Barrie Williams
Managed Sutton Utd when they beat Coventry in the FA Cup
BARRIE WILLIAMS, who has died aged 80, managed Sutton United when in 1989 the non-league side performed one of the biggest giantkilling feats in the history of the FA Cup by knocking out the First Division’s Coventry City.
As the draw for the third round was made, the Sky Blues initially thought that they had got a local derby, presuming that the parttimers hailed from Sutton Coldfield. Instead, the side came from Surrey and played their football in what was then the GM Vauxhall Conference league.
By contrast, Coventry were well-established in the top flight and, indeed, had won the Cup 18 months earlier. Among those on whom the manager John Sillett could call were such stars of the time as goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic, Steve Sedgley, Cyrille Regis and David Speedie. In the tradition of such things, Sutton’s ranks included a bricklayer and an insurance clerk.
Williams, however, was no run-of-the-mill coach. A former teacher of English literature, who wrote in a copperplate hand, he would chide reporters for their grammatical errors and liked to inspire team and fans alike by quoting Kipling in his programme notes.
“It ain’t the individual nor the Army as a whole/it’s the everlasting teamwork of every bloomin’ soul” were the lines he chose for the match against Coventry, to be played at home. Yet despite the hopes of the 8,000 locals who thronged the Gander Lane ground on a chilly January afternoon, Sutton, who had enjoyed much success under Williams in the previous decade, gave themselves little chance.
He had concentrated in training on set plays as the best way of scoring a goal, but when the players had practised these on the morning of the game, nerves had been evident. Yet against expectation, Sutton matched Coventry in the early exchanges, and took the lead when Tony Rains scored from a corner nodded on.
David Phillips equalised for Coventry, but with an hour gone Matthew Hanlon – the bricklayer – scored what proved to be the winner when a ball was lobbed back to the far post. Coventry ran Sutton ragged in the final 10 minutes, but the side in yellow clung on and pandemonium erupted at the final whistle. “The enormity of this result will reverberate throughout the whole of soccer,” expostulated Williams.
Everyone stayed on to watch Match of the Day at the ground, and Hanlon was invited on to the Wogan show the following week. Sutton’s reward was a tie against another First Division side, Norwich, but this time class told and they were beaten 8-0.
Asked what he had learnt, Williams said ruefully: “Not to go into the pro game.” Even so, it would be another 24 years before another non-league side – Luton – beat one from the top tier: Norwich.
Barrie Williams was born in Carmarthen on September 23 1937. He worked as a teacher and school inspector before entering management with Ilford. He joined Sutton in 1977 as assistant to Keith Blunt and succeeded him two years later.
Building a side for the long term, Williams led Sutton unexpectedly to victory in the Anglo-italian Cup in 1979; Sutton beat the professional side Chieti after being given an England strip to wear by the FA. Unprecedented success ensued, with two more appearances in the tournament final, defeat in the last minute of the 1981 FA Trophy Final, and the club’s first Isthmian League title since 1967. Another championship followed, and seven Surrey Senior Cups.
In 1988 the team showed their mettle, going down in a replay to Bruce Rioch’s Middlesbrough in the Cup. Williams then had brief stints coaching the England Women’s side and Hendon before retiring to live near Alicante, Spain.
His wife Marion died last year. A son predeceased him, and he is survived by a daughter.
Barrie Williams, born September 23 1937, died April 23 2018