Ron Saunders
Ronald "Ron" Saunders ( born November 6, 1932 in Birkenhead ) is a former English football player and coach. In 1981 he won with Aston Villa as manager the English Championship.
Playing career
His most successful period as a player, he spent 1958-1964 at Portsmouth. For the club this time was less successful, already in the Football League First Division 1958/59 rose from Portsmouth in the Premier League and two years later, even in the third league. Also thanks to numerous hits from Ron Saunders, the team's 1961/62 won the championship in the Third Division, and thus made the direct promotion back to the second division. After two years in the Second Division Saunders left the club after six years in which he was at that time top scorer of his team.
Coaching career
Norwich City (1969-1973)
His work as a trainer began in 1967 when Ron Saunders unterklassigen club Yeovil Town. After a stopover at Oxford United, he took 1 July 1969, the English second division club Norwich City. In the 1971/72 season Saunders managed with Norwich thanks to the second division championship the first promotion to the first division. The climbers reached the First Division in 1972/73 in the league and also reached the finals of the League Cup. However, this lost the team with 0:1 against Tottenham Hotspur. After these successes, his term of office ended on 16 November 1973.
Manchester City (1973-1974)
A few days later he took over as coach at Erstligarivalen Manchester City and led the club in the 1973/74 season on the fourteenth in the standings. For the second time in a row, Saunders reached with a trained team of him the final of the League Cup and lost it again also (1:2 against Wolverhampton Wanderers ).
Aston Villa (1974-1982)
At the beginning of the season 1974/75 he moved to second division side Aston Villa and led his team as a runner-up behind Manchester United in the Premier League. For the third time in a row and also with the third club he reached the League Cup final and managed with a 1-0 win against his former club Norwich City the first title. After relegation in promotion year he led his team 1976/77 on the fourth place and also took the second time after 1975 the title in the League Cup. In the UEFA Cup 1977/78 Aston Villa failed in the quarter -finals with 2:2 and 1:2 at FC Barcelona. After the team had qualified for the European Cup missed almost three years in a row, Aston Villa secured by top scorer Peter Withe (20 matches ) in the Football League First Division 1980/81 the English title. In the 1981/82 season the team was unable to build on this success and could be found only in mid-table again. On February 9, 1982 Saunders resigned after disagreements with the board surprisingly resigned from his coaching position. Villa was at this time in the quarter- final of the European Champions' Cup 1981/82 and later won the title with a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich.
Birmingham City (1982-1986)
Already on 18 February 1982, he joined the coaching job at city rivals Birmingham City and reached City a place in the bottom third of the table. After another year in this table area Birmingham rose in the 1983/84 season as third from bottom in the second division from. However, Saunders retained his post and succeeded the following year as runner direct resurgence. After the club in the Football League First Division 1985/86 again fell into acute danger of relegation, Ron Saunders was released on 16 January 1986.
West Bromwich Albion (1986-1987)
Less than a month later, he was coach of the Erstligarivalen West Bromwich Albion and rose at end of the season along with Birmingham City from the second division. After a clearly missed resurgence 1986/87 with the fifteenth place in the standings and a bad start again in the 1987/88 season he was released on 2 September 1987.
Achievements
- League Cup winners: 1975, 1977
- English Champion: 1981