John Allen ‘Johnny’ King, manager of Tranmere Rovers for two memorable spells, passed away last week at age 77.
His combined 12 years in charge of the Birkenhead club brought a modicum of success and, from 1987-1996, what was undeniably the high point of Rovers history and was one of football’s fairytale rises.
As a player, King began his career with Everton in 1957 before joining Bournemouth for a brief period in 1960, only to move to Tranmere in the same year where he became a regular in their defence. The club had spent much of it’s League history in the Third Division, with one season of Second Division football before World War II. In 1961, however, they were relegated to the Fourth Division. Under the management of Dave Russell, Tranmere were at least a top-half side in the Fourth Division and regular promotion contenders. By 1967, Tranmere finally won promotion after coming close the previous two seasons with a team including names like Alan King, George Yardley, George Hudson, Roy Sinclair and veteran Welsh winger Graham Williams, while young centre-half Roy McFarland would join Derby County where he would become one of the leading defenders of the next decade.
Johnny King moved on to Port Vale where he became part of a defence that would help Gordon Lee’s side win promotion in 1970. He would join then non-league Wigan Athletic the following season, where he finished his playing career.
In April 1975, King was appointed manager of Tranmere Rovers. The club had enjoyed eight years of Third Division football, and under the leadership of former Liverpool player Ron Yeats had beaten Arsenal in the FA Cup, but were now struggling and would be relegated. Their most promising young standout at the time was winger Steve Coppell, who would also soon join Manchester United. With players including Ray Mathias, Les Parry, Mark Palios (who would become CEO of the FA and is currently Tranmere chairman), Russell Allen, Steve Peplow, Bobby Tynan and Ronnie Moore, the Rovers bounced back in 1975-76 after one season.
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After a reasonable first season back, in 1977-78 Tranmere were flying in an ever-tightening Third Division. Indeed, by January they were top of the competition, but just two wins in their last 17 games saw them fall to 13th place. Still, King was already winning plaudits for his commendable achievements and the football being played. Unfortunately, this was not sustained and Rovers were to suffer a dismal relegation the following season. With limited finances and small crowds, the side were now struggling and King was relieved of his duties as manager in September 1980.
The 1980s were difficult years for Tranmere Rovers, owing to their lack of resources and a small fanbase. Under Bryan Hamilton, they initially struggled but made progress in results, finishing as high as sixth in 1984-85. When Frank Worthington was appointed, steps backward were taken which showed in negative results.
In April 1987, Johnny King returned to Tranmere for a second spell as manager. For the 1986-87 season, automatic relegation out of the Football League was introduced for the first time in place of the Fourth Division’s bottom four sides having to apply for re-election to the Football League (which with only six exceptions between 1960 and 1978, was a mere formality). Tranmere’s form had plummeted in the later stages of the season and left them in real danger of an unprecedented relegation from the League on the last day of the season. Just below them were one of the game’s more illustrious clubs, Burnley, who had been League Champions 27 years earlier and had been a First Division side just 11 years earlier. The Rovers would beat Exeter City 1-0, and along with Burnley, they managed to survive while Lincoln City went down.
‘A rocket ride to the moon’ was promised after Tranmere had been saved from oblivion both on and off the park, beginning almost immediately after their last-day escape. The team was spearheaded by Jim Steel and Ian Muir, with Jim Harvey in midfield and Steve Vickers in defence, while there were players like Tony Thomas, Chris Malkin and John Morrissey providing support. In 1989, they ended a 10-year stay in the Fourth Division by securing promotion in second place on the last day of the season.
The dream ride continued in the Third Division and Tranmere got off to a strong start in 1989-90, a run in February and March of nine straight wins even catapulting them to the top of the division. In the end Rovers finished fourth, and beat Bury to face Neil Warnock’s Notts County team in the play-off final. For the following season, three teams would go straight up instead of two thanks to League reorganisation and Tranmere were in the thick of a closely contested race for the top three places. This time they finished fifth, but it was to end with success as Brentford and Bolton Wanderers were beaten in the play-offs. Tranmere had now reached the Second Division.
Anything, it seemed, was now possible. The Rovers pulled off a spectacular coup in the summer of 1991 when John Aldridge was lured away from his two-year sojourn in Spain. They established themselves as a respectable Second Division club in the first season following promotion, and in signing veterans Gary Stevens and Pat Nevin signalled even higher ambitions, while local young players like John McGreal and Kenny Irons were also in the mix.
Between 1992 and 1995, Tranmere made the play-offs for three consecutive seasons. They would finish in the top five but were beaten by Swindon Town, Leicester City and Reading in each of those campaigns. Furthermore, some respectable results were achieved in other competitions and they reached the League Cup semi-finals in 1994, only to lose to Aston Villa on penalties. In fact, it could have even been better as Tranmere were within touching distance of automatic promotion and at times even lead what was now Division One. For a club of limited resources and support, with two of football’s (ultimately floundering) giants across the river, this was a tremendous accomplishment that was enough to place Johnny King among the list of high achievers among football managers. There was no lack of entertainment value in his teams.
In April 1996, not maintaining the momentum of the previous three seasons, Johnny King moved upstairs to the Director of Football role while John Aldridge became player-manager. Still, his legacy was continued to an extent as Tranmere still held their own in the division under Aldridge, who took them to a League Cup Final in 2000. A lamentable slide out of the League in recent times can only make the supporters look back at those years as the club’s Golden Age.
Johnny King is identified with two different eras in Tranmere history, bringing a fair share of success in the first and unprecedented heights in the second. As a matter of fact, resurrection from the brink of the Conference to the brink of the Premier League in only six years counts as one of football’s more remarkable stories, only recently bested by the rise of Bournemouth.
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