Ron Atkinson

Ronald Frederick "Ron" Atkinson (born 18 March 1939) commonly known as "Big Ron" and (earlier in his managerial career) "Mr Bojangles" is an English former football player and manager. In recent years he has become one of Britain's best-known football pundits. His idiosyncratic turn of phrase has led to his utterances becoming known as "Big-Ronisms" or "Ronglish".

Playing Career

Atkinson, who was born in Liverpool, Lancashire but moved to Birmingham, Warwickshire a few weeks after his birth, did not achieve great heights in his playing career. He was originally signed by Aston Villa at the age of 17, but never played a first-team match for them. He still refers to then Villa coach Jimmy Hogan as his biggest influence.

He transferred to Oxford United (then called Headington United) in the close season of 1959 on a free transfer. There he played with his younger brother Graham Atkinson. He went on to make over 500 appearances in all competitions as a wing-half for the club, earning the nickname "The Tank", and scoring a total of 14 goals. He was United's captain through their rise from the Southern League to the Second Division, achieved in only six years from 1962 to 1968, an impressive achievement. He was the first ever footballer to captain a club from the Southern League through three divisions of the Football League.

Manager in Manchester United

Atkinson was very much a manager with charisma and sparkle, quite the opposite to his predecessor (who had taken them to second place in the league in 1980 but never won a major trophy since his appointment in 1977).

United had finished eighth in the season before Atkinson's appointment, and Atkinson had actually missed out of the chance of overseeing a UEFA Cup campaign by departing from Albion and taking over at United.

In 1981–82 United finished third in the First Division, to qualify for the UEFA Cup, though for much of the season they were one of several teams who topped the table before a late surge from Liverpool saw Bob Paisley's team seal the title. Early in the season he had paid a national record £1.5 million for Bryan Robson from his old club West Bromwich Albion, and shortly afterwards also added midfielder Remi Moses (also from West Bromwich Albion) and Arsenal striker Frank Stapleton to his ranks. He also gave a debut to promising young forward Norman Whiteside in April 1982, just before the player's 17th birthday.[citation needed]

In 1982–83 two appearances at Wembley, one of which was an FA Cup victory against Brighton & Hove Albion, coupled with another third place finish in the league, fuelled speculation that United were back in a big way. During the first half of the season, they had topped the league more than once but a storming run of form by Liverpool beginning before Christmas meant that the title headed for Anfield for the second year running. 1982–83 also saw the breakthrough of young Norman Whiteside as one of the best performing players in the First Division. Whiteside was also on the scoresheet for the FA Cup final replay as United beat Brighton 4–0 after drawing the first game 2–2.

In 1983–84, Atkinson's side reached the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup and finished fourth in the First Division, although their defence of the FA Cup ended at the first hurdle which a shock 2–0 defeat at Third Division Bournemouth. They finished fourth in the league, having topped the table at several stages once again, before injuries to key players counted against them and they dropped points.

The end of the season saw the sale of key midfielder Ray Wilkins to A.C. Milan of Italy for £1.5 million, while the duration of the season had seen the breakthrough of young striker Mark Hughes. Rather than plunge into the transfer market for a big name, Atkinson shifted 19-year-old striker Norman Whiteside into midfield to fill the gap left by Wilkins and allowed Hughes to form a partnership with the experienced Frank Stapleton.

In 1984–85, United again won the FA Cup. However, Atkinson and his team were denied the chance of another European Cup Winners Cup campaign as the Heysel disaster at the European Cup final that year, resulted in an indefinite ban on all English clubs in European competitions (ultimately lasting five years).

In the 1985–86 they won their first 10 games of the league season to build a comfortable lead at the top of the table which lasted into the new year. However, their form tailed off badly and they again finished fourth, with Liverpool (who also won the FA Cup) finishing the season as league champions for a record 16th time. With the ban on English clubs in European competitions continuing, there wasn't even the consolation of a UEFA Cup place.

There was more disappointment for United's fans when the sale of Mark Hughes to Barcelona of Spain was announced at the end of the season. Atkinson had prepared for Hughes's departure in March 1986 by paying Nottingham Forest £570,000 for England striker Peter Davenport. Although Davenport did play some good games for United, he failed to achieve the success that Hughes had achieved and was not a popular figure among fans even when performing well.

The 1986 close season saw speculation mount that Atkinson would be sacked by Manchester United and that Alex Ferguson would be recruited from Scottish side Aberdeen to become his successor,[citation needed] but the 1986–87 season began with Atkinson still at the helm.

Atkinson had spent heavily at United, paying over £8 million for new signings—which included Bryan Robson, Gordon Strachan and Jesper Olsen. He also brought through young talent such as Norman Whiteside, Mark Hughes and Paul McGrath.

His two FA Cup wins had made him more successful than any manager at Manchester United since Matt Busby, but he was now becoming increasingly unpopular among fans[citation needed] and the pressure to build on the earlier successes was becoming more intense than ever.

He had recouped more than £6 million with the sale of highly-rated players including Ray Wilkins and Mark Hughes.

The 1986–87 season opened disastrously with three successive defeats, and despite a minor upturn in September and October which included a 5–1 home win over Southampton in the league, the pressure on Atkinson remained immense and the board finally ran out of patience on 6 November 1986 when he was dismissed as manager two days after a 4–1 exit at the hands of Southampton in the League Cup. They were also second from bottom in the First Division.

Director Of Football

On 23 January 2007 Atkinson returned to Kettering Town, the club he had managed more than 30 years previously, as Director of Football. However it was announced on 19 April 2007 that he had left the post at the Conference North club following his disapproval over the sacking of manager Morell Maison.

On 18 October 2007, it was announced that the 68-year-old Atkinson had been appointed as consultant at Halesowen Town, assisting Morell Maison the new manager. Atkinson, apparently, left his role at Halesowen in order to pursue business interests.