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Billy McEwan (footballer, born 1951)

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This article is about the former York City manager. For the former Queens Park Rangers player, see Billy McEwan (footballer, born 1914).

Billy McEwan
McEwan managing York City in 2007
Personal information
Full name William Johnston McGowan McEwan
Date of birth (1951-06-20)20 June 1951
Place of birth Cleland, Scotland
Date of death 17 February 2022(2022-02-17) (aged 70)
Position(s) Midfielder[1]
Youth career
-1969 Pumpherston Juniors
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1969–1973 Hibernian 60 (2)
1973 Blackpool 4 (0)
1974 Brighton & Hove Albion 27 (3)
1974–1975 Chesterfield 80 (7)
1976–1977 Mansfield Town 32 (3)
1977–1979 Peterborough United 63 (3)
1979–1983 Rotherham United 95 (10)
Total 361 (28)
Managerial career
1986–1988 Sheffield United
1988–1991 Rotherham United
1992–1993 Darlington
1995 Derby County (caretaker)
2002 Derby County (caretaker)
2005–2007 York City
2008 Mansfield Town
2010–2011 Antigua Barracuda
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Johnston McGowan McEwan (20 June 1951 – 17 February 2022) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He had a 14-year playing career in the Scottish and English professional leagues, playing for seven different clubs. McEwan then undertook a coaching career; he managed six different English league clubs, plus one club on a caretaker basis twice. McEwan was most recently the manager of Antigua Barracuda but left the post in 2011.

Early life

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William Johnston McGowan McEwan was born on 20 June 1951 in Cleland, Lanarkshire.[1]

Playing career

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McEwan started his playing career as a midfielder with Scottish non-League side Pumpherston Juniors before joining Hibernian in 1969, making 60 appearances and scoring two goals for the Edinburgh club. McEwan left Hibernian in May 1973 to join Blackpool, and went on to play for Brighton & Hove Albion, Chesterfield, Mansfield Town, Peterborough United and Rotherham United whom he left in the 1982–83 season.

Managerial career

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McEwan's first coaching appointment was at Sheffield United after he replaced Ian Porterfield as manager on 27 March 1986. The following season Sheffield United finished ninth in Second Division after an unspectacular season. More disappointing performances in the 1987–88 season followed, and McEwan was forced to resign before taking over as manager of Rotherham United and guided them to the Fourth Division championship in the 1988–89 season. McEwan later had a spell as manager at Darlington, but he was replaced by Alan Murray midway through his second season.

McEwan was named the Conference National Manager of the Month for April 2007

McEwan then spent nine years on the coaching team at Derby County. He was caretaker manager there twice in April to June 1995 and in January 2002, after the sackings of Roy McFarland and Colin Todd respectively. In 2003, he was sacked by the then manager John Gregory, but was restored into the post when he was found to have been unfairly dismissed.[2] Altogether he was on the coaching staff under five managers at Derby. He left Derby on 19 October 2004, saying "I am looking for a new challenge. The time was right for me to move on".[3]

McEwan was appointed manager of York City on 10 February 2005,[4] where in his first full season he achieved a position of eighth in the Conference National. McEwan said that he rejected an offer from an unnamed Football League club to take over as their manager in October 2005.[5] During October 2006, he threatened to walk out on the club if the fans were not satisfied with his efforts.[6]

McEwan issued a public apology to York's supporters and on loan West Bromwich Albion striker Rob Elvins after the team's home defeat to Conference bottom club Tamworth on 3 February 2007.[7] McEwan was named Conference National Manager of the Month for April 2007, but was then sacked by York on 19 November 2007.[8]

McEwan was linked with the managerial vacancy at Mansfield Town in March 2008,[9] and he was appointed as manager on a three-year contract on 4 July 2008.[10] He was sacked by the club on 10 December 2008.[11]

McEwan was appointed technical director of the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association in March 2010,[12] and in April was made manager of Antigua Barracuda.[13] He left this position in March 2011.[14]

Personal life and death

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McEwan was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2014.[15] He died on 17 February 2022,[1] at the age of 70.[16]

McEwan’s family donated his brain to research after his death, and he was found to have severe Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) on post mortem examination as a result of repetitive head injuries sustained throughout his career. This was the cause of his Parkinson’s Disease and Dementia

Managerial statistics

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Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref.
P W D L Win %
Sheffield United 27 March 1986 2 January 1988 86 27 25 34 031.4 [17]
Rotherham United 1 April 1988 1 January 1991 141 52 40 49 036.9 [17]
Darlington 1 May 1992 4 October 1993 57 13 19 25 022.8 [17]
Derby County (caretaker) 29 April 1995 15 June 1995 1 0 0 1 000.0 [14][17]
Derby County (caretaker) 14 January 2002 30 January 2002 2 0 0 2 000.0 [14][17]
York City 10 February 2005 19 November 2007 131 52 31 48 039.7 [18]
Mansfield Town 4 July 2008 10 December 2008 26 8 6 12 030.8 [10][11][19]
Total 444 152 121 171 034.2

Honours

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As a player

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Hibernian

Mansfield Town

As a manager

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Rotherham United

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Billy McEwan". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  2. ^ "McEwan back at Derby". BBC Sport. 3 April 2003. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  3. ^ "McEwan ambitious for fresh task". BBC Sport. 19 October 2004. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  4. ^ "All change at KitKat Crescent". Evening Press. York. 10 February 2005. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  5. ^ "York manager rejects League offer". BBC Sport. 28 October 2005. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  6. ^ "York manager threatens to quit". BBC Sport. 16 October 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  7. ^ Flett, Dave (5 February 2007). "McEwan apologises after his sloppy side succumb to Lambs". The Press. York. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  8. ^ "York City dismiss manager McEwan". BBC Sport. 19 November 2007. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  9. ^ "I would like challenge of keeping Stags up – McEwan". Mansfield Chad. 10 March 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  10. ^ a b "McEwan replaces Holland at Stags". BBC Sport. 4 July 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Boss McEwan sacked by Mansfield". BBC Sport. 10 December 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  12. ^ Baptiste, Neto (25 March 2010). "Barracudas want 'Billy'". Antigua Sun. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  13. ^ Baptiste, Neto (9 April 2010). "Barracudas name squad". Antigua Sun. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
  14. ^ a b c Mendes, Chris (5 April 2011). "O'Leary, Scolari, Perrin and other Premier League managers who moved to obscure leagues". Talksport. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  15. ^ "Former boss Billy assists medical initiative". Sheffield United F.C. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  16. ^ Nicholson, Steve (18 February 2022). "Former Derby County coach and caretaker boss dies, aged 70". Derbyshire Live. Local World. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  17. ^ a b c d e "Billy McEwan's managerial career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007.
  18. ^ "Managers: Billy McEwan". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  19. ^ Williams, Tony; Wright, James, eds. (2009). Non-League Club Directory 2010. Tony Williams Publications. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-869833-66-4.
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