Stan Cullis

Football manager infobox
playername = Stan Cullis


fullname = Stanley Cullis
dateofbirth = 25 October 1916
cityofbirth = Ellesmere Port
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath = death date and age|2001|2|28|1916|10|25|df=y
cityofdeath = Malvern
countryofdeath = England
position = Defender
youthyears = 1930-1933
youthclubs = Ellesmere Port Wednesday
years = 1934-1947
clubs = Wolves
caps(goals) = 152 00(0)
nationalyears = 1937-1939
nationalteam = England
nationalcaps(goals) = 012 00(0)
manageryears = 1948-1964
1965-1970
managerclubs = Wolves
Birmingham City

Stan Cullis (25 October 1916 - 28 February 2001) was a football player and manager, most notably for Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Playing career

Cullis joined Wolverhampton Wanderers as a teenager after a trial at Bolton Wanderers, signing professionally within a week of his arrival. He quickly moved up through the youth and reserve ranks and made his senior debut on February 16, 1935 in a 2-3 defeat at Huddersfield Town. He had to wait until the 1936/37 season though before he became first choice, as he replaced Bill Morris, and swiftly became club captain.

Cullis led the team to become one of the top teams in England, finishing runners-up in the league in 1938 and 1939 and reaching the 1939 FA Cup Final, when the Second World War took away many of the best years of Cullis' career.

He won a call-up to the England team, and made his international debut on October 23, 1937 in a 5-1 success against Ireland. Due to the outbreak of the war, he won only 12 full caps (1 as captain), although he also played in 20 wartime internationals (10 as captain).

During the conflict, he served as a PT instructor in both Britain and Italy and also managed 34 wartime appearances for Wolves in regional competitions, as well as guesting for Aldershot, Fulham and Liverpool.

When competitive football resumed in England in 1946/47, Cullis played just one more season for Wolves in which the club once again narrowly missed out on a first league title. He then announced his retirement due to injury and was appointed assistant to manager Ted Vizard, after having made 171 appearances in total for the club.

Management career

In June 1948, aged just 31, Cullis became manager of Wolves and presided over the most successful era in the club's history. In his first season in charge, he became the youngest manager to win the FA Cup at Wembley as Wolves beat Leicester City to win their first major trophy since 1908. Five years later Wolves overhauled local rivals West Bromwich Albion to win their first league title.

Cullis' team restored some pride to English football after the national team's thrashings at the hands of Hungary when they beat the star-studded Honvéd side in a friendly, and Cullis' comments that his team were "champions of the world" played a large part in the formation of European club competitions.

Cullis led Wolves to two more league titles, in 1958 and 1959, and they narrowly missed the hat-trick in 1960, while also winning the FA Cup again, sealing their position as one of the dominant teams of the era. The 1960s saw Wolves begin to struggle, and Cullis was surprisingly sacked in September 1964, declaring that he would not work in football again, despite an offer from Juventus.

After a short spell working as a sales representative, he did return to the game as manager of Birmingham City in December 1965, but could not reproduce the success he had enjoyed at Wolves. Cullis retired from football in March 1970, and took up a post with a travel agency in Malvern, his adopted home town.

He died on February 28, 2001 at the age of 84.

Tributes to Cullis include the naming of a stand (the Stan Cullis Stand) at Wolves' Molineux stadium, and in 2003 he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his impact as a manager.

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers (Player and Manager)

Football League First Division
*Winner 1954, 1958, 1959
*Runner-up 1938, 1939, 1950, 1955, 1960

FA Cup
*Winner 1949, 1960
*Runner-up 1939

FA Charity Shield
*Winner 1959
*Shared 1949 (shared Portsmouth), 1954 (shared West Bromwich Albion),1959 (outright) 1960 (shared Burnley)

External links

* [http://www.wolves.premiumtv.co.uk/page/GoldenOldies/0,,10307~65377,00.html Official Wolves profile]
* [http://www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/pages/fame/Inductees/stancullis.htm English Hall of Fame Profile]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wolverhampton_wanderers/1194178.stm BBC tributes report]