Johnny Giles
Encyclopedia
Michael John "Johnny" Giles (born 6 November 1940, in Ormond Square, Dublin, Ireland
) is a former association footballer and manager
best remembered for his time as a midfielder
with Leeds United
in the 1960s and 1970s. Since retirement he has served as the Senior Analyst on RTÉ Sport
's coverage of association football.
Giles grew up in Ormond Square, a working-class area of inner-city Dublin, where he developed much of the skills that would aid him in becoming a professional footballer. He was encouraged to enter the game through his father Christy
who played for Bohemians
in the 1920s and managed Drumcondra
during the 1940s.
The FAI
voted Giles as the greatest Republic of Ireland
player of the last 50 years at the UEFA Jubilee Awards
in 2004.
In 2006, he was chosen by supporters at Elland Road
as a member of the best ever Leeds United XI.
England's
World Cup
winning manager, Sir Alf Ramsey, said of Giles' influence as a player on English football:
After Manchester United manager, Sir Matt Busby, later realised his error in allowing Giles to depart for Leeds, he said:
For Giles' on field abilities, his former boss at Leeds, Brian Clough
, wrote of him in his autobiography
:
On his knowledge of the game, Clough continued:
After winning an FA Cup
winners medal under Busby at United, Giles moved to Leeds in 1963 where he played in midfield alongside skipper Billy Bremner
. The duo went on to form a central midfield partnership which was one of the best in English
club football. Their pairing helped yield several major trophies in the most successful era in Leeds' history. By strange coincidence, Giles and Bremner would both score exactly 115 goals for the club, casting doubt on the modern penchant for "holding" midfield players.
In his later years in football, Giles pursued a managerial career which saw him installed as player-manager and manager of, among others, West Bromwich Albion, the Republic of Ireland
, and Shamrock Rovers. Despite having an outstanding knowledge of the game, Giles personally never liked being a manager. He became disillusioned with aspects of the job, such as suffering at the hands of non-committal boardrooms, and left management permanently in 1985. He later declared that he had no regrets about quitting managerial life.
Subsequently, after repeated encouragement from childhood friend Eamon Dunphy
, Giles would inadvertently enter the world of football punditry in 1986. He has since gone on to establish himself as the highly respected senior analyst on RTÉ Sport
. In addition, he writes two columns per week for the Irish Evening Herald
newspaper, and offers his opinions about the game on radio station, Newstalk 106
.
Giles resides in the Harborne
area of the city of Birmingham
in England
. He has played golf
for many years, and at one time, played off a handicap
of five, but with his advancing age his handicap has risen to 12, "a bad 12" he claims. To coincide with his 70th birthday, Giles compiled a first ever autobiography chronicling his life in and outside of football which was released in November 2010. The autobiography, titled 'A Football Man', became the best selling book in the Republic of Ireland. In it, he claims to be an admirer of cricket
where he attended the occasional game in his spare time as a footballer.
. He joined Matt Busby's team for a £10 signing-on fee in 1956. He was given an early first-team debut in 1959 after eight of the team died in the Munich air disaster
in February of the previous year. Among the dead was Bill Whelan, who was five years older than Giles and also came from the Cabra district of Dublin.
He was also chosen to play for the Republic of Ireland
team by the age of 18.
Giles was a regular first team player over the next four years, playing alongside Bobby Charlton
and Denis Law
. Manchester United won the FA Cup
in 1963, where Giles played the defence-splitting pass which started the move towards a winning goal by David Herd
.
After being out of favour, he asked for a transfer and joined Leeds for £33,000. "I am going to haunt him", is what Giles said of Busby, to his wife Anne, after the United manager forced his departure when freezing him out of the starting team.
Giles would soon evolve into one of the finest central midfielders in England, as Leeds won the Second Division
title in his first season there. In 1965, he was in the team which came close to a League championship
and FA Cup "double" but missed out on both, to Manchester United and to Liverpool
respectively.
Giles formed a glittering partnership with Billy Bremner as Leeds manager Don Revie
built a new team around them. The players had similarities in their styles and were a tremendous foil for one another. Giles was known as the creative force and Bremner as the ball-winner, but each was capable of doing the other's primary job.
In the 1967–1968 season Leeds won both the League Cup
and the Fairs Cup
. That was the first season in which Giles was affected by injury. In the 1968-69 season Giles was instrumental in Leeds becoming league champions in a then record 67 points from 42 matches at 2 points for a win, a record that stood for ten seasons. In 1970, Giles again had a magnificent season as Leeds chased three trophies but lost all three, the League went to Everton
; the FA Cup to Chelsea
after a replay
; and the European Cup
campaign ended at the hands of Celtic
in the semi-finals.
In the fifth round of the 1971 FA Cup when Leeds were unexpectedly beaten 3–2 by Colchester United
, Giles scored Leeds' second goal as they almost came back from 3–0 down. Leeds regained the Fairs Cup but lost the League title on the last day, with Arsenal
getting the victory they needed to earn the championship and form one half of a successful "double" bid.
Leeds won their first FA Cup and Giles his second when they defeated Arsenal 1–0 at Wembley in 1972, yet again they missed out on the League on the final day of the season after defeat to Wolves
. Sunderland
and A.C. Milan
beat Leeds in the finals of the FA Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1973, rendering Leeds trophyless again. Jack Charlton
's retirement in 1973 also left Giles as the most senior member of the squad. In the same year he started to combine his Leeds duties with a spell as player-manager of his country.
In 1974, a 29-match unbeaten run at the start of the season helped Leeds coast to their second title, but then controversy reigned after Revie quit to take over the England
team.
Revie recommended to the Leeds board of directors
that Giles, nearly 34 and approaching the end of his playing career, should be his successor. The board instead appointed Brian Clough
, a brilliant manager but a controversial choice as he had been publicly critical of Leeds in the past and was not an admirer of Revie.
Clough and the players never got on — the players had wanted Giles too — and the board realised their error, dismissing Clough with a big pay-off after just 44 days in charge. Giles still didn't get the job though (that went to Jimmy Armfield
) and concentrated on playing as Leeds chased a place in their first European Cup final. Giles himself never applied for the Leeds vacancy on those two occasions, his name had instead been put forward as a candidate by others.
Giles was outstanding in Leeds' European campaign but was no longer an automatic fixture in the side. After appearing in the 1975 final, which Leeds lost 2–0 to Bayern Munich, Giles accepted an offer in June 1975 from West Bromwich Albion
to become their player-manager, while still playing for and managing the Irish team. He left Leeds after 12 years, 521 appearances and 115 goals.
He was a key figure in the creative and combative style of football played by Leeds under Revie, which attracted controversy but was ultimately successful as it brought trophies to a club rarely more than a mid table First Division side until the mid 1960s
.
, as part of its centenary celebrations, listed Giles on its list of 100 League legends
. When Giles was quizzed as to the differences between himself and another highly regarded former Irish player, Roy Keane
, he said: "If forced to compare us, I'd say I was slightly more creative than him and he [Keane] was a better ball-winner."
, and knee ligament damage sustained when tackled by Eddie McCreadie
at Stamford Bridge
. Being a creative and diminutive figure, Giles thereafter accepted he would have to become a tougher player in order to avoid being singled out by opponents. On later becoming a pundit, Giles at length wrote about how he felt he had to become "a lion rather than a lamb" on the pitch so as to help achieve his full potential. His primary reason for this was to avoid being labelled a hypocrite when the time came for him to give judgement on tough tackling by others.
, as he combined his duties in charge of West Brom, where after a slow start, he won the majority of Baggies supporters over. Under his leadership, they were promoted from the Second Division
in April 1976, and finished 7th in the First Division
in 1976–77
. He recently said the time he spent at West Brom was amongst the happiest of his career despite him not winning trophies there. He resigned as player-manager at West Brom on 21 April 1977, the very same day as his former team-mate Jack Charlton
resigned his managerial post at Middlesbrough
, and moved back to Ireland to manage Shamrock Rovers
until 1983.
He returned to the Hawthorns
for a second spell as manager during the 1983–84 season, steering the side to safety. The following season saw West Brom start well and were as high as 5th at Christmas, but finished 12th. Following an indifferent start to the 1985–86 season he resigned, leaving the reins to his brother-in-law Nobby Stiles
.
and a more respectable showing. In the 1978 World Cup qualifiers, the side finished only two points short of qualification, defeating France at home during that campaign.
Rovers won the FAI Cup
in 1978, he scored 2 goals in 4 appearances in the European Cup Winners Cup and captained Ireland nine times, scoring once. Giles played his last game on 14 December 1980 at Milltown, he was 40 years of age.
He resigned at Milltown
on 3 February 1983, after having left his Ireland job in March 1980, and ventured across the Atlantic for spells in charge of clubs in Canada
and the USA
. In 1981, he was hired to coach the Vancouver Whitecaps
of the NASL. He held that position for three seasons, being named the 1982 North American Soccer League
Coach of the Year.
and punditry on Raidió Teilifís Éireann
(RTÉ). He features on Premier Soccer Saturday
and its international and European soccer coverage, particularly their coverage of games involving the Republic of Ireland national football team
. Giles contributed to RTÉ Sport
's coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup
where prior to it starting he correctly predicted Spain
would win the tournament. He is currently the leading soccer analyst on Newstalk.
Of the English Premier League, Giles is often critical of the methods of modern coaching, and in particular, younger managers, with him saying recently:
in the 2009 film The Damned United
, that centred on Brian Clough's
ill fated 44-day spell as Leeds United manager in 1974. Giles successfully sued the author of the book, David Peace
, who printed the work in 2006, from which the film was made. His reasons for pursuing legal action for libel were as Giles said of Peace's The Damned Utd
: "His book was outrageous. I'm portrayed as the scheming leprechaun. He [Peace] had me in conversations with Clough that never happened. It made Clough out to be a wild man whereas he wasn't drinking then. I didn't get on with him but I found him highly intelligent. Peace said the novel was fiction based on fact, trouble is, people assume it's the official version. The movie was a misinterpretation of the misinterpretation that was the book!"
In another interview in relation to his taking court action, Giles said: "I took my stand because I was the only one alive who could do anything about it. The Clough family had no comeback. They couldn't do anything as Brian was dead, that was a huge influence (on taking the legal action)."
As part of the settling in the 2008 High Court dispute, the publisher of the book, Faber and Faber
, were ordered to remove from any future editions the references perceived by Giles as damaging and untrue.
and Chris, played for Shamrock Rovers; Michael from 1981 to 1983 and Chris from 1993 to 1995. Giles' father, Christy Giles
, played for Bohemians in the 1920s and won a league title in his first season at Dalymount Park
. Giles is a brother-in-law of Nobby Stiles
, his former Manchester United team-mate, who married into the Giles family.
All proceeds from the sale of Giles' recently published autobiography goes directly towards the funding of the foundation. Further information on the new organisation is available on his official foundation website.
is a real, real world class player. He's the nearest I've seen to Maradona
. I have to say, if you look at the difference between Messi and Ronaldo
, it's incredible. They keep saying this is a match-up about the two best players in the world, but Messi, in my opinion, is miles ahead of him."
"Eighty to ninety per cent of management is about getting the right players in the club."
"He's an amazing man, Sven
. I've a great deal of admiration for him, to survive the way he did, to make the amount of money that he did. The great Bill Shankly
, Bill Nicholson
, Alf Ramsey
, they finished up broke these guys. And then Eriksson comes along, a total spoofer, and makes £25 million from managing England. But what does he actually do?"
"All the great managers are different, Shankly was different to Clough, Clough was different to Revie. Matt Busby was a very laid-back manager. He was the first man to get the young players into Manchester United and form the Busby Babes
. What struck me most about Matt was his patience. I never saw him lose his temper. He believed in his players, and gave them the freedom to play. Don was much more attention to detail, he was much more hands-on than Matt was."
Following Ireland's 2-3 home defeat to Russia in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier Giles said: "Over the 90 minutes I thought Ireland were awful... awful!"
"I think Brian Clough was a genius, what he did at Notts Forest
and what he did at Derby
was great. But it was the wrong time with the wrong people when he came to Leeds United."
"Oh God, what has Avram Grant ever done, particularly in the Premiership? I remember one instance with Chelsea in a cup final at extra-time, when John Terry
had the players around him and he was giving the team talk, and Grant was standing back out of the way. That's when a manager should be really doing his job."
"I wouldn't have Aaron Lennon
in the England team or I wouldn't have Shaun Wright-Phillips
, I think they're brainless. I can't stand brainless players anyway. Most wingers are a bit brainless, but there's some good ones as well."
"I now believe that Bobby Charlton
was the greatest player I ever played with or against."
Giles: "I've no time for the UEFA Cup
at all." Bill O'Herlihy
: "Hold on a second, John. We've got the final on Wednesday."
Giles: "It should be a great final, Bill. It always is on RTE
."
When quizzed on how his signing of Cyrille Regis
at West Brom was regarded at a time when racism was more prevalent in English football, Giles replied: "There was a perception in the game that black players didn't have any bottle. I never subscribed to that at all. There were fewer black players, but I used to make the point, 'What about Pele
, what about Jairzinho
, what about Garrincha
?' These were all black players and they were the best in the world."
Leeds United
Shamrock Rovers F.C.
In 2006, Giles had a plaque erected in his honour at his birthplace at Ormond Square in Dublin.
|1959–60
||rowspan="4"|Manchester United
||rowspan="4"|First Division
||10||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1960–61
||23||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1961–62
||30||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1962–63
||30||4||||||||||||||||
|-
|1963–64
||rowspan="12"|Leeds United
||Second Division
||40||7||||||||||||||||
|-
|1964–65
||rowspan="11"|First Division
||39||7||||||||||||||||
|-
|1965–66
||40||5||||||||||||||||
|-
|1966–67
||29||12||||||||||||||||
|-
|1967–68
||20||7||||||||||||||||
|-
|1968–69
||32||8||||||||||||||||
|-
|1969–70
||32||13||||||||||||||||
|-
|1970–71
||34||13||||||||||||||||
|-
|1971–72
||38||6||||||||||||||||
|-
|1972–73
||33||6||||||||||||||||
|-
|1973–74
||17||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1974–75
||29||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1975–76
||rowspan="2"|West Bromwich Albion
||Second Division
||38||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1976–77
||First Division
||37||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|1978
||Philadelphia Fury
||NASL
||20||0||||||||||||||||
551||100||||||||||||||||
20||0||||||||||||||||
571||100||||||||||||||||
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
) is a former association footballer and manager
Manager (association football)
In association football, a manager is responsible for running a football club or a national team. The manager of a professional club is responsible directly to the club president. The position of manager is almost exclusively used in British football...
best remembered for his time as a midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
with Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
in the 1960s and 1970s. Since retirement he has served as the Senior Analyst on RTÉ Sport
RTÉ Sport
RTÉ Sport is a cross platform, integrated business division of Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann, responsible for the provision of sport coverage on RTÉ Radio, RTÉ Television, and RTÉ.ie....
's coverage of association football.
Giles grew up in Ormond Square, a working-class area of inner-city Dublin, where he developed much of the skills that would aid him in becoming a professional footballer. He was encouraged to enter the game through his father Christy
Christy Giles
Christy Giles was an Irish soccer player during the 1920s and 1930s. He was also known as "Dickie".Giles played for Bohemian FC and Shelbourne FC amongst others during his career in the League of Ireland. He made his debut for Bohs in the game that won them the 1929/30 league title against Bray...
who played for Bohemians
Bohemian F.C.
Bohemian F.C. , more commonly referred to as Bohemians, is a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. Bohemians compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland and are the third most successful club in League of Ireland football history, having won the League of Ireland title 11...
in the 1920s and managed Drumcondra
Drumcondra FC
Drumcondra Football Club was an Irish football club from Dublin. Based in Tolka Park, Drumcondra were elected to the League of Ireland in 1928. The Northside club won 5 League of Ireland titles before amalgamating with neighbours, Home Farm in 1972.-History:...
during the 1940s.
The FAI
Football Association of Ireland
The Football Association of Ireland is the governing body for the sport of association football in the Republic of Ireland. It should not to be confused with the Irish Football Association , which is the organising body for the sport in Northern Ireland.For the full history, statistics and records...
voted Giles as the greatest Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
player of the last 50 years at the UEFA Jubilee Awards
UEFA Jubilee Awards
To celebrate the Union of European Football Associations 's 50th anniversary in 2004, each of its member associations was asked by UEFA to choose one of its own players as the single most outstanding player of the past 50 years . The 52 players were known as the Golden Players...
in 2004.
In 2006, he was chosen by supporters at Elland Road
Elland Road
Elland Road is an all-seater football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has been the permanent residence of Leeds United A.F.C...
as a member of the best ever Leeds United XI.
England's
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
winning manager, Sir Alf Ramsey, said of Giles' influence as a player on English football:
"As I look at all the talent and character at my disposal today, my one regret is that John Giles wasn't born an Englishman."
After Manchester United manager, Sir Matt Busby, later realised his error in allowing Giles to depart for Leeds, he said:
"Selling him to Leeds, not seeing his potential as a midfield player, was my greatest mistake in football."
For Giles' on field abilities, his former boss at Leeds, Brian Clough
Brian Clough
Brian Howard Clough, OBE was an English footballer and football manager. He is most notable for his success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. His achievement of winning back-to-back European Cups with Nottingham Forest, a traditionally moderate provincial English club, is considered to be...
, wrote of him in his autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
:
"Giles could grab hold of a match, tuck it in his back pocket, and carry it around with him. He didn't need to find space, it was as if space found him."
On his knowledge of the game, Clough continued:
"I never did get to know John Giles, still don't. I wish things could have been different at Leeds and we could have got our heads and our talents together over a longish period of time. Who knows? Giles could have been my Peter TaylorPeter Thomas TaylorPeter Thomas Taylor was an English football goalkeeper and more notably, a football manager. His name is closely associated with that of Brian Clough, with whom he served as assistant manager at various clubs in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.Playing twenty years of professional football, he started...
."
After winning an FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
winners medal under Busby at United, Giles moved to Leeds in 1963 where he played in midfield alongside skipper Billy Bremner
Billy Bremner
William John "Billy" Bremner was a Scottish professional footballer, most noted for his captaincy of the Leeds United team of the 1960s and 1970s. He has since been voted Leeds United's greatest player of all time and has a statue outside the South East corner of Elland Road...
. The duo went on to form a central midfield partnership which was one of the best in English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
club football. Their pairing helped yield several major trophies in the most successful era in Leeds' history. By strange coincidence, Giles and Bremner would both score exactly 115 goals for the club, casting doubt on the modern penchant for "holding" midfield players.
In his later years in football, Giles pursued a managerial career which saw him installed as player-manager and manager of, among others, West Bromwich Albion, the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
, and Shamrock Rovers. Despite having an outstanding knowledge of the game, Giles personally never liked being a manager. He became disillusioned with aspects of the job, such as suffering at the hands of non-committal boardrooms, and left management permanently in 1985. He later declared that he had no regrets about quitting managerial life.
Subsequently, after repeated encouragement from childhood friend Eamon Dunphy
Eamon Dunphy
Eamon Martin Dunphy is an Irish media personality, radio and television presenter, author, sports pundit, as well as a former professional football player. He is best known as a soccer analyst on Raidió Teilifís Éireann 's coverage of the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League. He was paid...
, Giles would inadvertently enter the world of football punditry in 1986. He has since gone on to establish himself as the highly respected senior analyst on RTÉ Sport
RTÉ Sport
RTÉ Sport is a cross platform, integrated business division of Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann, responsible for the provision of sport coverage on RTÉ Radio, RTÉ Television, and RTÉ.ie....
. In addition, he writes two columns per week for the Irish Evening Herald
Evening Herald
The Evening Herald is a mid-market tabloid evening newspaper published in Dublin, Ireland by Independent News & Media. It is published Monday-Saturday, and has three editions — City Edition, City Final Edition and National Edition...
newspaper, and offers his opinions about the game on radio station, Newstalk 106
NewsTalk 106
Newstalk is an Independent Radio station in Ireland. It is operated by News 106 Limited, a subsidiary of Denis O'Brien's Communicorp group, and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland.The station is a "quasi-national" station as of 29 September...
.
Giles resides in the Harborne
Harborne
Harborne is an area three miles southwest from Birmingham city centre, England. It is a Birmingham City Council ward in the formal district and in the parliamentary constituency of Birmingham Edgbaston.- Geography :...
area of the city of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He has played golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
for many years, and at one time, played off a handicap
Handicapping
Handicapping, in sport and games, is the practice of assigning advantage through scoring compensation or other advantage given to different contestants to equalize the chances of winning. The word also applies to the various methods by which the advantage is calculated...
of five, but with his advancing age his handicap has risen to 12, "a bad 12" he claims. To coincide with his 70th birthday, Giles compiled a first ever autobiography chronicling his life in and outside of football which was released in November 2010. The autobiography, titled 'A Football Man', became the best selling book in the Republic of Ireland. In it, he claims to be an admirer of cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
where he attended the occasional game in his spare time as a footballer.
Club career
Giles was spotted in Dublin playing for Stella Maris Football Club,before he began his English career with Manchester UnitedManchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
. He joined Matt Busby's team for a £10 signing-on fee in 1956. He was given an early first-team debut in 1959 after eight of the team died in the Munich air disaster
Munich air disaster
The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. On board the plane was the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the "Busby Babes",...
in February of the previous year. Among the dead was Bill Whelan, who was five years older than Giles and also came from the Cabra district of Dublin.
He was also chosen to play for the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
team by the age of 18.
Giles was a regular first team player over the next four years, playing alongside Bobby Charlton
Bobby Charlton
Sir Robert "Bobby" Charlton CBE is an English former professional football player, a member of the England team who won the World Cup and Ballon d'Or for European Footballer of the Year in 1966...
and Denis Law
Denis Law
Denis Law is a retired Scottish football player, who enjoyed a long and successful career as a striker from the 1950s to the 1970s....
. Manchester United won the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
in 1963, where Giles played the defence-splitting pass which started the move towards a winning goal by David Herd
David Herd (footballer)
David George Herd is a Scottish former international association footballer. His regular position was as a forward where he was a consistent goal scorer.-Family:...
.
After being out of favour, he asked for a transfer and joined Leeds for £33,000. "I am going to haunt him", is what Giles said of Busby, to his wife Anne, after the United manager forced his departure when freezing him out of the starting team.
Giles would soon evolve into one of the finest central midfielders in England, as Leeds won the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
title in his first season there. In 1965, he was in the team which came close to a League championship
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
and FA Cup "double" but missed out on both, to Manchester United and to Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
respectively.
Giles formed a glittering partnership with Billy Bremner as Leeds manager Don Revie
Don Revie
Donald George 'Don' Revie, OBE, , was an English footballer who played for Leicester City, Hull City, Sunderland, Manchester City and Leeds United as a deep-lying centre forward. After managing Leeds United he managed England from 1974 until 1977...
built a new team around them. The players had similarities in their styles and were a tremendous foil for one another. Giles was known as the creative force and Bremner as the ball-winner, but each was capable of doing the other's primary job.
In the 1967–1968 season Leeds won both the League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
and the Fairs Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
. That was the first season in which Giles was affected by injury. In the 1968-69 season Giles was instrumental in Leeds becoming league champions in a then record 67 points from 42 matches at 2 points for a win, a record that stood for ten seasons. In 1970, Giles again had a magnificent season as Leeds chased three trophies but lost all three, the League went to Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
; the FA Cup to Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
after a replay
FA Cup Final 1970
The 1970 FA Cup Final was contested by Chelsea and Leeds United. The match took place on 11 April 1970 at Wembley Stadium and ended 2–2, making it the first FA Cup final to require a replay since 1912...
; and the European Cup
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
campaign ended at the hands of Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
in the semi-finals.
In the fifth round of the 1971 FA Cup when Leeds were unexpectedly beaten 3–2 by Colchester United
Colchester United F.C.
Colchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Colchester. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town who had previously used the ground from 1910....
, Giles scored Leeds' second goal as they almost came back from 3–0 down. Leeds regained the Fairs Cup but lost the League title on the last day, with Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
getting the victory they needed to earn the championship and form one half of a successful "double" bid.
Leeds won their first FA Cup and Giles his second when they defeated Arsenal 1–0 at Wembley in 1972, yet again they missed out on the League on the final day of the season after defeat to Wolves
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
. Sunderland
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
and A.C. Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
beat Leeds in the finals of the FA Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1973, rendering Leeds trophyless again. Jack Charlton
Jack Charlton
John "Jack" Charlton, OBE, DL is a former footballer and manager who played for Leeds United in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and was part of the England team who won the 1966 World Cup...
's retirement in 1973 also left Giles as the most senior member of the squad. In the same year he started to combine his Leeds duties with a spell as player-manager of his country.
In 1974, a 29-match unbeaten run at the start of the season helped Leeds coast to their second title, but then controversy reigned after Revie quit to take over the England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
team.
Revie recommended to the Leeds board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
that Giles, nearly 34 and approaching the end of his playing career, should be his successor. The board instead appointed Brian Clough
Brian Clough
Brian Howard Clough, OBE was an English footballer and football manager. He is most notable for his success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. His achievement of winning back-to-back European Cups with Nottingham Forest, a traditionally moderate provincial English club, is considered to be...
, a brilliant manager but a controversial choice as he had been publicly critical of Leeds in the past and was not an admirer of Revie.
Clough and the players never got on — the players had wanted Giles too — and the board realised their error, dismissing Clough with a big pay-off after just 44 days in charge. Giles still didn't get the job though (that went to Jimmy Armfield
Jimmy Armfield
James Christopher "Jimmy" Armfield, CBE, DL is an English former professional football player and manager who currently works as a football pundit for BBC Radio Five Live. He played the whole of his Football League career at Blackpool, usually at right back...
) and concentrated on playing as Leeds chased a place in their first European Cup final. Giles himself never applied for the Leeds vacancy on those two occasions, his name had instead been put forward as a candidate by others.
Giles was outstanding in Leeds' European campaign but was no longer an automatic fixture in the side. After appearing in the 1975 final, which Leeds lost 2–0 to Bayern Munich, Giles accepted an offer in June 1975 from West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
to become their player-manager, while still playing for and managing the Irish team. He left Leeds after 12 years, 521 appearances and 115 goals.
He was a key figure in the creative and combative style of football played by Leeds under Revie, which attracted controversy but was ultimately successful as it brought trophies to a club rarely more than a mid table First Division side until the mid 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
.
Status within the game
Giles is widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers to have come out of the Republic of Ireland. High tributes have been conferred on Giles by hugely successful former managers such as Alf Ramsey, Matt Busby and Brian Clough. His status at Leeds United was noted when supporters there named him in the greatest Leeds XI of all time. His overall image in English football was recognised in 1998 when the Football LeagueThe Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
, as part of its centenary celebrations, listed Giles on its list of 100 League legends
Football League 100 Legends
The Football League 100 Legends is a list of 100 great association football players who played part or all of their professional career in English Premier season of League football...
. When Giles was quizzed as to the differences between himself and another highly regarded former Irish player, Roy Keane
Roy Keane
Roy Maurice Keane is an Irish former footballer and manager. In his 18-year playing career, he played for Cobh Ramblers in the League of Ireland, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, before ending his career at Celtic in Scotland....
, he said: "If forced to compare us, I'd say I was slightly more creative than him and he [Keane] was a better ball-winner."
Reputation as a hard player
In the early part of his career Giles endured some rough treatment. This occurred when he suffered a career-threatening ankle injury at the hands of Birmingham City's Johnny WattsJohnny Watts
John William "Johnny" Watts was an English footballer who made more than 200 appearances in the Football League for Birmingham City playing as a right half....
, and knee ligament damage sustained when tackled by Eddie McCreadie
Eddie McCreadie
Edward Graham "Eddie" McCreadie is a former Scottish footballer who played at left-back, mainly for Chelsea. He later became a manager....
at Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...
. Being a creative and diminutive figure, Giles thereafter accepted he would have to become a tougher player in order to avoid being singled out by opponents. On later becoming a pundit, Giles at length wrote about how he felt he had to become "a lion rather than a lamb" on the pitch so as to help achieve his full potential. His primary reason for this was to avoid being labelled a hypocrite when the time came for him to give judgement on tough tackling by others.
Player-manager career
Giles showed much promise as a young player-manager of the Republic of IrelandRepublic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
, as he combined his duties in charge of West Brom, where after a slow start, he won the majority of Baggies supporters over. Under his leadership, they were promoted from the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
in April 1976, and finished 7th in the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
in 1976–77
1976-77 in English football
The 1976–77 season was the 97th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:The Football League revamped the tie-breaking criteria for teams level of points, replacing the traditional goal average tie-breaker with one based on goal difference to try to encourage more scoring...
. He recently said the time he spent at West Brom was amongst the happiest of his career despite him not winning trophies there. He resigned as player-manager at West Brom on 21 April 1977, the very same day as his former team-mate Jack Charlton
Jack Charlton
John "Jack" Charlton, OBE, DL is a former footballer and manager who played for Leeds United in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and was part of the England team who won the 1966 World Cup...
resigned his managerial post at Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
, and moved back to Ireland to manage Shamrock Rovers
Shamrock Rovers F.C.
Shamrock Rovers Football Club are a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. They compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland and are the most successful club in Irish football history. The club have won the League of Ireland title a record 17 times and the FAI Cup a record 24...
until 1983.
He returned to the Hawthorns
The Hawthorns
The Hawthorns is an all-seater football stadium in West Bromwich, Sandwell, England, with a capacity of 26,484. It has been the home of West Bromwich Albion F.C. since 1900, when it became the sixth ground to be used by the club. The ground was the last Football League ground to be built in the...
for a second spell as manager during the 1983–84 season, steering the side to safety. The following season saw West Brom start well and were as high as 5th at Christmas, but finished 12th. Following an indifferent start to the 1985–86 season he resigned, leaving the reins to his brother-in-law Nobby Stiles
Nobby Stiles
Norbert "Nobby" Peter Stiles MBE is a retired English footballer. He was born in Collyhurst, Manchester.Stiles played for England for five years, winning 28 caps and scoring 1 goal. He played every minute of England's victorious 1966 FIFA World Cup campaign...
.
Republic of Ireland
As player-manager of the Republic of Ireland for much of the 1970s, Giles oversaw a revival in the fortunes of the national side which had struggled for the previous decade. The 1976 European Championship qualifiers saw the international debut of Liam BradyLiam Brady
Liam Brady is a former Irish association football player, and former assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland national football team....
and a more respectable showing. In the 1978 World Cup qualifiers, the side finished only two points short of qualification, defeating France at home during that campaign.
Shamrock Rovers
During his five and a half year spell in charge at Glenmalure ParkGlenmalure Park
Glenmalure Park, often simply known as "Milltown", was a football stadium on the Southside of Dublin city in Ireland. Located in the suburb of Milltown, it was home to Shamrock Rovers from 1926 to 1987, when it was sold to property developers by the club's directors...
Rovers won the FAI Cup
FAI Cup
The Football Association of Ireland Challenge Cup, known as the FAI Ford Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland...
in 1978, he scored 2 goals in 4 appearances in the European Cup Winners Cup and captained Ireland nine times, scoring once. Giles played his last game on 14 December 1980 at Milltown, he was 40 years of age.
He resigned at Milltown
Glenmalure Park
Glenmalure Park, often simply known as "Milltown", was a football stadium on the Southside of Dublin city in Ireland. Located in the suburb of Milltown, it was home to Shamrock Rovers from 1926 to 1987, when it was sold to property developers by the club's directors...
on 3 February 1983, after having left his Ireland job in March 1980, and ventured across the Atlantic for spells in charge of clubs in Canada
Canada men's national soccer team
The Canada men's national soccer team represents Canada in international soccer competitions at the senior men's level. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association and compete in the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football .Their most significant...
and the USA
United States men's national soccer team
The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...
. In 1981, he was hired to coach the Vancouver Whitecaps
Vancouver Whitecaps (NASL)
The original Vancouver Whitecaps were founded on December 11, 1973 and during the 1970s and 1980s played in the North American Soccer League . The Whitecaps achieved success, winning the 1979 Soccer Bowl. The Whitecaps of that era included international players such as Alan Ball, but also "home...
of the NASL. He held that position for three seasons, being named the 1982 North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...
Coach of the Year.
Media career
Giles later returned to Ireland and settled into a much-admired career in journalismJournalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
and punditry on Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
(RTÉ). He features on Premier Soccer Saturday
Premier Soccer Saturday
Premier Soccer Saturday is the principal weekly club association football programme on RTÉ.It is broadcast on RTÉ Two every Saturday evening between 19:30 and 21:00 and occasionally on Sunday during the English league soccer season, showing highlights of Premier League football matches...
and its international and European soccer coverage, particularly their coverage of games involving the Republic of Ireland national football team
Republic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
. Giles contributed to RTÉ Sport
RTÉ Sport
RTÉ Sport is a cross platform, integrated business division of Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann, responsible for the provision of sport coverage on RTÉ Radio, RTÉ Television, and RTÉ.ie....
's coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
where prior to it starting he correctly predicted Spain
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...
would win the tournament. He is currently the leading soccer analyst on Newstalk.
Of the English Premier League, Giles is often critical of the methods of modern coaching, and in particular, younger managers, with him saying recently:
"When you hear the younger managers talking, it's all about tactics now. If their players are not playing well, they change the formation. There's nothing about not passing the ball to each other or mis-placing passes. It's all about, well the tactics were wrong. I've seen it so often, you hear it on the television as well. Their team is playing very poorly, they're 2-0 down at half-time, they're giving the ball away, kicking it out of play. Well what do you have to do, and they start talking about changing the formation. No matter what formation you play you have to pass the ball to each other.
Media portrayals and successful legal action
Giles was portrayed by actor Peter McDonaldPeter McDonald (actor)
Peter McDonald is an Irish stage and screen actor. He grew up in Mount Merrion in South County Dublin. His mother, Brenda Costigan is a cookery writer and his father, Richard McDonald sells bailer twine...
in the 2009 film The Damned United
The Damned United
The Damned United is a 2009 British sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's bestselling novel The Damned Utd, a largely fictional book based on the author's interpretation of Brian Clough's tenure as manager of Leeds United...
, that centred on Brian Clough's
Brian Clough
Brian Howard Clough, OBE was an English footballer and football manager. He is most notable for his success with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. His achievement of winning back-to-back European Cups with Nottingham Forest, a traditionally moderate provincial English club, is considered to be...
ill fated 44-day spell as Leeds United manager in 1974. Giles successfully sued the author of the book, David Peace
David Peace
David Peace is an English author. Known for his novels GB84, The Damned Utd, and Red Riding Quartet, Peace was named one of the Best of Young British Novelists by Granta in their 2003 list...
, who printed the work in 2006, from which the film was made. His reasons for pursuing legal action for libel were as Giles said of Peace's The Damned Utd
The Damned Utd
The Damned Utd is a novel by British author David Peace. The main plot depicts a fictionalised account of Brian Clough's brief spell as manager of Leeds United football club in 1974.-Plot:...
: "His book was outrageous. I'm portrayed as the scheming leprechaun. He [Peace] had me in conversations with Clough that never happened. It made Clough out to be a wild man whereas he wasn't drinking then. I didn't get on with him but I found him highly intelligent. Peace said the novel was fiction based on fact, trouble is, people assume it's the official version. The movie was a misinterpretation of the misinterpretation that was the book!"
In another interview in relation to his taking court action, Giles said: "I took my stand because I was the only one alive who could do anything about it. The Clough family had no comeback. They couldn't do anything as Brian was dead, that was a huge influence (on taking the legal action)."
As part of the settling in the 2008 High Court dispute, the publisher of the book, Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
, were ordered to remove from any future editions the references perceived by Giles as damaging and untrue.
Family
In 1966, Giles married Anne with whom he had four sons and two daughters. Two of his sons, MichaelMichael Giles (footballer)
Michael Giles is a former Irish footballer.Giles was a defender or midfielder who played under his father John at Shamrock Rovers from 1981 to 1983. He made two appearances for Rovers in European competition...
and Chris, played for Shamrock Rovers; Michael from 1981 to 1983 and Chris from 1993 to 1995. Giles' father, Christy Giles
Christy Giles
Christy Giles was an Irish soccer player during the 1920s and 1930s. He was also known as "Dickie".Giles played for Bohemian FC and Shelbourne FC amongst others during his career in the League of Ireland. He made his debut for Bohs in the game that won them the 1929/30 league title against Bray...
, played for Bohemians in the 1920s and won a league title in his first season at Dalymount Park
Dalymount Park
Dalymount Park is an Irish football stadium situated on Dublin's Northside. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known as 'Dalyer' by fans, it was also historically the "home of Irish football" holding Irish internationals and FAI Cup...
. Giles is a brother-in-law of Nobby Stiles
Nobby Stiles
Norbert "Nobby" Peter Stiles MBE is a retired English footballer. He was born in Collyhurst, Manchester.Stiles played for England for five years, winning 28 caps and scoring 1 goal. He played every minute of England's victorious 1966 FIFA World Cup campaign...
, his former Manchester United team-mate, who married into the Giles family.
John Giles Foundation
Giles recently launched a non-profit organisation called the "John Giles Foundation". His aims are to offer help for Irish children from all backgrounds by providing them with facilities to improve their health and fitness, and keep youngsters clear of damaging influences such as petty crime and drugs.All proceeds from the sale of Giles' recently published autobiography goes directly towards the funding of the foundation. Further information on the new organisation is available on his official foundation website.
Quotes
"MessiLionel Messi
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi is an Argentine footballer who plays for FC Barcelona and captains the Argentina national team, mainly as a striker. Messi received several Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations by the age of 21, and won in 2009 and 2010...
is a real, real world class player. He's the nearest I've seen to Maradona
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona is a retired Argentine football player and widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys, setting...
. I have to say, if you look at the difference between Messi and Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH, , commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or striker for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portuguese national team...
, it's incredible. They keep saying this is a match-up about the two best players in the world, but Messi, in my opinion, is miles ahead of him."
"Eighty to ninety per cent of management is about getting the right players in the club."
"He's an amazing man, Sven
Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson , in Sweden commonly referred to just by his nickname Svennis, is a Swedish ex-football manager. From October 2010 to October 2011 he managed Football League Championship side Leicester City....
. I've a great deal of admiration for him, to survive the way he did, to make the amount of money that he did. The great Bill Shankly
Bill Shankly
William "Bill" Shankly, OBE was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Liverpool between 1959 and 1974. One of Britain's most successful and respected football managers, Shankly was also a fine player whose career was interrupted by the Second World War...
, Bill Nicholson
Bill Nicholson (footballer)
William Edward "Bill" Nicholson OBE was an English football player, coach, manager and scout who devoted his life to Tottenham Hotspur in North London.-Early life:...
, Alf Ramsey
Alf Ramsey
Sir Alfred Ernest "Alf" Ramsey was an English footballer and manager of the English national football team from 1963 to 1974. His greatest achievement was winning the 1966 World Cup with England on 30 July 1966...
, they finished up broke these guys. And then Eriksson comes along, a total spoofer, and makes £25 million from managing England. But what does he actually do?"
"All the great managers are different, Shankly was different to Clough, Clough was different to Revie. Matt Busby was a very laid-back manager. He was the first man to get the young players into Manchester United and form the Busby Babes
Busby Babes
The Busby Babes were a group of Manchester United players, recruited and trained by the club's chief scout Joe Armstrong and assistant manager Jimmy Murphy, who progressed from the club's youth team into the first team under the management of the eponymous Matt Busby.The Busby Babes were notable...
. What struck me most about Matt was his patience. I never saw him lose his temper. He believed in his players, and gave them the freedom to play. Don was much more attention to detail, he was much more hands-on than Matt was."
Following Ireland's 2-3 home defeat to Russia in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier Giles said: "Over the 90 minutes I thought Ireland were awful... awful!"
"I think Brian Clough was a genius, what he did at Notts Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...
and what he did at Derby
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
was great. But it was the wrong time with the wrong people when he came to Leeds United."
"Oh God, what has Avram Grant ever done, particularly in the Premiership? I remember one instance with Chelsea in a cup final at extra-time, when John Terry
John Terry
John George Terry is an English professional footballer. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League...
had the players around him and he was giving the team talk, and Grant was standing back out of the way. That's when a manager should be really doing his job."
"I wouldn't have Aaron Lennon
Aaron Lennon
Aaron Justin Lennon is an English footballer who plays as a right winger for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and the England national team.-Early life:...
in the England team or I wouldn't have Shaun Wright-Phillips
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers and the England national team. He is the adopted son of former England international, Ian Wright and the half-brother of fellow professional football player Bradley Wright-Phillips...
, I think they're brainless. I can't stand brainless players anyway. Most wingers are a bit brainless, but there's some good ones as well."
"I now believe that Bobby Charlton
Bobby Charlton
Sir Robert "Bobby" Charlton CBE is an English former professional football player, a member of the England team who won the World Cup and Ballon d'Or for European Footballer of the Year in 1966...
was the greatest player I ever played with or against."
Giles: "I've no time for the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
at all." Bill O'Herlihy
Bill O'Herlihy
Bill O'Herlihy is an Irish sports broadcaster with Raidió Teilifís Éireann . He also heads one of Ireland's largest public relations firms.-Bill's life:...
: "Hold on a second, John. We've got the final on Wednesday."
Giles: "It should be a great final, Bill. It always is on RTE
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
."
When quizzed on how his signing of Cyrille Regis
Cyrille Regis
Cyrille Regis, MBE is a French-born English former footballer. His professional playing career spanned 19 years, where he made 610 league appearances and scored 159 league goals, most prolifically at West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City.-Early life:Regis was born in Maripasoula, French Guiana,...
at West Brom was regarded at a time when racism was more prevalent in English football, Giles replied: "There was a perception in the game that black players didn't have any bottle. I never subscribed to that at all. There were fewer black players, but I used to make the point, 'What about Pele
Pelé
However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
, what about Jairzinho
Jairzinho
Jair Ventura Filho, better known as Jairzinho , is a former association footballer. A quick, powerful forward or winger, he was a member of the legendary Brazilian national team that won the 1970 FIFA World Cup, during which he scored in every game Brazil played...
, what about Garrincha
Garrincha
Manuel Francisco dos Santos , known by the nickname "Garrincha" , was an association football right winger and forward who helped the Brazil national team win the World Cups of 1958 and 1962. He played the majority of his professional career for Brazilian club Botafogo.The word garrincha itself...
?' These were all black players and they were the best in the world."
Club
Manchester United- FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
(1):19631963 FA Cup FinalThe 1963 FA Cup Final was the final of the 1962–63 FA Cup, the 82nd season of England's premier club football competition. The match was played at Wembley Stadium on 25 May 1963 and contested by Manchester United and Leicester City. United won 3–1, with a goal from Denis Law and two from...
Leeds United
- Football League First DivisionFootball League First DivisionThe First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
(2):1969,1974 - FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
(1):19721972 FA Cup FinalThe 1972 FA Cup Final took place on 6 May 1972 at Wembley Stadium. It was the Centenary final and the 44th to be played at Wembley.... - Fairs CupUEFA CupThe UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
(2):19681968 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup FinalThe 1968 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final was the final of the tenth edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. It was played on 7 August and 11 September 1968 between Leeds United of England and Ferencváros of Hungary. Leeds United won the tie 1–0 on aggregate....
, 19711971 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup FinalThe 1971 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final was the final of the eleventh and last Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. It was played on 28 May and 3 June 1971 between Juventus F.C. of Italy and Leeds United A.F.C. of England... - League CupFootball League CupThe Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
(1):19681968 Football League Cup FinalThe 1968 Football League Cup Final took place on 2 March 1968 at Wembley Stadium. It was the eighth final and the second to be played at Wembley. It was contested between Arsenal and Leeds United.... - Second DivisionFootball League Second DivisionFrom 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
(1): 1964
Shamrock Rovers F.C.
- FAI CupFAI CupThe Football Association of Ireland Challenge Cup, known as the FAI Ford Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland...
(1):1978 - Tyler CupTyler CupThe Tyler Cup was a football competition played between soccer clubs in the North and Republic of Ireland played between 1977 and 1981. It was similar to the earlier Blaxnit Cup, North-South Cup, Dublin and Belfast Intercity Cup or the present day Setanta Sports Cup.-Tyler Cup results:The finals...
(1):1978/79
Individual
- PFA Team of the YearPFA Team of the YearThe Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year is an annual award given to a set of 44 footballers in the top four tiers of English football; the Premier League, the Championship, League One and League Two, whom are seen to be deserving of being named in a "Team of the Year".The award...
: 1973–74, 1975–76, - 100 League LegendsFootball League 100 LegendsThe Football League 100 Legends is a list of 100 great association football players who played part or all of their professional career in English Premier season of League football...
: 1998 - UEFA Jubilee AwardUEFA Jubilee AwardsTo celebrate the Union of European Football Associations 's 50th anniversary in 2004, each of its member associations was asked by UEFA to choose one of its own players as the single most outstanding player of the past 50 years . The 52 players were known as the Golden Players...
: 2004
In 2006, Giles had a plaque erected in his honour at his birthplace at Ormond Square in Dublin.
Career statistics
|-|1959–60
The Football League 1959-60
-Overview:The 1959–1960 season was the 61st completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||rowspan="4"|Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
||rowspan="4"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
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|1960–61
The Football League 1960-61
-Overview:The 1960–1961 season was the 62nd completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
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|1961–62
The Football League 1961-62
-Overview:The 1961–1962 season was the 63rd completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
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|1962–63
The Football League 1962-63
-Overview:The 1962–1963 season was the 64th completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
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|1963–64
The Football League 1963-64
-Overview:The 1963–1964 season was the 64th completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||rowspan="12"|Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
||Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
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|1964–65
The Football League 1964-65
-Overview:The 1964–1965 season was the 65th completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
||rowspan="11"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
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|1965–66
The Football League 1965-66
-Overview:The 1965–1966 season was the 66th completed season of The Football League.This season is notable for Liverpool winning the title with only 14 squad players.-Final league tables :...
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|1966–67
The Football League 1966-67
-Overview:The 1966–1967 season was the 67th completed season of The Football League.-Final league tables :The tables below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found at website and in Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79, with home and away statistics...
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|1967–68
The Football League 1967-68
-Overview:The 1967–1968 season was the 68th completed season of The Football League.- First Division :For the first time since 1937 Manchester City won the league title, finishing two points clear of their local rivals Manchester United. Fulham finished bottom of the league and were relegated along...
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|1968–69
The Football League 1968-69
-Overview:The 1968–1969 season was the 69th completed season of The Football League.- First Division :Leeds United won the League for the first time in their history, finishing six points ahead of Liverpool...
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|1969–70
The Football League 1969-70
The 1969–1970 season was the 70th completed season of The Football League.Everton won their seventh title, finishing nine points clear of Leeds United with Chelsea in third and newly promoted Derby County in fourth. Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland were both relegated.Huddersfield Town claimed...
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|1970–71
The Football League 1970-71
-Overview:The 1970–1971 season was the 71st completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Arsenal won the league championship at the home of their bitter rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, with Ray Kennedy scoring the winner. This would soon be followed by their FA Cup final tie with Liverpool...
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|1971–72
The Football League 1971-72
-Overview:The 1971–1972 season was the 72nd completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Brian Clough, 37, won the first major trophy of his managerial career by guiding Derby County to their first ever league championship. They overcame Leeds United to win a four-horse race also...
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|1972–73
The Football League 1972-73
-Overview:The 1972–1973 season was the 73rd completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Liverpool cruised to another championship triumph in Bill Shankly's penultimate season as manager despite competition from Arsenal, Leeds United, Ipswich Town and Wolverhampton Wanderers.Manchester...
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|1973–74
The Football League 1973-74
-Overview:The 1973–1974 season was the 74th completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Don Revie marked his last season as Leeds United's manager by guiding them to league championship glory, before taking over from Sir Alf Ramsey as the England national football team manager, with...
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|1974–75
The Football League 1974-75
-Overview:The 1974–1975 season was the 75th completed season of The Football League.-First Division:David Mackay guided Derby County to their second league title in four years having overcome strong competition from Liverpool, Ipswich Town, Everton, Stoke City, Sheffield United and Middlesbrough in...
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|1975–76
The Football League 1975-76
-Overview:The 1975–1976 season was the 76th completed season of The Football League.-First Division:Liverpool won their first major trophy under Bob Paisley by narrowly winning the league title after heated competition from Queens Park Rangers. They also lifted the UEFA Cup for the second time in...
||rowspan="2"|West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
||Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
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|1976–77
The Football League 1976-77
-Overview:The 1976–1977 season was the 77th completed season of The Football League.As of this season, goal difference was used to separate the clubs finishing level on points. The earlier system, used from the season 1894–95 until the 1975–76 had been the so-called goal average , or more properly...
||First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
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|1978
North American Soccer League 1978
Statistics of North American Soccer League in season 1978. This was the 11th season of the NASL.-Overview:The league was made up of 24 teams. The Cosmos defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the finals on August 27 to win the championship.-Relocated Teams:* St...
||Philadelphia Fury
Philadelphia Fury
The Philadelphia Fury was a soccer team based in Philadelphia that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1980. Among the club's investors were rock musicians Rick Wakeman, Peter Frampton and Paul Simon. The team played at Veterans Stadium....
||NASL
North American Soccer League
North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...
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