Dave Merrington

David Robert Merrington (born 26 January 1945) is an English football commentator for BBC Radio Solent and a former professional player and coach.

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

Playing career

Merrington played for Burnley, appearing in 98 league games (1 goal), including a spell as captain. He later played for Bristol City before retiring and going into coaching.[2]

Coaching career

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.

He became youth coach at Southampton in 1983, before taking over as manager for the 1995–96 season.[3] He was Premiership Manager of the Month in April 1996, his only full season in management. Despite securing Southampton's top flight status on goal difference, he was dismissed on 14 June 1996 and succeeded by Graeme Souness. 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.[4]

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. His next stop was a brief spell working as Walsall's first-team coach alongside manager Colin Lee in 2002.

Media career

Merrington works for BBC Radio Solent, commentating on Southampton matches.[5]

Honours

Manager

Individual

References
  1. "Dave Merrington". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 February 2007. Retrieved 22 May 2007.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. 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.
  4. https://archive.is/20120912021200/http://www.southampton-mad.co.uk/footydb/loadtmrs.asp?ssnno=125&teamno=479
  5. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21576543
  6. "Manager profile: David Merrington". Premier League. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
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