Gary Megson

At 64 years old, Gary Megson physical status not available right now. We will update Gary Megson's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

Playing career

Megson, a hard-tackling defensive midfielder who played for nine different clubs as a player. He began his career at Plymouth Argyle, where he was enough for Everton to sign him for a £250,000 transfer fee. Megson struggled to establish himself in the Everton line-up, and after two years at Goodison, he relocated to Sheffield, where his father had once played for, costing him £130,000.

Megson was a member of the team that earned promotion to the top flight in 1983–84, bringing an end to the elite's 14-year exile. He played in only three league games in his three years at Hillsborough. He was signed by Nottingham Forest in 1984, but Brian Clough was shocked to learn that "he couldn't trap a bag of cement." Megson spent five months at the City Grounds, without making a single first-team appearance before being sold to Newcastle United.

Megson played for the remainder of the 1984–85 season but lost his spot in the team's line-up the following season and moved back to Sheffield on Wednesday. Megson established himself as a key player of the squad in his second stint with the Owls, but he was rarely out of the starting lineup. He moved to Manchester, Michigan, where he spent three and a half seasons and helped the city finish fifth in their final two seasons, helping them win promotion in their first season.

He then transferred to Norwich City as a free agent in 1992 and spent three seasons at Carrow Road. He was a key player of Norwich's inaugural season of the Premier League and competed in the UEFA Cup for the first time as a result. Mike Walker, the boss of Everton in January 1994, was also an assistant to the new Norwich manager, John Deehan.

Megson briefly took over as caretaker boss after Deehan resigned in April 1995, but the city was unable to recover from the disgrowsing, losing four games and drawing one of his five games in charge. In the summer, he left Norwich and continued his playing career with brief stints with lower division teams Lincoln City and Shrewsbury Town. Following Martin O'Neill's surprise departure to Leicester City in December 1995, he returned to Norwich as re-appointed manager. When Mike Walker was hired for the second time, he remained as boss of Carrow Road until the end of the season.

Managerial career

Megson was assistant to manager John Deehan while still playing for Norwich City. Megson stepped up to the manager's role for the remainder of the season after Deehan resigned as mayor of Norwich on April 9, 1995, with Norwich heading for relegation after a string of poor performance since Christmas. Norwich, on the other hand, received just one point from their remaining games and was relegated. Martin O'Neill was appointed manager that summer, with Megson departing the club to play for Lincoln City and then Shrewsbury before joining Bradford City late in 1995 as assistant manager to Chris Kamara. However, following Martin O'Neill's departure to Leicester City, he was back at Norwich as boss by Christmas this year. Norwich finished 15th in Division One this season, with Megson leaving the club as manager Mike Walker returned.

Megson became the manager of Blackpool in 1996, winning 21 out of 52 matches, but not enough for a playoff spot and the possibility of promotion to Division One. Mike Phelan, the former Manchester United midfielder, was aided by him at Bloomfield Road, but the Seasiders failed to land a Division Two playoff spot, and Megson was left at the end of the season.

Megson came from Stockport County in July 1997, a few years after Dave Jones' release for Premier League Southampton. County had been runners-up in Division Two for the season before, so the new season in Division One would begin. Megson's first season as an outsider, with some outstanding results, including a 3–1 home win over Manchester City, in Megson's first season. The following season was even worse, with County finishing in 16th place. He left Stockport by mutual consent soon after.

Megson was not unemployed for long, taking the manager's job at Stoke City in 1999 after the club lost out on Tony Pulis, who instead moved to Bristol City. Megson joined the club at a time when there was a lot of pressure on the current board to sell the club to new owners. After a slow start to the 1999–2000 season, the team's results gradually improved, and they were able to advance to the play-offs after a ten-match undefeated run. Nevertheless, Megson's long-awaited takeover bid was accepted by a group of Icelandic businessmen headed by Gunnar Gslason by November. Gudjon Thordarson, the former Iceland national team manager, was hired by the team's own man.

In March 2000, Megson took over as the head of First Division West Bromwich Albion, just days before the transfer deadline was reached in the 1999–2000 season. Albion had been in the top flight of England football for 14 years, and the third tier had seen their first season (two seasons). In fact, when Megson was first appointed, they were in danger of being relegated to that level. But he quickly decided to upgrade the team by bringing in several new players. Megson's first month as president was given a 28-day touchline suspension after Albion's 2–0 loss to Portsmouth. Megson was furious over a penalty that Poll had been awarded to Portsmouth; Poll later admitted that it was "one of the worst penalties I've ever given." Albion also ensured their stability by winning their last game of the season.

Megson made the team eligible for the Division One Manager of the Month award for November 2000 along the way. Albion lost to Bolton Wanderers at the semi-final stage, but the club won promotion to the Premier League for the first time this year, defeating their fierce local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers by 11 points in the closing weeks. Megson was named Nationwide Division One Manager of the Year, as well as the medieval title Lord of the Manor of West Bromwich, for his service. However, the club was barely prepared for the financial challenges of life in the top flight, and a bitter feud between Megson and the club's chairman Paul Thompson soon developed over Megson's alleged interference in footballing issues. Thompson resigned from the board in order to avoid Jim Megson's departure, owing to an undignified public demonstration. Jeremy Peace was elected as Thompson's successor by the board in July 2002, Megson began a new three-year contract with Albion. The club was relegated in 2002–03 after just one season in the Premier League.

Megson's campaign culminated in a fruitful promotion campaign and a return to the Premier League in 2004, but Megson's friendship with Peace was strained by the summer of 2004. Megson's job seemed to be in jeopardy by September, following a slow start to the season, but it didn't seem that his career was in jeopardy. Megson, a footballer whose deal was set to come to an end in June 2005, revealed that he would not sign a new one unless the club gave one. Megson was fired on October 26 because the board wanted to treat this as a resignation. In November 2004, the remainder of his deal was decided.

Gary Megson, the manager of Albion's local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, had been linked with the manager's position, but the job was transferred to Glenn Hoddle instead. Megson was appointed to replace struggling Nottingham Forest's struggling Joe Kinnear as their head coach, but the team was unable to prevent them from falling into the third tier of English football for the first time in more than a century. Forest was supposed to be his goal for 2005-06, but the season was marred by an absence from home. In terms of points, they were nearer to the relegation zone than the playoff zone when he resigned in February 2006 after being put under a lot of pressure by Forest supporters. He said that his resignation had cost him £500,000.

Megson was appointed as a coach at Stoke City by boss Tony Pulis in June 2007. He remained in the position until his appointment as Leicester City's boss.

Leicester City chairman Milan Mandari announced Gary Megson as the club's new manager on September 13, citing Megson's "wealth of experience" as the deciding factor in the selection. Leicester beat Sheffield Wednesday 2–0 on Sunday, giving them their first League victory under Megson.

Mandari refused Bolton Wanderers' proposal for Megson's services a month into his Leicester tenure. Bolton announced on October 23 that Megson had been their first choice to become their new manager, and took a second approach. Leicester was also able to compensate Leicester if Megson leaves the Walkers Stadium, according to the club. Milan Mandari refused this second attempt, but Megson was eventually allowed to speak to Bolton, and he left Leicester on October 24, 2007, just 41 days and nine EFL Championship games after his arrival.

Megson took over as Bolton Wanderers' boss on October 25, 2007, a two-and-a-half year deal. Since Bolton had already been approached for Steve Bruce and Chris Coleman, he conceded that he was not the right one for the job, and Graeme Souness had already ruled out. Bolton had a rough start to the 2007–08 season under Sammy Lee, and when Megson took over, they were left with just 5 points from ten games. Megson's first game in charge was against Aston Villa on October 28, where they lost 11-01. Bolton beat Manchester United, the champions and League leaders, 1–0, on November 24; this was Bolton's first home win over United since 30 years.

Bolton finished 16th in the Premier League table by the New Year, but only two points ahead of Fulham who were 19th. They sold Nicolas Anelka to Chelsea for £15 million in January 2008, but there was no such substitute. For the first time in the club's history, they defeated Atlético Madrid (1–0 on aggregate, winning 1–0 at home and drawing 0–0 away) in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup in Lisbon, where Bolton lost the away leg 1–0. Megson selected a reserve team on Sunday so that the first team was rested for the relegation match against Wigan Athletic. They lost 1–0 to a ten-man Wigan team. Their League form remained poor, with a 4–0 loss at Aston Villa on April 5th putting them in 18th place, two points adrift of safety. But the team recovered to 11 points from their previous five games (including a 1–1 draw at Chelsea on the final day of the season) to ensure resurgent in the Premier League, the first time Megson has achieved this as a boss.

Megson received the Premier League Manager of the Month award for November 2008. Johan Elmander, Fabrice Muamba from Birmingham City for £5 million, Fabrice Muamba from Levante for £5 million, Mustapha Riga from Levante, Danny Shittu for £2 million, and Ebi Smolarek on a season-long loan from Racing Santander with a view to a permanent contract. Bolton started the season well, and Bolton was hoping for another relegation scrape by October. This put pressure on Megson, but he was given time by Chairman Phil Gartside and continued to produce results, leading Bolton to a high of eighth in the league. Megson had agreed to a new rolling contract with Bolton on March 1, 2009. Newcastle United defeated Newcastle United 1–0, marking the start of his new deal. In the 2008–09 season, Bolton finished 13th.

Megson was added to the Trotters' squad during the summer of 2009 with the additions of Portsmouth midfielder Sean Davis on a free transfer, Aston Villa's right-back Barely Brown, and South Korean international Lee Chung-Yong. Ivan Klasni, a Croatian international, was brought from FC Nantes on a season long loan just before the transfer window was closed. He began the season in an eminent manner with losses to Hull City and Sunderland before showing excellent form in the next seven games. Three victories, two draws, and narrow defeats to Manchester United and Liverpool were evident in these games. Bolton lost five out of the next six games after October 25th. The first three were separated by four goals, which were followed by a home loss to Blackburn, a draw against Fulham, and a home loss at Wolverham Wanderers. Bolton played Manchester City and were scheduled games against other relegation candidates, including West Ham United, Wigan Athletic, Burnley, and Hull City in a period where nearly fifty days without a win. Bolton's four games were barely winning with three draws, putting the club 18th out of 20 and with 18 points from 18 games.

Megson had been relieved of his duties as boss with immediate effect as a manager on December 30, 2009. "The decision was taken in the light of the club's appearance in the Barclays Premier League at the halfway point of the season," Bolton Wanderers' official statement. Megson would be paid out the remainder of his rolling contract on a weekly basis, effectively ending his season as the club and their former manager were unable to reach an agreement. Megson, who was fired by Bolton, said he never won the fans over and slammed the club's supporters, saying they did not know him and that they did not like him.

Megson, the former manager of Sheffield Wednesday, was appointed manager of his former club, replacing Alan Irvine, who had been fired of his job the previous day. He was fired on February 29, 2012, with the club third in League One. He had the third highest win percentage of any manager in Sheffield Wednesday's history at the time of his dismissal. In the Steel City derby, he had a 1–0 win over Sheffield United, his last result before being dismissed.

Megson served as an Assistant Head Coach to Tony Pulis in July 2017.

After Tony Pulis was fired, he was named as the caretaker head coach of West Bromwich Albion "until further notice" on November 20th. Megson resigned as manager of the club when Alan Pardew was installed.

Career statistics

Source:

Source