Ivor Powell - Management Career

Management Career

At Port Vale as player-manager he played just the six times, restricted on the field by a knee injury. As a manager he tried to 'rule by fear' and was not well liked by the players; with the club bottom of the Third Division South, his contract was terminated in November 1951. Roy Sproson later said that "everything seemed to go wrong for him at Vale" and that "he used to treat players like kids".

"He was a good, clean-living man who was always fair with me. He was a sergeant major-type as a manager. The first time he called me into his office, his first words were 'I'm the boss' and I thought 'Oh heck'. He had been a tremendous player, although I remember him coming unstuck in one training session on the pitch when he was trying to coach our winger, Mick Hulligan. Mick's free-kicks hadn't been too clever that day, so Ivor said, 'Right, let me show you'. Ivor put the ball down just outside the penalty area, took a run-up and, as we all watched, he blasted the ball right out of the ground and off down Hamil Road. He did his best to recover the situation though. He turned around to Mick and said, 'Now, you see, that's what you were doing'. Football is a results business and, unfortunately, we weren't getting those results when Ivor was there. I remember being in the dressing room when he came in to the ground to see our chairman, William Holdcroft. We guessed he was being shown the door. On his way out he stopped and said to us: 'I may be back one day'. The chairman shouted: 'Oh no you won't'. Ivor was a disciplinarian at Vale, but that's not a criticism. I think it was his first job in management and he just didn't have the success with us." —Port Vale winger Colin Askey noted that Powell's first job in management was a steep learning kerb.

He moved to Barry Town before being appointed the new Bradford City manager, again as player-manager, before the start of the 1952–53 season. His first season at Valley Parade was disappointing as they slipped to 16th in Third Division North. The following season they came fifth but were 16 points shy of the promotion places. During that season he missed the first penalty of his career in a home fixture with Workington. The following season he was carried off with knee ligament damage against Wrexham. The injury ended his playing career. City's form also struggled and Powell left in February 1955 after a run of seven straight defeats and just two wins from 19 games without his presence on the field. City were forced to apply for re-election at the end of the campaign.

Powell became a trainer-coach at Don Revie's Leeds United, and also had a coaching spell at PAOK in Greece, before he returned to management with Carlisle United in May 1960, succeeding Andy Beattie. He led the "Cumbrians" to their first promotion when they finished fourth in the Fourth Division in 1961–62. He instilled discipline at Brunton Park, and signed players such as Peter McConnell, Reg Davies, Terry Caldwell, and Jack Marsden. He left the following season, with the club struggling in the league and knocked out of the FA Cup by Southern League side Gravesend & Northfleet.

He became manager of Bath City in 1964 and then a member of the coaching staff at Team Bath (University of Bath), where he worked for over 30 years. At the age of 93, Powell announced his retirement as the "world's oldest football coach" in May 2010.