Bob McGrory

Who was Bob McGrory?

Robert Gerald "Bob" McGrory was a Scottish footballer who played in the Football League for Burnley and Stoke City with whom he later had a long spell as manager.

McGrory played football with Dumbarton before joining English side Burnley in 1919. After only making three appearances for the "Clarets" he signed for Stoke City in May 1921. He soon became an indispensable part of Tom Mather's first team and was made club captain, skippering the side to promotions in 1926–27 and 1932–33. He spent 15 seasons as a player for Stoke racking up 511 appearances although he did fail to score a single goal. He took over as Stoke manager in 1935 and in his first season in charge guided Stoke to a highest position finish of 4th. World War II disrupted what could have been an successful spell for Stoke but in the first season after the war McGrory's Stoke made their first real attempt to win the First Division. But an ongoing dispute with star winger Stanley Matthews saw him leave for Blackpool just before the end of the season and Stoke went on to lose their must win match against Sheffield United. McGrory remained in charge until 1952 when he ended his 31-year association with the club. He spent a short spell in charge of Merthyr Tydfil leaving after one season due to ill health. He died a year later on 24 May 1954.