George Roughton

George Roughton

Personal information
Full name	William George Roughton
Date of birth	(1909-05-11)11 May 1909
Place of birth	Manchester, England
Date of death
Place of death	Southampton, England
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
	Droylsden
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1928–1936	Huddersfield Town	164	(0)
1936–1945	Manchester United	86	(0)
Managerial career
1945–1952	Exeter City
1952–1955	Southampton
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William George Roughton (11 May 1909–7 June 1989) was a professional footballer who played for Huddersfield Town and Manchester United in the 1930s and was subsequently manager of Exeter City and Southampton.

Club career

He started his career at Huddersfield Town, then in Division 1, in 1928 and was a regular member of the team, playing at full-back. He helped Huddersfield to the runners-up position in the 1933–34 season.

In September 1936, he moved back to his native Manchester, joining Manchester United, who were relegated to Division 2 at the end of his first season with them, although they were promoted straight back up as runners-up in 1937–38.

Managerial career

After World War II, he joined Exeter City as manager. He kept the Grecians on an even keel but did not achieve any real success, generally finishing mid-table in the Third Division (South).

In March 1952, he moved to Southampton, taking over from Sid Cann who had resigned the previous December. As part of the deal with Exeter, Norman Kirkman moved in the opposite direction to become player-manager.

Roughton's time at The Dell was not a great success and the Saints were relegated to Division 3 (South) at the end of his first full season in charge. He was unable to regain Southampton's place in Division 2, and in September 1955, he was asked to resign, to be replaced by the man who would change Southampton's history, Ted Bates.

After leaving Southampton, he worked part-time for the Hampshire F.A.

External links

• George Roughton management career statistics at Soccerbase

Sporting positions
Preceded by Jimmy Brown	Manchester United captain 1937-1939	Succeeded by Bill McKay
Preceded by None (due to outbreak of the Second World War)	Manchester United captain 1944-1945	Succeeded by Johnny Carey