran a pub in Peterborough for some years and remains in good health.

Joined: 13th October 1967
First game: 14th October 1967 v Tottenham Hotspur, home, First Division, lost 2-3

Left: 12th March 1972
Last game: 11th March 1972 v Leeds United, away, First Division, lost 0-1

217 games as manager

	Lge	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Win %	Pos
1967-68	Div 1	31	7	11	13	34	46	25	22.5	20th
1968-69	Div 1	42	10	11	21	46	64	31	23.8	20th
1969-70	Div 1	42	19	11	12	58	48	49	45.2	6th
1970-71	Div 1	42	16	10	16	37	38	42	38.0	10th
1971-72	Div 1	30	6	13	11	31	47	25	20.0	18th
Totals		187	58	56	73	206	243	172	31.0

FA Cup: 10 games (3 wins, 2 draws, 5 losses)

League Cup: 12 games (5 wins, 3 draws, 4 losses)

Fairs Cup: 4 games (3 wins, 1 loss)

Texaco Cup: 4 games (1 win, 1 draw, 2 losses)