WILLIAM GARBUTT - THE FATHER OF ITALIAN FOOTBALL (PAPERBACK) IN SOUTH AFRICA

This item is sold brand new. It is ordered on demand from our supplier and is usually dispatched within 7 - 12 working days Born in Stockport, William Garbutt was a reasonably successful winger with Blackburn Rovers, having first played for Woolwich Arsenal, when injury finished his career at the age of 29.He was good enough to have played for the Football League against the Scottish League. The usual route for ex-professionals was to become a publican but in 1912 Garbutt moved to Italy and took charge of Genoa Cricket and Football Club. In doing so he became the first professional football manager in Italian football. His professionalism and revolutionary ideas had a great impact on the club and under his guidance Genoa won the Italian League Championship three times - in 1915, 1923 and 1924. Garbutt is still considered an icon in Genoese football circles and is the reason why, to this day, Italian players call their manager 'Mister'. In 1927 he joined the newly formed AS Roma and guided them to a cup win in his first season. He then moved to Napoli for six seasons, taking them to third position in the league - the highest spot they had ever enjoyed and which they only bettered many years later. Garbutt repeated his remarkable success on moving to Spain in 1935, where he guided Athletic Bilbao to the championship of the Spanish League before returning to his first love, Genoa, shortly afterwards. As a British citizen he was an exile under Mussolini's fascists and was interned in Imola when his wife was killed by American bombing. He returned to England in the late 1940s and died in 1964 in Warwick. Author Paul Edgerton traced his adopted daughter Maria for a unique insight into an extraordinary man. Features Summary An Englishman abroad. The former Blackburn footballer who blazed a trail in Italian management. Author Paul Edgerton Publisher Sportsbooks Release date 20091001 Pages 224 ISBN 1-899807-82-9 ISBN 13 978-1-899807-82-6