Jimmy Hogan

**James "Jimmy" Hogan** (16 October 1882 – 30 January 1974) was an English football player and coach. He was a notable footballer but his legacy is that he was a pioneer of the game and an innovative coach for teams and national teams across Europe.
## Playing career
Hogan's first signing was for Burnley F.C.. In 1905 he left and joined Fulham. Hogan helped Fulham reach the FA Cup semi-final in 1907–08 before joining Swindon Town and then Bolton Wanderers. In a pre-season tour Bolton beat Dutch club FC Dordrecht 10–0; Hogan promised to return to Dordrecht to *"teach those fellows how to play properly"*.

## Coaching and managerial career
### 1910s
In 1910 he signed a two-year contract at Dordrecht and improved the team in fitness and ball control. He also introduced the Combination Game. Impressed by his methods, the Royal Dutch Football Association let Hogan manage the Netherlands in a friendly match against Germany in October 1910, which they won 2–1. Hogan also briefly coached Wiener Amateur-SV in 1911 and 1912. In 1912, Hogan returned for a final season as a player at Bolton. Then he returned to Vienna to coach the Austrian national team. World War I meant that he was interned as a foreign prisoner of war. He was smuggled to the Hungarian border and went to Budapest, where he was allowed to coach at MTK Budapest between 1914 and 1918. Hogan laid the foundations for MTK's domination of Hungarian football, as they won ten domestic titles in a row between 1913-14 and 1924–25. During a brief return to England, he was regarded as a traitor for coaching foreign clubs.

### 1920s
At the end of the First World War he became coach of Young Boys Bern until 1920. 1924 he returned to Switzerland as coach of the Switzerland national team alongside his compatriot Teddy Duckworth and Hungarian Izidor Kürschner for the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. Switzerland reached the final but lost 3–0 against Uruguay. 

After the Olympics, Hogan coached Lausanne Sports and Dresdner SC Then he returned to MTK Budapest between 1925 and 1927.

### 1930s
Hogan next formed a partnership with Hugo Meisl in 1931. They were coaching the Austrian national team to success during its *Wunderteam* period. Between 1932 and 1934, Hogan managed Racing Club de Paris and Lausanne Sports once again before returning to England to manage Fulham from 1934. Hogan was sacked after only 31 games.

Hogan helped coach the Austrian national team at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. Austria reached the final but were beaten 2–1 by Italy after extra time. After that he returned to England and coached Aston Villa Arriving at Villa, Hogan outlined his philosophy: *"I am a teacher and lover of constructive football with every pass, every kick, every movement an object."* He reached the FA Cup semi-final in 1937–38, but was sacked while in hospital with appendicitis just after the outbreak of World War II.

### Post World War II
Hogan joined Brentford as coach in September 1948, before joining Celtic in the same year. The majority of the players viewed Hogan’s appointment negative. Hogan left Celtic by mutual agreement in 1950. Aston Villa asked him to return. Villa won the 1956–57 FA Cup.

Hogan retired, aged 77, in November 1959, but continued to scout for both Villa and Burnley.  Hogan died in 1974 whilst living with his sister's daughter Margaret Melia on Brunshaw Avenue, Burnley.
## Honours
### Club 
**MTK Budapest**
*Champion: 1916–17, 1917–18, 1918–19, 1919–20, 1920–21

**Young Boys Bern**
*Swiss Serie A: 1919–20

**Aston Villa**
*Football League Second Division: 1937–38

### Individual 
*World Soccer 24th Greatest Manager of All Time: 2013

## References