Joe Fagan

Joe Fagan was born in Walton Hospital in Walton, Liverpool, on 12 March 1921 and lived in the Litherland and Scotland Road areas of the city during his childhood and youth. His parents Patrick and Mary were of Irish descent. His father has been recorded as something of a dubious character who was often absent for long periods and Fagan owed a happy childhood to his mother. The close proximity of Anfield and Goodison Park meant that football was always a significant part of his life and he developed his ability as a boy. When he was fourteen, he captained his school, St Elizabeth Central, to the Daily Dispatch Trophy, a competition run by the Lancashire Schools Football Association. After leaving school in 1937, Fagan signed for the St Helens-based Earlestown Bohemians club, known as the "Bohs", who played in the Liverpool County Combination. This was a strong amateur league in which the "A" (third) teams of both Everton and Liverpool competed. Liverpool became interested and he was invited to Anfield for a trial. Manager George Kay offered him a contract but Fagan, then aged seventeen, declined as he thought his first team opportunities at Liverpool would be limited. On 8 October 1938, he signed for Manchester City. Throughout Fagan's playing career, he was a right half, though he could also play at centre half. In the 1938–39 season, Fagan made good progress at City playing for the club's "A" and "B" teams and then getting into the reserves. He was challenging for a…

Fagan met his future wife Lillian (Lil) Poke soon after he joined Manchester City in October 1938 and they were married two years later, during the war, before he joined the Navy. Their first child was born in June 1945 while he was stationed in Egypt and in all he and Lil raised six children together, five sons and a daughter. Throughout his time at Liverpool and until his death the family lived in the same modest house, 42 Lynholme Road, just a short walk away from Anfield stadium. Fagan died of cancer on 30 June 2001, aged 80. His wife Lil outlived Joe by nearly a decade, dying on 4 October 2010 at the age of 92 in a Lincolnshire nursing home.

As a player

Manchester City

Second Division Promotion: 1946–47

As a manager

Liverpool

Football League First Division: 1983–84 League Cup: 1983–84 European Cup : 1983–84

Managerial statistics

As an individual

English Manager of the Year (1) : 1983–84