Thomas Mitchell (football manager)

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Personal information
Thomas Mitchell
Full name	Thomas Brown Mitchell
Date of birth	c. 1843
Place of birth	Dumfries, Scotland
Date of death	August 1921
Teams managed
1884-1896 1897-1898	Blackburn Rovers Woolwich Arsenal
* Appearances (Goals)

Thomas Brown Mitchell (c.1843 – August 1921) was a Scottish football manager.

Mitchell was born in Dumfries but moved south of the border c.1867. He became secretary-manager of Blackburn Rovers in 1884 and led the club to a five FA Cup wins between 1884 and 1891. He left Blackburn in 1896 and later joined Woolwich Arsenal in 1897, after the club decided to appoint a professional manager following their defeat at the hands of Millwall in the FA Cup. There is some doubt over whether he was Arsenal's first- or second-ever manager; Sam Hollis is credited on the club's official website as being the club's first manager,^[1] other historical sources claim Hollis was only the club's trainer^[2] and thus Mitchell was the club's first manager – a view reinforced by the club's own official history, amongst other sources.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Regardless of whether Hollis was properly in charge of the club during his time there, Mitchell is nevertheless credited as being Arsenal's first professional manager.^[1] However, he only lasted less than a season in the job, and although the club would reach fifth in the Second Division in 1897-98, neither he nor most of his signings stayed long with the club. Mitchell resigned as Arsenal manager in March 1898, and later returned to Blackburn Rovers. He died in Blackburn in 1921, aged 78.

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Arsenal Managers. Arsenal.com.
^ Joy, Bernard (1952). Forward Arsenal!. Phoenix House, p.11. “Arsenal's trainer, Hollis, however, was true to the nineteeth century pattern.”
^ Soar, Phil & Tyler, Martin (2005). The Official Illustrated History of Arsenal. Hamlyn, p. 30. ISBN 0-600613-44-5. “A disastrous FA Cup defeat by non-League Millwall (2-4 away) on 16 January 1896 proved one turning point for the committee. They decided to appoint a secretary-manager, one T.B. Mitchell from Blackburn,...”
^ Roper, Alan (2004). The Real Arsenal Story: In the Days of Gog. Wherry, p. 120. ISBN 0-9546259-1-9. “After their humiliating defeat the Arsenal FC directors decided to appoint their first professional manager, and the first to be signed was Thomas Brown Mitchell, a Scot.”
^ Joy (1952). Forward Arsenal!, p. 12. “The first manager was T.B. Mitchell, from Blackburn Rovers and he was succeeded after a few months by G. Elcoat of Stockton.”

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Blackburn Rovers F.C. – Managers

Mitchell (1884–96) • Walmsley (1896–03) • Middleton (1903–22) • Carr (1922–26) • Crompton (1926–31) • Barritt (1931–36) • Taylor (1936–38) • Crompton (1938–41) • Hapgood (1944–47) • Scott (1947–47) • Bruton (1947–49) • Bestall (1949–53) • Carey (1953–58) • Duncan (1958–60) • Marshall (1960–67) • Quigley (1967–70) • Carey (1970–71) • Furphy (1971–73) • Lee (1974–75) • Smith (1975–78) • Pickering (1978–79) • Iley (1978) • Kendall (1979–81) • Saxton (1981–86) • Parkes (1986–87) • Mackay (1987–91) • Parkes (1991) • Dalglish (1991–95) • Harford (1995–96) • Parkes (1996–97) • Hodgson (1997–98) • Parkes (1998) • Kidd (1998–99) • Parkes (1999–2000) • Souness (2000–04) • Parkes (2004) • Hughes (2004–08)

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Arsenal F.C. – Managers

Mitchell (1897–1898) • Elcoat (1898–1899) • Bradshaw (1899–1904) • Kelso (1904–1908) • Morrell (1908–1915) • Knighton (1919–1925) • Chapman (1925–1934) • Shaw (1934^c) • Allison (1934–1947) • Whittaker (1947–1956) • Crayston (1956–1958) • Swindin (1958–1962) • Wright (1962–1966) • Mee (1966–1976) • Neill (1976–1983) • Howe (1983–1986) • Burtenshaw (1986^c) • Graham (1986–1995) • Houston (1995^c) • Rioch (1995–1996) • Houston (1996^c) • Rice (1996^c) • Wenger (1996–)