Malcolm Musgrove

Who was Malcolm Musgrove?

Malcolm Musgrove was an English football player and manager.

Musgrove played for his local side, Lynemouth Colliery, before being called up for national service, which he served in the Royal Air Force. He played for a Forces team and also for Scottish junior side Sunnybank while in the RAF and joined West Ham United in December 1953.

At West Ham, he soon established himself as a left-winger, making his league debut in 1954 against Brentford. He went on to make 301 league and cup appearances for the Hammers before joining Leyton Orient as player-coach in December 1962. He became chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association in 1962 and remained in the post until his retirement as a player in 1966.

He left Orient in 1965 to coach Charlton Athletic under Bob Stokoe, from where he moved to Aston Villa in 1967. In late 1968, he joined Leicester City as assistant manager under former West Ham team-mate Frank O'Farrell, taking them back to the top flight when they won the Division 2 Championship in 1970–71. When O'Farrell moved to Manchester United in June 1971, Musgrove followed, again taking an assistant manager's position. O'Farrell and Musgrove were both sacked by Manchester United in December 1972, after a disastrous 5-0 loss at Crystal Palace. In January 1973, Musgrove took the manager's job at Torquay United, a post that O'Farrell had held himself five years earlier.