- Louis Page
Louis Page (born
27 March 1899 , died 1959) was an England international football player and football manager.Playing career
Page began his football career outside the Football League with Sudley Juniors, Everton and South Liverpool. He entered professional football with
Stoke City (21 apps) before leaving to make over 100 league outings forNorthampton Town . Page left the Cobblers forBurnley FC where he made 248 league appearances and scoring 111 goals.Page also featured for England 7 times alongside England and Everton great
Dixie Dean .After leaving Burnley, Page joined
Manchester United ,Port Vale and Yeovil & Petters United.Management
Page's first managerial post was with Yeovil & Petters United before moving to
Glentoran F.C. and then to Welsh club Newport County and afterwards, Carlton F.C.He then took the job at
Swindon Town where he stayed for 8 years. He was eventually relieved of his duties and became manager of Chester.England career
Career at Swindon Town
In his days as a player, Page was an English international centre forward, winning seven caps for his country. When league football resumed after World War Two, he was appointed manager of Swindon, having previously managed Yeovil, Glentoran and Newport County.
With the club having closed down during the war, the Town were at a distinct disadvantage to other clubs - the only player to keep a regular place in the side from before the hostilities was Billy Lucas. Page therefore had the job of building a cohesive team - and the Town's fourth place finish in 1946/47 was seen as a major success - especially as many players still needed permission to play as they had not yet been demobbed.
It came as no surprise when the Town slumped to 16th place the following season - just two points off the bottom spot - but the highlight of the season was a giant-killing cup run, in which the Town knocked out the previous year's runners-up, Burnley, before being beaten in the Fifth Round by Southampton. In 1948/49, the Town again reached the dizzy heights of fourth in the league, without ever challenging for the promotion spot. They were not to finish in the top half of the table for the next eight seasons.
With the Town in a precarious financial situation, Page had very little money with which to strengthen the team, and many players were sold. At the end of the 1952/53 season, when Swindon had finished in the bottom nine for three seasons running, Page was relieved of his duties, with the Town paying him £500 in compensation.
References
External links
* [http://www.englandstats.com/playerreport.php?pid=723 England profile on www.englandstats.com]
* [http://www.englandfc.com/Profiles/php/PlayerProfileByName.php?id=728 England profile on www.englandfc.com]
* [http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/Person.asp?PersonID=PAGELOUI Swindon management profile]
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