Eddie Lever arrived at Fratton Park in 1929 and though he never played in Pompey's first team, he always retained some links with the club although he had been released and was teaching in near-by Alton.
He was appointed reserve team coach in the late 1940s and in August 1952, he replaced Bob Jackson as Pompey manager after he had accepted a lucrative offer to manage Hull City.
Having discovered Jimmy Dickinson whilst teaching, the first thing he did was to make him captain. His first move in the transfer market was to sign Norman Uprichard from Swindon. The Northern Ireland international was later followed by Derek Dougan from Distillery, who went on to play for Northern Ireland on forty-three occasions. The club were often struggling near the foot of the First Division when Lever was in charge, but in the 1954/55 season they finished third, just four points behind chamions Chelsea. In the 1957/58 season Pompey narrowly avoided relegation and after a link with the club going back almost 30 years, Lever was sacked in April 1958.
|
Home