Gordon Milne

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title: "Gordon Milne" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1937-births", "living-people", "english-people-of-scottish-descent", "english-men's-footballers", "men's-association-football-midfielders", "liverpool-f.c.-players", "preston-north-end-f.c.-players", "wigan-athletic-f.c.-players", "blackpool-f.c.-players", "morecambe-f.c.-players", "english-football-league-players", "english-football-league-representative-players", "england-men's-international-footballers", "english-football-managers", "wigan-athletic-f.c.-managers", "coventry-city-f.c.-managers", "leicester-city-f.c.-managers", "beşiktaş-j.k.-managers", "nagoya-grampus-managers", "bursaspor-managers", "trabzonspor-managers", "english-football-league-managers", "süper-lig-managers", "j1-league-managers", "english-expatriate-football-managers", "english-expatriate-sportspeople-in-turkey", "english-expatriate-sportspeople-in-japan", "expatriate-football-managers-in-turkey", "expatriate-football-managers-in-japan"] description: "English footballer (born 1937)" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Milne" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary English footballer (born 1937) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox football biography"]

Field	Value
name	Gordon Milne
image	Gordon Milne (1966).jpg
caption	Milne in 1966
birth_date
birth_place	Preston, England
position	Midfielder
youthclubs1	Preston Amateurs
years2	1956–1960
years3	1960–1967
years4	1967–1970
years5	1970–1972
clubs1	Morecambe
clubs2	Preston North End
clubs3	Liverpool
clubs4	Blackpool
clubs5	Wigan Athletic
caps2	83
caps3	236
caps4	64
caps5	73
goals2	3
goals3	17
goals4	4
goals5	4
totalcaps	452
totalgoals	28
nationalyears1	1963–1964
nationalteam1	England
nationalcaps1	14
nationalgoals1	0
manageryears1	1970–1972
manageryears2	1972–1974
manageryears3	1974–1981
manageryears4	1982–1986
manageryears5	1987–1993
manageryears6	1994
manageryears7	1996–1997
manageryears8	1998–1999
managerclubs1	Wigan Athletic
managerclubs2	England U18
managerclubs3	Coventry City
managerclubs4	Leicester City
managerclubs5	Beşiktaş
managerclubs6	Nagoya Grampus Eight
managerclubs7	Bursaspor
managerclubs8	Trabzonspor
::

| name = Gordon Milne | image = Gordon Milne (1966).jpg | caption = Milne in 1966 | fullname = | birth_date = | birth_place = Preston, England | death_date = | height = | position = Midfielder | currentclub = | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = Preston Amateurs | years1 = | years2 = 1956–1960 | years3 = 1960–1967 | years4 = 1967–1970 | years5 = 1970–1972 | clubs1 = Morecambe | clubs2 = Preston North End | clubs3 = Liverpool | clubs4 = Blackpool | clubs5 = Wigan Athletic | caps1 = | caps2 = 83 | caps3 = 236 | caps4 = 64 | caps5 = 73 | goals1 = | goals2 = 3 | goals3 = 17 | goals4 = 4 | goals5 = 4 | totalcaps = 452 | totalgoals = 28 | nationalyears1 = 1963–1964 | nationalteam1 = England | nationalcaps1 = 14 | nationalgoals1 = 0 | medaltemplates = | manageryears1 = 1970–1972 | manageryears2 = 1972–1974 | manageryears3 = 1974–1981 | manageryears4 = 1982–1986 | manageryears5 = 1987–1993 | manageryears6 = 1994 | manageryears7 = 1996–1997 | manageryears8 = 1998–1999 | managerclubs1 = Wigan Athletic | managerclubs2 = England U18 | managerclubs3 = Coventry City | managerclubs4 = Leicester City | managerclubs5 = Beşiktaş | managerclubs6 = Nagoya Grampus Eight | managerclubs7 = Bursaspor | managerclubs8 = Trabzonspor Gordon Milne (born 29 March 1937) is an English former football player and manager.

Personal life

Gordon Milne was born in Preston, Lancashire, England and is the son of the Scottish former Preston player Jimmy Milne and Jessie Milne.

Club career

Milne had a successful playing career with amateur side Morecambe, Preston North End, Liverpool (1960–1967), Blackpool (1967–1970) and Wigan Athletic (1970).

He was one of Bill Shankly's first signings, when he moved from Preston North End for £16,000 in August 1960. He made his debut in the 1–0 2nd Division defeat at Anfield by Southampton on 31 August 1960, he scored his first goal in the 10th minute of a 2–1 league win over Newcastle United at St James' Park on 20 September 1961.

Milne was a successful right-half for Liverpool during the 1960s and played a prominent role in Liverpool's rise from the old Second Division, forming a partnership with Gerry Byrne. While at Anfield, he won First Division Championship medals in 1963–64 and 1965–66, a Second Division Championship medal in 1961–62 and two shared Charity Shield triumphs in 1964 and 1965.

Milne missed the 1965 FA Cup final, in which Liverpool triumphed, through injury, but played a major role just a few days later as the Reds entertained Inter Milan in the first leg of the European Cup semi final. Bill Shankly sent out the injured pair Milne and Gerry Byrne to parade the F.A Cup before the kick-off. The Reds went on to win the match 3–1 but were beaten 3–0 in the return leg.

International career

Milne was selected to represent England at wing-half 14 times making his debut for Alf Ramsey's team in a prestigious friendly with Brazil at Wembley in a game that took place on 8 May 1963 and finished one-all.

Managerial career

Milne turned to management and coaching with Wigan Athletic as player-manager in January 1970. He managed Wigan from 1970 to 1972, making 73 Northern Premier League appearances for the club, and guided them to a league title and an FA Cup run, which ended with a narrow defeat to Manchester City at Maine Road.

Milne also became the part-time manager of the England Youth team in 1972, helping them to win the European Youth Championship that year.

Milne joined Joe Mercer at Coventry City as team manager in June 1972, taking full control in 1974, upon Mercer's elevation to the Board. He was shortlisted for the England management role following the departure of Sir Alf Ramsey, but was overlooked in favour of Don Revie. He continued at Coventry until 1981, producing several exciting teams and securing the club's First Division status. The 1977–78 season saw Coventry's most exciting top-flight team. Gordon Milne settled on an attacking 4–2–4 formation. A side containing Tommy Hutchison, Mick Ferguson, Ian Wallace, Terry Yorath, Graham Oakey, Bobby MacDonald and Jim Blyth played attacking football that swept many teams aside, often by large margins of victory.

Milne became boss at Leicester City in August 1982, winning promotion in 1982–83 and staying until 1986. He managed Beşiktaş in Turkey for seven years, from 1987 to 1993 (where he won three successive league championship titles during the early 1990s, including an undefeated run in the 1991–92 season). He succeeded in creating one of the most successful periods in the history of Beşiktaş and is still a legend for the Beşiktaş fans. He also managed Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan, before returning to Turkey to take charge of Bursaspor (1996–1997), where he managed the club to its highest ever finish in the Turkish league, and then Trabzonspor (1998–1999).

Milne then accepted the role of Director of Football at Newcastle United, and worked alongside manager Bobby Robson between 1999 and 2004.

After a spell as chief executive of the League Managers Association, Milne was employed as Director of Football at Beşiktaş in 2006.

Managerial statistics

::data[format=table]

Team	From	To	Record	G	W	D	L	Win %	Total
Wigan Athletic	1 August 1970	15 June 1972
Coventry City	1 May 1974	31 May 1981
Leicester City	2 August 1982	3 June 1986
Beşiktaş	16 August 1987	19 December 1993
Nagoya Grampus Eight	1 January 1994	31 December 1994
Bursaspor	10 August 1996	24 May 1997
Trabzonspor	8 August 1998	30 May 1999
::

References

References

1. [https://www.scotsfootballworldwide.scot/coodnae The Coodnaes], Scots Football Worldwide
2. "lfc_fixture_past_player_profile".
3. Hayes, Dean. (1996). "The Latics: The Official History of Wigan Athletic F.C.". Yore Publications.
4. Hayes. "The Latics: The official history of Wigan Athletic F.C.".
5. "SUPREMOS: A profile of former Sky Blues manager Gordon Milne".
6. (25 March 2015). "Former Manager Remembers: Gordon Milne". Leicester City F.C..
7. Agency, Anadolu. (6 March 2016). "Legendary manager Gordon Milne: 'My time at Beşiktaş was a fairytale'".
8. "League Managers Association - GORDON MILNE".
9. "J. League Data Site".

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