Norman Bodell

Norman Bodell

Personal information
Date of birth	29 January 1938
Place of birth	Oldham, England
Playing position	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1958–1963	Rochdale	79	(1)
1963–1967	Crewe Alexandra	109	(2)
1967–1968	Halifax Town	36	(0)
	Altrincham
Teams managed
1969–1970	Barrow
1978	Blackburn Rovers (caretaker manager)
1982	Birmingham City (caretaker manager)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Norman Bodell (born 29 January 1938 in Oldham, Lancashire) is an English former professional footballer, coach, manager and scout. He played as a defender, making 224 appearances in the Football League for Rochdale, Crewe Alexandra and Halifax Town before moving into non-League football with Altrincham. He played for Rochdale in the final of the 1962 League Cup which they lost to Norwich City over two legs.^[1]

He took over as manager of Barrow during the 1968–69 after the resignation of player-manager Colin Appleton, and was sacked in February 1970^[2] with the club heading for relegation to the Fourth Division. He went on to coach the reserve team at Wolverhampton Wanderers^[3] and the first team at Preston North End under Bobby Charlton's management^[4] before becoming Jim Smith's assistant at Blackburn Rovers. When Smith was sacked in March 1978, Bodell acted as caretaker manager for nine games until Jim Iley was appointed, and then rejoined Smith at Birmingham.^[5] This situation was repeated four years later when Smith's dismissal in February 1982 left Bodell as caretaker for two matches until the appointment of Ron Saunders.^[6] Bodell remained at Birmingham as chief scout.^[7]

Honours

• with Rochdale
  • Football League Cup runner-up 1962.

Notes

1. Fort, Didier (2001-02-25). "England - League Cup Finals 1961–2001". RSSSF. Retrieved 2001-11-25.
2. "Lochhead joins Aston Villa" (via Times Digital Archive 1785–1985 (subscription required)). The Times. 1970-02-13. p. 13.
3. Harrison, Gerry (1971-10-20). "Dougan and Wagstaffe should play" (via Times Digital Archive 1785–1985 (subscription required)). The Times. p. 10.
4. "The Big Interview: Mike Elwiss". Lancashire Evening Post. 2003-12-15. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
5. "Iley to take over at Blackburn" (via Times Digital Archive 1785–1985 (subscription required)). The Times. 1978-04-15. p. 6. Norman Bodell, who has been caretaker manager at Ewood Park since Mr Smith left for Birmingham, is to join his former boss at St Andrews.
6. Jones, Stuart (1982-02-19). "Villa's loss becomes Birmingham's gain" (via Times Digital Archive 1785–1985 (subscription required)). The Times. p. 20. Norman Bodell, acting as manager since Jim Smith was suddenly dismissed on Monday, will be in charge of the side for the local derby.
7. "Scout spying on the pitch" (via Times Digital Archive 1785–1985 (subscription required)). The Times. 1983-01-08. p. 16.

External links

• Norman Bodell career statistics at Soccerbase
• Profile at Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Database.