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Bobby Gould

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For people with a similar name, seeBob Gould (disambiguation).

Bobby Gould
Personal information
Full name Robert Hewitt Gould
Date of birth (1946-06-12)12 June 1946(age 78)
Place of birth Coventry,Warwickshire,England
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1963–1968 Coventry City 82 (40)
1968–1970 Arsenal 65 (16)
1970–1971 Wolverhampton Wanderers 40 (18)
1971–1972 West Bromwich Albion 52 (18)
1972–1973 Bristol City 35 (15)
1973–1975 West Ham United 51 (15)
1975–1977 Wolverhampton Wanderers 34 (13)
1977–1978 Bristol Rovers 36 (12)
1978–1979 Hereford United 45 (13)
Total 440 (160)
Managerial career
1978 Aalesunds FK
1981 Chelsea(caretaker)
1981–1983 Bristol Rovers
1983–1984 Coventry City
1985–1987 Bristol Rovers
1987–1990 Wimbledon
1991–1992 West Bromwich Albion
1992–1993 Coventry City
1995–1999 Wales
2000 Cardiff City
2003 Cheltenham Town
2009 Weymouth
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robert Hewitt "Bobby" Gould(born 12 June 1946) is an English formerfootballerand manager.

Early life

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Gould was born inWyken,Coventry,Warwickshireon 12 June 1946. He is the son of Henry Gould and Helen McKellar Gould (née Morton).[1]He spent his youth living in Wyken and attendedCaludon Castle Schoolfor his secondary education.[1][2]

Playing career

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Gould started his football career atCoventry City,making his debut for the club whilst still an apprentice at the age of 16. He did not sign professional until June 1964. Astriker,he scored 40 goals in 82 league games for the Sky Blues, helping them to win theSecond Divisiontitle in1966–67.[3][4]

He moved toArsenalin February 1968 for £90,000.[5]He could not hold down a regular place in the Arsenal first team, although he did score a headed goal in the1969 League Cup FinalagainstSwindon Town,to send the game into extra time; Arsenal went on to lose 3–1.[6]

Gould played no part in Arsenal'sEuropean Fairs Cup 1969–70final win and by the end of 1969–70 was on the sidelines at Arsenal.[7]He made two appearances and scored a goal earlier in the cup run againstGlentoran.[8]

In June 1970 Gould was transferred toWolvesfor a fee of £55,000, and made his debut againstNewcastle Unitedin August 1970, but after just 15 months he was signed byWest Bromwich AlbionmanagerDon Howefor £66,666.[5]He made his Albion debut at home toIpswich Townin the same month, and partneringJeff Astlein attack, went on to score 12 goals in his first season at the Hawthorns. In all he scored 19 goals in 60 appearances for Albion, but when his form began to wane he was sold toBristol Cityfor £68,888 in December 1972.[5]

Gould joinedWest Ham Unitedin November 1973 for an £80,000 fee, and picked up a winners' medal in the1975 FA Cup Finalas a non-playing substitute.[5]He re-joined Wolves for £30,000 in December 1975 and helped them to win theSecond Divisiontitle in1976–77.[5]He moved on toBristol Roversfor £10,000 in October 1977, assuming the role of player-coach.[5]Between January and April 1978 Gould coached the Norwegian sideAalesunds FK,and joinedHereford Unitedas player-coach for £10,000 in September of the same year.[5]

Management and coaching career

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Club management (1979–1993)

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Gould joinedChelseaas assistant manager toGeoff Hurstin 1979. When Hurst was sacked in April 1981, Gould took charge of first team affairs for the final two games of the season, before leaving the club shortly afterwards.

Gould began his managerial career with Bristol Rovers in October 1981 before returning to Coventry City as Boss in May 1983. He remained there until he was sacked on 28 December 1984.[9]The highlight of this spell at Coventry came on 10 December 1983 when his unfancied Coventry side achieved a 4–0 win overLiverpool,the top English club side of the time who went on to win the league title, League Cup and European Cup that season. He made a swift return to management after accepting an offer to return to Bristol Rovers.

Gould is most famous for his achievements withWimbledon.He moved to the South Londoners in the summer of 1987 after their first season as aFirst Divisionclub, in which they had finished sixth. His first season brought one of the most famousFA Cupvictories in history, when his unfancied Wimbledon side beatLiverpoolto clinch the1988 FA Cup FinalatWembley.[10]They also finished seventh in the league. Gould is famous for adopting the technique of, as he says, "goal keepers who can kick the ball 90 yards and a 6-foot 2 bloke to head it in!", he said jokingly ontalkSPORTwithAndy Goldstein.

Gould remained with the Dons for two more seasons before quitting to make way for his assistantRay Harford.In December 1990, Gould returned to football as assistant manager toDon HoweatQueen's Park Rangers– a role reversal of the management team that they had formed at Wimbledon. Gould lasted just two months atLoftus Roadbefore accepting an offer to become manager of West Bromwich Albion.[11]

But he was unable to prevent them from suffering relegation to the oldThird Divisionat the end of the1990–91 season– the first time that Albion had slipped to such depths. In1991–92,Albion just missed out on the playoffs in their first season as a Third Division club and Gould left in June 1992 to join Coventry, his former club. Ironically, Howe was working at Coventry by this time and the pair were joint managers, but Howe stepped down before the season began to leave Gould in sole charge.

He remained at Coventry City until October 1993, when he resigned despite defying all the odds and keeping them clear of relegation from thePremiership.In his first season, they had been fourth in the league as late as January before a late season dip in form saw them finish 15th. Earlier in the season he had paidNewcastle United£250,000 for strikerMick Quinn,who was among the top scorers in the first-ever Premier League season with 17 goals. He also oversaw a thrilling 5–1 victory in the league overLiverpool,and the following season they began with a similarly impressive 3–0 win overArsenalatHighbury.

International management (1995–1999)

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His next stop was with theWelsh national team.He became national coach in June 1995 but quit four years later after their failure to qualify for the1998 FIFA World CupandUEFA Euro 2000.Gould was not at all highly regarded by the Welsh fans, following questionable tactics and major fallings out with players such asNathan Blake,when Blake refused to play after accusing Gould of making a racist remark in training,[12][13]as well asMark Hughes.Gould also engaged in a wrestling bout withJohn Hartson.[14]A comical incident occurred early in the career ofRobbie Savagewhen Savage jokingly threw a replica ofPaolo Maldini's shirt away onSky Sportsbefore a match against Italy.[15]Gould initially dropped Savage from the squad for disrespecting Maldini, only to reinstate him the next day. Gould's final match was a 4–0 defeat to Italy in which he allegedly instructed Mark Hughes "not to tackle the Italians as they'll only dive".

Back to club football (2000–2003)

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In August 2000, Gould was named as manager of Division Three sideCardiff City.But two months later he handed over his duties toAlan Corkand was promoted to the role of general manager. After seeing the Bluebirds win promotion at the end of2000–01he left Ninian Park to seek a return to management.[16]

Gould's final full-time managerial post came in February 2003 when he took over at Division Two strugglersCheltenham Town.[17]Despite his efforts, Cheltenham were unable to avoid relegation back to Division Three and Gould resigned soon after the2003–04campaign was underway, following a run of six defeats in seven games.[18]Gould was unpopular with the fans throughout the start of 2003–04, resulting in a demonstration after the home match with Rochdale during which he came out to announce that he had resigned.

Other roles in football (since 2004)

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Gould is a regular presenter and pundit ontalkSPORT Radio,and appears each Friday on the Andy Goldstein Sports Bar programme, where he is colloquially known as "The Gouldfather".[19]

Return to club football

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Gould was appointed as manager ofWeymouthin theConference Nationalon 12 April 2009 for the final five games of the season.[20][21]In his first game in charge Gould led Weymouth to a 1–1 draw withForest Green Roverswhich ended an 11-game losing streak, but he was unable to save them from relegation to theConference South.He is now assistant manager at Western League sidePortishead Town.

Personal life

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Married to Marjorie since 1968,[20]the couple have two sonsJonathan(born 1968) andRichard(born 1970). Richard is the current Chief Executive of theEngland & Wales Cricket Board,whilst Jonathan is a formerCoventry CityandCelticgoalkeeper.

Matt Gould,Bobby's grandson, is a goalkeeper who has representedSpennymoor Town[22]andAltrincham,while Louise Gould, Bobby's granddaughter, is a journalist working for Celtic.[citation needed]

Honours

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Player

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Coventry City[3]
Arsenal
Wolverhampton
West Ham United

Manager

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Bristol Rovers
Wimbledon

References

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  1. ^abGould, Bobby (13 June 2013)."Solid Gould: Meet the family who made me the man I am".Coventry Telegraph.Retrieved20 January2018.
  2. ^"Notable Alumni".Caludon Castle School.Archived fromthe originalon 21 January 2018.Retrieved20 January2018.
  3. ^ab"Bobby Gould Returns to Coventry Again Later This Month for Sphinx Date".CCFPA.co.uk.
  4. ^"The Big Interview: Bobby Gould".Express and Star.
  5. ^abcdefgMatthews, Tony (2005).The Who's Who of West Bromwich Albion.Breedon Books. p. 96.ISBN1-85983-474-4.
  6. ^"League Cup Final, March 15, 1969".football-England. Archived fromthe originalon 10 January 2007.Retrieved11 January2007.
  7. ^ab"Feature: Bobby Gould".Arsenal.
  8. ^"Arsenal Stats".thearsenalhistory.Retrieved25 January2018.
  9. ^"United, Arsenal get monkeys off their backs".Calgary Herald.30 December 1984.Retrieved8 September2013.
  10. ^ab"Bobby Gould on 1988 win".AFC Wimbledon.co.uk.
  11. ^Bobby Gould,qpr.co.uk. Accessed 19 February 2024.(archived)
  12. ^"Football Unites, Racism Divides • Racist incidents".Archived fromthe originalon 21 January 2018.Retrieved4 December2007.
  13. ^"An Englishman over the border".BBC News. 5 June 1999.Retrieved26 April2010.
  14. ^"Gould defends Hartson Wales rumble".19 October 2006.
  15. ^Mills, Bill (6 September 1998)."Savage dismissal shocks team-mates".Sunday Mirror.
  16. ^"Gould leaves Cardiff".BBC Sport. 2 July 2001.Retrieved13 April2008.
  17. ^"Robins appoint Gould".BBC Sport. 11 February 2003.Retrieved13 April2008.
  18. ^"Gould quits Cheltenham".BBC Sport. 19 October 2003.Retrieved13 April2008.
  19. ^"Bobby Gould".Talksport.
  20. ^ab"Gould: It's the wife's fault".This is Bristol. 18 April 2009. Archived fromthe originalon 5 May 2013.Retrieved10 October2009.
  21. ^"Gould appointed Weymouth manager".BBC Sport. 12 April 2009.Retrieved12 April2009.
  22. ^"Matthew Gould".Spennymoor Town FC.Retrieved14 June2019.
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