Ron Atkinson

Ron Atkinson

Ron Atkinson is a footballer, manager and pundit from the United Kingdom, born in 1939. He is commonly known as Big Ron and is associated with English football as a player, manager and television commentator.

Playing career

Atkinson is born in Liverpool and moves to Birmingham a few weeks after birth. He is signed by Aston Villa at 17 but does not make a first-team appearance for them. In the close season of 1959 he transfers to Oxford United on a free transfer, where he plays alongside his younger brother Graham Atkinson. He makes more than 500 appearances for Oxford as a wing-half and is known as The Tank. He captains the club during its rise from the Southern League to the Second Division between 1962 and 1968, becoming the first person to captain a club from the Southern League through three divisions of the Football League.

Managerial career

Atkinson begins management with non-league Kettering Town in 1971. He then moves to Cambridge United, where he wins the Fourth Division in 1977 and leaves when the club is close to promotion to the Second Division. In 1978 he takes charge of West Bromwich Albion and signs Brendon Batson to join Laurie Cunningham and Cyrille Regis, forming the first English team to field three black players at the same time. With West Brom he finishes third in the league in 1978–79, reaches the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, and oversees the 5-3 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford on 30 December 1978. The club finishes fourth in 1981.

He then becomes manager of Manchester United after Dave Sexton is dismissed. At United, he finishes third in the First Division in 1981–82, reaches two Wembley finals in 1982–83 and wins the FA Cup against Brighton & Hove Albion, reaches the European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-finals in 1983–84, and wins the FA Cup again in 1985. United also records ten consecutive wins in the 1985–86 season before form declines and Atkinson is dismissed in November 1986. During his time there the club spends heavily on signings, with Ray Wilkins and Mark Hughes among the players sold to recoup funds.

Atkinson returns to West Bromwich Albion in autumn 1987, then has a short spell at Atlético Madrid that lasts 96 days. He manages Sheffield Wednesday from February 1989 to June 1991, taking them back to the Second Division title after relegation in 1990 and winning the League Cup against Manchester United at Wembley. He then moves to Aston Villa, guiding them to second place in the inaugural Premier League season in 1993 and League Cup victory in 1994 before being dismissed later that year. He subsequently manages Coventry City, bringing in Dion Dublin, Noel Whelan and Gary McAllister, before becoming Director of Football in November 1996 and handing over to Gordon Strachan. He returns to Sheffield Wednesday in November 1997 after David Pleat is sacked, then later manages Nottingham Forest for the final four months of the 1998–99 season.

Broadcasting and later work

Atkinson becomes one of Britain’s best-known football pundits. He provides commentary for UKTV G2 during the 2006 World Cup, records an amateur video blog for SelfcastTV.com during the same tournament, and later presents on Football Italia. He also appears in the BBC Two programme Excuse My French, where he studies French with Marcus Brigstocke and Esther Rantzen and gives a match analysis in French for a radio station.

Public profile

Atkinson becomes widely known for his distinctive use of language, with some of his phrases becoming known as Big-Ronisms. He is also associated with controversy over racist remarks and other comments reported in the media.