BERT LEAVEY

Full Name: Herbert James Leavey (also known as John)

Born: 05 November 1886

Came from: Woodland Villa   Went to: Liverpool

First game: 02 November 1907   Last game: 19 March 1910

Appearances: 80 (80/0)   Goals: 8

Leavey was born in Guildford in 1886 and became a professional footballer playing as an outside-forward (a modern day winger), and then became a pioneering football manager known for his career both in England and the Netherlands.

He had moved to Plymouth at an early age, with his family, and played as a teenager for local sides Clovelly (not the north Devon fishing village but a Plymouth & District (P&D) League team that briefly took the name), Sutton, St Jude's and Woodland Villa before joining Argyle in 1907, where he soon progressed from the reserves to the first team. A versatile winger, he was able to play at both outside-left and outside-right, but also helped out at inside-left when required and played for the club during a period when the team was 'managed by committee'.

Leavey made a highly impressive start, scoring on debut against Bristol Rovers in the Southern League in November 1907, in a 4-2 home win. He went on to score three goals in his first three games. He initially made 24 appearances and scored four goals in the 1907-08 season, mixed between the Southern League and the Western League.

Continuing across two further seasons at Home Park, he made a further 56 appearances and scored a further four goals. After three seasons at Home Park, his first team opportunities became limited, and he moved to Liverpool in June 1910. He made just five appearances for his new club during the following campaign, without scoring. In 1911 he then signed for Barnsley and contributed to the side which won the FA Cup in 1912. Sadly, he suffered a broken leg in the quarter-final (third replay) victory over Bradford City and could not play any further part in the cup run. His injury cost him a medal, being in the days when only those who played in the final were awarded one.

The injury restricted Leavey to just 28 appearances and two goals in his two years at Oakwell. In 1913 he moved on to Bradford Park Avenue for whom he played 13 times, scoring once. He then spent two years with Llanelli Town (1919-21) in the Welsh League, before returning to the Football League with Portsmouth, playing 13 times without scoring.

He then spent the 1921-22 winding down his playing career with Boscombe in the Southern League, a couple of years ahead of their name change to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic (the precursor to the current day AFC Bournemouth).

After leaving Boscombe in 1922, he worked for Portsmouth as a scout before then moving to the Netherlands, becoming one of the earliest British exports to coach aboard. He managed the now Dutch giants, PSV Eindhoven between 1922 and 1926. He was just their fourth manager, after they were founded in 1913 as a team for Philips (then primarily a lightbulb manufacturer) employees, PSV meaning Philips Sport Vereniging (Phillips Sports Society). During his time, PSV rose to the level of 1e Klasse Zuid (the highest league for teams in South Netherlands), though they dropped back down a level and he successfully won promotion back again. He was a key part of laying the early professional standards which helped the club grow into its modern day stature. In Holland he was often listed as John Leavey (John is his middle name) or Bert (as a derivation of Herbert), or Mr Leavey, but rarely as Herbert.

After leaving PSV in 1926 he subsequently became manager of Heldersche Racing Club (HRC) of Den Helder (the precursor club to the modern day FC Den Helder), between 1926 and 1928.

Whilst at HRC, he also started managing SV Gouda on a part-time basis later in the year. In 1928, he then focused solely on Gouda, but on a part-time basis, and led the club to the second tier title in 1931-32, remaining until 1932.

After a three-year gap, he then recommenced management via a return to HRC in 1935, remarkably remaining at the club until 1952 - a full 17 years (albeit punctuated by WWII). Over two separate stints totalling almost two decades, he elevated the club from local competitions to a respected force in Dutch amateur football, creating the bedrock for what would be the modern day professional FC Den Helder.

After leaving the club in 1952, he returned to the UK, but passed away just a couple of years later, in Kensington, London, in May 1954 aged of 67 years old.

Footnote: Some sources suggest Leavey signed for Derby County in the summer of 1908 or 1909, quoting him being with Derby "for four months". However, the timelines don't add up given his games for Argyle at the start and end of each season. A British Newspaper Archive article from the Athletic News does report him as 'signing for Argyle, from Derby County' on 10th May 1909 but this seems to be an error or mistaken identity as there is no other credible evidence to support this that fits the timeline.