Paddy Travers

Patrick Travers (28 May 1883 – 5 February 1962) was a Scottish football player and manager in the first half of the 20th century. He played for many clubs in his native Scotland and for Barnsley in England, before becoming involved in coaching, and later, management, winning the Scottish Cup with Clyde on two occasions either side of World War II.

Paddy Travers
Personal information
Full name Patrick Travers
Date of birth 28 May 1883
Place of birth Beith, Scotland[1]
Date of death 5 February 1962(1962-02-05) (aged 78)
Place of death Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)[2]
Playing position(s) Inside left[2]
Youth career
Renfrew Victoria
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1900–1901 Thornliebank
1901–1902 Barnsley 13 (4)
1902–1903 Thornliebank
1903–1904 Barnsley 8 (0)
1904 Thornliebank
1904–1907 New Brompton
1907–1908 Renton
1908–1910 Clyde 36 (8)
1910–1911 Aberdeen 34 (10)
1911–1912 Celtic 18 (3)
1912–1914 Aberdeen 63 (11)
1914–1917 Dumbarton 92 (10)
1917–1919 Clydebank 61 (12)
1920 Vale of Leven
1920 Dumbarton Harp
1920–1922 Dumbarton 17 (0)
Teams managed
1920–1922 Dumbarton
1923–1938 Aberdeen
1938–1956 Clyde
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Raised in Renfrew, Travers first played for his hometown team Renfrew Victoria around the turn of the century. In 1901 he played 13 games for Barnsley, before returning to Scotland to play for Thornliebank. He had a further spell at Barnsley, then went back to Thornliebank, followed by games for New Brompton and Renton before moving to Clyde.[2][3]

In 1910, Travers was signed by Jimmy Philip to play for Aberdeen,[2] but only played one season for them before returning to Glasgow, where he had business interests, to play for Celtic.[1] He had one season with the Bhoys, playing regularly after coming in for the injured Jimmy McMenemy until he himself was injured and Patsy Gallacher took the place, resulting in him missing out on the latter stages of the 1911–12 Scottish Cup as the club won the competition.[4] He then returned to Aberdeen,[2] and this time stayed until the end of the 1913–14 season when he moved on to Dumbarton.[5][6] He spent the remainder of his playing career in the West Dunbartonshire area, also playing for Clydebank, Vale of Leven and Dumbarton Harp.[6]

Managerial career

Aberdeen

Travers coached in Norway and was trainer then player-manager of Dumbarton before being engaged to coach Aberdeen in 1922.[7] He remained in that position until the retirement of Philip in the summer of 1924.[2] One of his first acts as manager was the signing of Alec Jackson, together with his brother George. Jackson went on to be one of the most renowned players of his generation. In spite of this, however, Travers' first season in charge ended with relegation only avoided on goal difference. In the following seasons, many players came and went – Travers worked hard in the transfer market of the time, and his dealings are credited with improving the club's previously precarious financial situation.

In 1931, Travers mysteriously dropped three of the club's regular players before a match against Falkirk. In all, five players never played for the club again,[2] and it was reported in the 1970s that this was the result of an alleged plot to win fixed-odds bets on half-time and full-time scores. No police action was ever taken, and many of those involved protested their innocence for the remainder of their lives. The same year, he brought Donald Colman to the club from Dumbarton to act as a coach.[7]

In 1937, Travers took his team to the Scottish Cup final, the first time Aberdeen had ever appeared in the event. They were defeated 2–1 by Celtic in front of a record official attendance of 146,433, although many more spectators may have gained illegal entry. That summer, the club were on a tour of South Africa when outside-right Jackie Benyon died suddenly of peritonitis. Travers remained in charge for two more seasons, but feeling that he no longer had the full support of his directors, accepted an offer to manage Clyde in 1938; he was replaced at Aberdeen by Colman.

Clyde

The success which had eluded him at Pittodrie soon materialised at Shawfield, however, and the Scottish Cup was won by Travers' Clyde team in 1938–39. He was still manager of Clyde in 1954–55, when the Bully Wee beat Celtic in a replay to win their second Cup. He was also a runner up as manager with Clyde in the Scottish Cup in 1948–49 when Clyde lost 4–1 to Rangers in the final.

Also notably in season 1951–52, Travers led Clyde to four trophies in a single season; the Scottish Division B league title, the B Division Supplementary Cup, the Glasgow Cup and the Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup.[8]

His four Scottish Cup finals earned him a reputation as a "Cup specialist" when named as one of Scotland's 50 greatest managers by the Sunday Herald newspaper.[9][10]

Honours

Manager

Dumbarton

  • Dunbartonshire Cup: 1920–21, 1921–22[11]
  • Dunbartonshire Charity Cup: 1921–22[12]

Aberdeen

  • Aberdeenshire Cup (10) : 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34[13]
  • Aberdeenshire League (4): 1925–26, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1928–29[14]
  • Scottish Cup: Runner-up: 1936–37

Clyde

Managerial statistics

[19][20][21][22][lower-alpha 1]

Team Nat From To Record
GWDLWin %
Dumbarton 1921 1922 43 10 10 23 023.26
Aberdeen 1924 1938 571 269 128 174 047.11
Clyde 1938 1956 468 183 89 196 039.10
Total 1,082 462 227 393 042.70
  1. Does not include wartime competitions or regional tournaments such as the Glasgow Cup.

Sources
  • Webster, Jack (2003). The First 100 years of The Dons: The official history of Aberdeen Football Club 1903 - 2003. Hodder & Stoughton, London. ISBN 0-340-82344-5.
  • Since 1881: the searchable Premiership and Football League player database

References
  1. Celtic player Patrick Travers, FitbaStats
  2. Paddy Travers, AFC Heritage Trust
  3. [A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players], John Litster / Scottish Football Historian magazine, October 2012
  4. Final game of the legendary Patsy Gallacher, Celtic FC, 10 October 2015
  5. McAllister, Jim (2002). The Sons of the Rock - The Official History of Dumbarton Football Club. Dumbarton: J&J Robertson Printers.
  6. Paddy Travers, Sons Archive
  7. Donald Colman, The Vale of Leven
  8. "Clyde FC Hall of Fame: Harry Haddock". Clyde FC. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  9. "Scotland's 50 Greatest Managers". Sunday Herald. 8 June 2003. Archived from the original on 24 December 2005. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  10. "Scotland's 50 Greatest Managers". Highbeam. 8 June 2003. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  11. "Dunbartonshire Cup (1884–1940)". SFHA. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  12. "Dunbartonshire Charity Cup competitions (1915–27)". SFHA. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  13. "Aberdeenshire Cup (1887-)". SFHA. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  14. "Aberdeenshire League (1919-)". SFHA. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  15. "B Division Supplementary Cup (1945–1952)". SFHA. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  16. "Glasgow Cup (1887-1989)". SFHA. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  17. "Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup (1876-1966)". SFHA. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  18. "Paisley Charity Cup". SFHA. Archived from the original on 30 July 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  19. Dumbarton manager Pat Travers, FitbaStats
  20. Aberdeen manager Pat Travers, FitbaStats
  21. Managers: Pat Travers, AFC Heritage Trust
  22. Clyde manager Pat Travers, FitbaStats
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