Jim Iley

Jim Iley (born 15 December, 1935) is a former football player.

He played as a midfielder and was brought to Newcastle United from Nottingham Forest, as manager Joe Harvey tried to rebuild the side to earn promotion to the old Division One.

Iley helped Newcastle to seventh and eighth place finishes in successive seasons, before being part of the 1964/65 Division Two title-winning team, appearing in all but four games and scoring five times.

He left St James' Park in the 1968/69 season - after making a brief appearance in the Fairs Cup away to Feyenoord - and moved to Peterborough Unitred as player/manager.

Later spells in charge of Barnsley, Blackburn Rovers, Bury and Exeter City followed - the last including some giant-killing over his former club Newcastle when the Fourth Division side beat the Toon over two legs in the 1980/81 League Cup.

Despite having to work within a small budget at Exeter, he was sacked after only 10 months in charge, after he refused to resign. This was despite a 1000 name strong petition from fans asking for him to be reinstated. He was that determined to stay in charge he even offered to buy Chairman, at the time, Clifford Hill's shares from him, however the bid was unsuccessful.