Bobby Flavell (Scottish footballer)
Bobby Flavell (1921–2005) was a Scottish association football player and manager. His senior playing career, which was delayed by the Second World War, had its high point at Dundee, where he won two Scottish League Cup winners' medals in consecutive years. Flavell won two caps for the Scotland national football team, both in 1947. He later became a manager of Ayr United, St Mirren and Albion Rovers.
Playing career
Flavell was born in Annathill, North Lanarkshire in 1921. He joined the senior game by signing for Airdrie, but had to wait until the 1946–47 season to make a league appearance, due to the Second World War. During the war, Flavell had made guest appearances for both Arsenal and Tottenham. When the Scottish Football League resumed in 1946, Flavell scored over a goal per game for Airdrie and won his two caps for Scotland, which convinced Hearts to pay £10,000 to acquire his services.
He again scored frequently at Hearts, but he became a football outcast on 12 June 1949 by signing for Millonarios, of the breakaway Colombian league, a move that Hearts manager Dave McLean said meant he would "never play for Hearts again". Flavell played alongside the legendary Alfredo Di Stefano in Bogota, but at the end of the Columbian season returned to Scotland in December 1950 He was punished heavily for his actions in going to Columbia, attracting far stronger sanctions than English players who had made a similar move. He was fined £150 - then a record fine for a Scottish player - and suspended from playing until May 1951. He was transfer-listed by Hearts in February 1951, before signing for Dundee in April, making his debut for the club in a Dewar Shield game against St Johnstone on 5 May 1951.
Flavell scored goals in both the 1951 and 1952 Scottish League Cup Finals, which helped Dundee win the cup in successive years. He also played in the 1952 Scottish Cup Final, which ended in a 4–0 defeat by Motherwell. He also played for Kilmarnock
and St Mirren before retiring as a player.
Coaching career
Flavell had five stints as a manager at three different clubs, starting with Ayr United in 1961. He quickly moved to St Mirren, whom he guided to the 1962 Scottish Cup Final. He briefly returned to Ayr, before having two spells at Albion Rovers. Flavell later became a director of Albion Rovers.
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