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Dave Merrington
Personal information
Full name David Robert Merrington
Date of birth (1945-01-26) 26 January 1945 (age 79)
Place of birth Newcastle, England[1]
Position(s) Centre back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1964–1971 Burnley 98 (1)
Bristol City
Managerial career
1978 Sunderland (caretaker)
1980 Leeds United (caretaker)
1995–1996 Southampton
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

David Robert Merrington (born 26 January 1945) is an English former professional footballer, manager and commentator. He served as a caretaker manager at Sunderland in 1978, and Leeds United in 1980. Merrington was manager of Southampton from 1995 until his dismissal in 1996.

Before his career as a coach, Merrington played as a defender, spending the majority of his playing career at Burnley before moving to Bristol City. Merrington later worked as a commentator for BBC Radio Solent. He retired from commentating in 2022.

Playing career

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Merrington played for Burnley, appearing in 98 league games (1 goal), including a spell as captain.[2] Whilst at Burnley, he was blighted continually by serious injuries.[2][3] He later played for Bristol City before retiring and going into coaching.[4]

Coaching career

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Merrington was a brief caretaker manager for Sunderland following the departure of Jimmy Adamson in 1978, and in 1980 he again took over from Adamson as caretaker manager (for 1 game only) at Leeds United.[5][6][7]

He became youth coach at Southampton in 1983, before taking over as manager for the 1995–96 season.[8] He was Premiership Manager of the Month in April 1996, his only full season in management.[9] Despite securing Southampton's top flight status on goal difference, he was dismissed on 14 June 1996 and succeeded by Graeme Souness.[10] During the final weeks of the 1995–96 season, he guided Southampton to two crucial wins which played a big part in their survival - they first beat Manchester United (champions that season) 3–1 at The Dell, and then won their penultimate game 1–0 at Bolton Wanderers, a result which confirmed the other side's relegation.[11]

A year later he returned to the club as a coach under next manager Dave Jones but left again three years later after Jones was succeeded by Glenn Hoddle.[6] His next stop was a brief spell working as Walsall's first-team coach alongside manager Colin Lee in 2002, but later resigned for personal reasons.[12]

Media career

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Merrington worked for BBC Radio Solent, commentating on Southampton matches.[13] Merrington retired from commentary at the end of the 2021–22 season.[14][15]

Honours

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Manager

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Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Dave Merrington". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  2. ^ a b "How Merrington made young Saints march". Lancashire Telegraph. 8 September 2004. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Burnley". Archived from the original on 19 February 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2007.
  4. ^ "Swindon Town v Bristol City: Official Programme" (PDF). 2 October 1971. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  5. ^ Rayner, Stuart (3 November 2017). "Sunderland's post-War caretaker managers: Assessing the men who minded the shop". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  6. ^ a b Scholes, Tony (15 June 2015). "Dave Merrington". Clarets Mad. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  7. ^ "CLARETS: Merrington relishes chance of Turf Moor return". Lancashire Telegraph. 19 May 1998. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  8. ^ Moore, Glenn (21 October 1995). "Saint with an understanding of the sinners Southampton's trust in faith and reason". The Independent. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Manager profile: David Merrington". Premier League. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  10. ^ Duxbury, Nick (14 June 1996). "Merrington 'shocked' by Southampton dismissal". The Independent. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  11. ^ "Results Fixtures 1995-1996 Southampton - Southampton FC - Saints Mad". www.southampton-mad.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Walsall assistant Merrington resigns". Irish Examiner. 31 July 2002. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  13. ^ "Rickie Lambert backed for England by Dave Merrington - BBC Sport". BBC Sport.
  14. ^ "Merrington ready for "emotional" last commentary". Southampton FC. 16 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  15. ^ "Southampton football pundit Dave Merrington retires". 23 May 2022. 20 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
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