Vic Halom

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Victor Halom was a professional footballer of the 1960s and 70s who featured most prominently for Sunderland A.F.C. for whom he played in the 1973 F A Cup Final and Oldham Athletic.

He moved into management in the early 80s where he achieved great success with Barrow AFC taking them back into the Vauxhall Conference in 1983-4. This led to him being appointed Rochdale A.F.C. manager at the end of the season. Halom began with a mass clear out, many of the incomers being ex-Oldham players. The side struggled to gel at first but things markedly improved when the under-performing record signing Les Lawrence was sold and replaced by proven goalscorer Steve Taylor late in 1984. For the next calendar year Rochdale showed promotion-winning form and earned a third round FA Cup tie with Manchester United.

Immediately after that the team went into steep decline not helped by the diastrous signing of David Mossman who moved on at a loss after less than ten games and Halom's strange perseverance with playing striker Ronnie Moore as a centre-half. There were also strong rumours that he had alienated the players by making promises that the club could not afford to keep.

At the end of the season despite Rochdale having escaped re-election by one point Halom was retained but told by chairman Tommy Cannon to try to sell those players under expensive contracts. This seriously weakened the side and after Taylor was sold in October 1986 the club had sunk to bottom of the League by December. Halom was sacked and never managed a League club again.

In 1992 he stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate for Sunderland in the 1992 General Election but finished a distant third.

He is currently scouting for Newcastle United FC


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Rochdale A.F.C. – Managers

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