As a young boy, Frank O’Farrell’s biggest ambition was to drive a steam train between his native Cork and the Irish capital Dublin.
However, his life would take a very different
route. He would become the manager of the most glamorous football club in the
world and a spell in charge of Torquay United played a large part in helping
him achieve that goal.
It all started for Frank with Cork United where he
was spotted by West Ham United and moved to England in 1948. At Upton Park he
became part of the famous West Ham Academy and many of his team-mates including
Malcolm Allison, Noel Cantwell and Dave Sexton would also become managers themselves.
In December
1956, Frank was on the move again when he left Upton Park to join Preston North
End where he would appear alongside one of the true greats of the game in Sir
Tom Finney.
As well as
appearing for the Hammers and the Lilywhites, Frank was also capped nine times by
the Republic of Ireland.
His career in management began in 1961, after his
playing days were brought to a premature end by injury, as he took charge of
Southern League side Weymouth. Frank proved to be a success with the
Dorset side as he steered them to the Southern League title in 1965 before
embarking on League management for the first time with Torquay United shortly
afterwards.
On his arrival at Plainmoor, he signed a number of
players that he believed that could help the Gulls achieve promotion from
Division Four. Gerry King arrived from Cardiff City, Doug Clarke joined from
Hull City and Alan Kirkman was signed from Scunthorpe United. Frank also
returned to his old club Weymouth to sign midfielder Tommy Spratt, who finished
the 1965-66 campaign as United’s top scorer with 18 goals.
The Gulls made a slow start to the season as they
lost their first game of the season against Bradford City 4-1. However, they
soon put the defeat behind them as they went on a run of four consecutive wins.
In the New Year, he pulled off a major coup when he
persuaded his former West Ham teammate John Bond to sign for United. Bond had
been part of the Hammers that had won the FA Cup in 1964. He proved to be a
good acquisition for Torquay, as they clinched promotion for the second time in
their history during the 1965-66 season.
Frank used his West Ham connections to bring a
number of other players to Plainmoor including defender Bill Kitchener and
midfielder John Smith. He pulled off a major coup when he persuaded Ken Brown
to join the club in 1967. Like John Bond before him, Brown had been part of the
Hammers side that lifted the FA Cup in 1964. He had later been part of the West
Ham side that beat 1860 Munich to win the European Cup Winners Cup in 1965.
On the pitch, Frank had turned the Gulls into a
force to be reckoned with as they finished seventh in their first season in the
Third Division. In the following season, Torquay recorded their highest ever
League finish as they came 4th, narrowly missing out promotion to
Division Two.
It was a shame that the Play-Offs didn’t exist in
those days as United would have had a second chance to reach what is now the
Championship for the first time in their history, after falling short of going
up automatically.
His achievements were being viewed with interest
from afar, as he left Plainmoor in December 1968 to take charge of Leicester
City. Frank’s spell in charge of the Foxes also proved to be successful as he
guided them to promotion from Division Two and the 1969 FA Cup Final, which
they lost to Manchester City – then coached by Frank’s former West Ham teammate
Malcolm Allison.
In 1971, he took on the biggest job in the land
when he was appointed as manager of Manchester United. His spell in charge at
Old Trafford did not turn out to be successful as Frank found it difficult to
follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Sir Matt Busby, especially as he
found himself in charge of an ageing side in addition to dealing with an
increasingly erratic George Best. He was dismissed in 1972.
However, Frank’s time in charge of the Red Devils
shouldn’t be regarded as a complete failure. It is worth noting that the
£125,000 which he spent on bringing Scottish defender Martin Buchan to Old
Trafford from Aberdeen proved to be one of the most astute buys that Manchester
United have ever made, as he went on to become one of the club’s greatest ever
defenders in an 11-year spell at the club – which included several years as
captain.
Spells in charge of Cardiff City and the Iranian
national side followed before Frank returned to Plainmoor following the
departure of Malcolm Musgrove in 1976. He stayed until March 1977 before
handing over the managerial reins to player-manager Mike Green. However, he did
remain at Plainmoor in a consultancy role and played a major role in the
signing of striker Steve Cooper, who proved to be a big hit with the Plainmoor
faithful, amongst others.
In 1981, Frank returned to the Plainmoor hot seat
for the third time following the departure of Green. He brought in former
Scotland captain Bruce Rioch as his assistant. Later in the season, he pulled
off a transfer coup by persuading former West Brom and England striker Tony
Brown to sign for the club.
At the end of the 1981-82 campaign, Frank moved
upstairs to become General Manager as his protégé Rioch took over as manager.
He left the post in 1983 and retired from football.
Frank is considered by many to be one of the
greatest Torquay United managers of all time – if not the greatest.
An abridged version of this article appeared in the Torquay United vs Rochdale programme on January 25th, 2006.
