Leslie Shannon (12 March 1926 – 2 December 2007)[3] was an English football player and manager.
As a forward, he scored 40 goals in 274 league games in the Football League, playing for Liverpool between November 1944 and November 1949 and then for Burnley from November 1949 to August 1958 following a £6,000 transfer. He also won three caps for the England B team.
He coached at Everton and Arsenal before he embarked on an 18-year career in management in England, Greece, and Norway. He is considered by Greek fans and media to have been one of the most successful foreign managers to ever work in Greek football.[4] His first management role was at Bury from 1966 to 1969; he took the Shakers to promotion out of the Third Division in 1967–68, though they were twice relegated. He took charge at Blackpool, leading the Tangerines to promotion out of the Second Division in 1969–70. He spent the 1970s in Greece and found most of his success with PAOK, taking the club to two Greek Cup titles. He also won the Greek Cup with Iraklis Thessaloniki. He also took charge at Olympiacos, Panachaiki, and OFI Crete. He also led the Norwegian side Brann to promotion to the top flight in 1980. He returned to England in 1984 and scouted for Luton Town for 25 years.
He was sold to First Division rivals Burnley for £6,000 November 1949.[2] He dropped back to the inside-forward position,[5] and was described as "a feistily competitive, yet subtly creative, inside-forward cum wing-half".[2] However, he disappointed in the 1949–50 (one goal in eight games) and 1950–51 seasons, before he showed his potential in the 1951–52 (11 goals in 34 games) season.[2][6] He replaced Billy Morris as Jimmy McIlroy's midfield partner in the 1952–53 campaign, and scored 16 goals in 46 appearances as the "Clarets" posted a sixth-place finish under the stewardship of Frank Hill.[6] Shannon claimed nine goals in 33 matches in the 1953–54 campaign, but after Alan Brown was installed as manager he only found the net just once in 43 appearances in 1954–55.[6] He scored twice in 44 games in 1955–56, claimed two goals in 27 matches in the 1956–57 season, and then scored two goals in 38 games in 1957–58 under Billy Dougall's stewardship.[6] He fell out of the first-team picture under new boss Harry Potts in 1958–59, playing just eight games.[6] Shannon retired from playing first-team football in August 1959,[2] and captained Burnley's reserve team for a year. He scored 44 goals in 281 appearances at Turf Moor.
Coaching and management
In 1959, Shannon moved into youth team coaching with Everton, and remained at Goodison Park for three years.[5] In 1962, he joined Billy Wright's backroom staff at Arsenal, rising to the rank of assistant manager.[7]
After Bury's relegation, Shannon replaced Stan Mortensen as manager of Blackpool, with whom he had instant success, finishing as runners-up to Huddersfield Town and winning promotion back to the First Division. This was achieved without the services of the club's star player, Tony Green, who sat out the entire 1969–70 season due to injury. However, in 1970–71, Blackpool finished bottom and were relegated to the league's second tier again. Shannon had left his position only two months into the season and after only seventeen months in charge. He was replaced, in a caretaker role, by Jimmy Meadows; his permanent successor at Bloomfield Road was Bob Stokoe.
Shannon's knowledge of football led to his working alongside Pelé in co-ordinating the football sequences of the 1981 war movie Escape to Victory.[9] He was also enlisted as an advisor on the Channel 4 series The Manageress in 1989.[3]
Shannon died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. At his memorial service at the Square Methodist Church, Dunstable, former Manchester United manager Wilf McGuinness gave a speech. One of the songs chosen was "You'll Never Walk Alone", sung by two of his great nephews, Tom Wing and James Wing, a homage to his beginnings in football.
