Billy Bingham, Northern Ireland football coach: Profile, Career, News & Videos

Billy Bingham was a Northern Irish football player and manager.

As a player, his first professional club was Glentoran, for whom he played between 1948 and 1950. Making a move to England, he then spent eight years with Sunderland, making 227 appearances. In 1958, he switched to Luton Town, making nearly 100 league appearances in three years. This was followed by a two-year association with Everton, where he again went close to 100 league appearances. He finished his career after breaking his leg in a match for Port Vale in 1964 at 33. He had scored 133 goals in 525 appearances in all domestic competitions. Between 1951 and 1963, he won 56 caps for Northern Ireland, scoring 10 international goals, and played at the 1958 FIFA World Cup.

His managerial career started at Southport in 1965. He was appointed manager of Northern Ireland two years later after taking the \"Sandgrounders\" to promotion out of the Fourth Division. During his time as an international manager, he also took charge at Plymouth Argyle and later Linfield. He led Linfield to a quadruple in 1970–71, his only season in charge. In 1971, he was appointed the head coach of the Greece national side. Two years later, he returned to the domestic game with Everton of England. He returned to Greece briefly in 1977, taking the reins at PAOK. The following year, he returned to England to take charge of Mansfield Town for one full season. In 1980, he was re-appointed as Northern Ireland manager, his final position and a post he would hold for the next 13 years. He led his nation to the finals of the FIFA World Cup in 1982 and 1986.