View source for Vic Buckingham

{{Short description|English footballer and manager (1915–1995)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Vic Buckingham
| image = Vic Buckingham (1960).jpg
| caption = Buckingham in 1960
| fullname = Victor Frederick Buckingham
| height = 5 ft 10 in<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/sunday-dispatch-football-guide-1936-vi-d/134505593/ |title='Spurs. The Hall-mark of soccer |newspaper=Sunday Dispatch Football Guide |location=London |date=23 August 1936 |page=vi |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
| birth_date = {{birth date|1915|10|23|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Greenwich]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|1995|1|26|1915|10|23|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Chichester]], England
| position = [[Wing-half]]
| youthyears1 = 
| youthclubs1 = 
| years1 = 1934–1935
| clubs1 = [[Northfleet United F.C.|Northfleet United]]
| years2 = 1935–1949
| clubs2 = [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]]
| caps2 = 204
| goals2 = 1
| nationalyears1 = 1951–1959
| nationalteam1 = 
| nationalcaps1 = 
| nationalgoals1 = 
| manageryears1 = 1950–1951
| managerclubs1 = [[Pegasus A.F.C.|Pegasus]]
| manageryears2 = 1951–1953
| managerclubs2 = [[Bradford Park Avenue A.F.C.|Bradford Park Avenue]]
| manageryears3 = 1953–1959
| managerclubs3 = [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]]
| manageryears4 = 1959–1961
| managerclubs4 = [[AFC Ajax|Ajax]]
| manageryears5 = 1961–1964
| managerclubs5 = [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]]
| manageryears6 = 1964–1965
| managerclubs6 = Ajax
| manageryears7 = 1965–1968
| managerclubs7 = [[Fulham F.C.|Fulham]]
| manageryears8 = 1968–1969
| managerclubs8 = [[Ethnikos Piraeus F.C.|Ethnikos Piraeus]]
| manageryears9 = 1969–1971
| managerclubs9 = [[FC Barcelona|Barcelona]]
| manageryears10 = 1972
| managerclubs10 = [[Sevilla FC|Sevilla]]
| manageryears11 = 1973–1975
| managerclubs11 = Ethnikos Piraeus
| manageryears12 = 1975–1976
| managerclubs12 = [[Olympiacos F.C.|Olympiacos]]
| manageryears13 = 1979–1980
| managerclubs13 = [[Rodos F.C.|Rodos]]
}}
'''Victor Frederick Buckingham''' (23 October 1915 – 26 January 1995) was an English [[association football|football]] player and manager.

He played for [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]] side [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]]. As manager he won the [[1954 FA Cup final]] with [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]] and finished runners-up in the [[Football League First Division|First Division]]. He had two periods as manager of [[AFC Ajax|Ajax]], leading the side to the [[Eredivisie|Dutch Championship]] of 1960. In 1964, [[Johan Cruyff]] made his league debut under him.

In 1971, Buckingham's [[FC Barcelona|Barcelona]] side finished as league runners-up and won the [[Copa del Rey|Spanish Cup]]. He also held manager positions with [[Fulham F.C.|Fulham]], [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]] and in Greece. Buckingham is considered to have been a pioneer of the footballing philosophy known as [[Total Football]], later further developed by his protégé Johan Cruyff.

== Career ==
Buckingham joined [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]] in 1934 and played the first season (1934–35) for Tottenham Hotspur nursery club Northfleet United. After that single season he returned to Tottenham, then playing in the Second Division, where he accumulated 230 matches as a defensive midfielder and later defender before leaving in 1949.

He started his managerial career at Oxford University 1949–50. After this, he headed the joint amateur team of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, [[Pegasus A.F.C.|Pegasus]], with which he won in 1951 the [[FA Amateur Cup]], defeating [[Bishop Auckland]] in the final 2–1 in front of a crowd of 100,000 at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]], playing an "attractive [[Push and run|push-and-run]] style of football where they worked hard for one another, kept it simple and passed the ball quickly".<ref>Andrew Ward, John Williams: "Football Nation : Sixty Years of the Beautiful Game", [[Bloomsbury Publishing]], London, 2009, p. 42.</ref>

Between 1951 and 1953, he managed [[Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C.|Bradford Park Avenue]], then playing in the [[Football League Third Division North|Third Division North]] of the [[English Football League|Football]], reaching upper midtable places.

In 1953, he was hired at [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]] as successor to [[Jesse Carver]], who returned to Italy. He became the club's longest-serving post-war manager, almost leading them to the "[[Double (association football)|double]]" in 1954 when they won the [[1953–54 FA Cup|FA Cup]], defeating [[Preston North End F.C.|Preston North End]] 3–2, and finished [[1953–54 Football League|second in the league]].<ref name=fcf>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fulhamfc.com/history/managers/vic-buckingham|title=Vic Buckingham 1965-1968|website=www.fulhamfc.com}}</ref>

In 1959, he became manager of [[AFC Ajax|Ajax]], succeeding the Austrian [[Karl Humenberger]] in the dugout. There he won the [[1959–60 Eredivisie]]. For personal reasons he left the club at the end of May 1960, a couple of weeks before the end of the [[1960–61 Eredivisie|1960–61]] season. With the only 28-year-old [[Keith Spurgeon]], who was recommended to Ajax by the English FA, another Englishman, the sixth in the history of the club, became ''trainer'' of Ajax.<ref>"Spurgeon trainer van Ajax", [[De Volkskrant]], 1961-05-01, p. 10</ref> He would stay until the end of the following season.

Initially, it was rumored Buckingham might join [[Plymouth Argyle F.C.|Plymouth Argyle]], but he ended up at [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]], runners-up in the 1960–61 First Division, where he replaced [[Harry Catterick]], who was lured to [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] two games before the end of the season. Under Buckingham's management, Sheffield Wednesday finished in sixth place in three consecutive seasons. On 9 April 1964, he was sacked from his £3,000 a year job with the club. [[Jack Mansell]], who was suspended by Buckingham from the first team's coaching staff, replaced him as caretaker manager.<ref>Davies, John. "Wednesday sack Buckingham." ''Daily Mail'', 10 April 1964, p. 20</ref>

Buckingham was never thought to be personally involved in the [[1964 British football match-fixing scandal|British betting scandal of 1964]], which was revealed on 12 April 1964, however the club management alleged in the aftermath, that lax discipline under him may have played a role. Three of his players at Wednesday – [[Peter Swan (footballer, born 1936)|Peter Swan]], [[Tony Kay]] and [[David Layne]] – were accused of taking bribes to fix a match with [[Ipswich Town F.C.|Ipswich Town]] on 1 December 1962 and betting on their team to lose, which then lost 2–0.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

For the [[1964–65 Eredivisie|1964–65 season]] he returned to Ajax. This time, the only success was the league debut of the 17-year-old [[Johan Cruijff]] in November. Poor results, including a 9–4 defeat in [[Rotterdam]] to [[Feyenoord|Feijenoord]], saw Ajax just three points above the relegation zone.<ref>Netherlands 1964/65 ''[https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/ned65.html rsssf.com]''</ref> By January 1965, Buckingham had left the club. In Amsterdam, this was the beginning of the era of [[Rinus Michels]].

In later years, Johan Cruijff would speak about Vic Buckingham and Keith Spurgeon:<blockquote>
''"They were open-minded but, tactically, you have to see where we were at that time. Football in Holland then was good but it was not really professional. They gave us some professionalism because they were much further down the road. But the tactical thinking came later with Michels. It started then."''<ref>Donald McRae ''[https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/12/johan-cruyff-louis-van-gaal-manchester-united Interview: Johan Cruyff: 'Johan Cruyff: 'Everyone can play football but those values are being lost. We have to bring them back']'' [[The Guardian]], 12 September 2014.</ref>
</blockquote>

Back in England, Buckingham joined First Division side [[Fulham F.C.|Fulham]] in January 1965. The club was struggling at the time and were later relegated in [[1967–68 Football League|1968]]. It is said that the purchase of [[Allan Clarke (footballer)|Allan Clarke]] from Walsall was one of his best decisions in that time. With 45 goals in 86 matches until 1968, Clarke contributed to the club staying up as long as it did and after relegation he was sold for £150,000, then the record British transfer fee.<ref name=fcf />

After a brief stint in Greece, he was hired in 1969 by [[FC Barcelona|Barcelona]] in Spain. There, he won the Spanish Cup, the [[1970–71 Copa del Generalísimo|Copa del Generalísimo of 1970–71]], in a 4–3 win after extra time against [[Valencia CF|Valencia]] in the final. In the same season, Barcelona were [[1970–71 La Liga|runner up in the league]], behind Valencia. They were equal on points, but Valencia prevailed due to the results of the matches against each other: Barça lost 2–0 at home and drew 1–1 away. After this season, it was once more that [[Rinus Michels]] replaced him. Amongst the stars of this Barcelona side were [[Joaquim Rifé]], [[Carles Rexach]], [[Josep Maria Fusté]] and [[Juan Manuel Asensi]].

In February 1972, he joined [[Sevilla FC|Sevilla]], but was unable to avoid relegation with the club. Thereafter, he had two more engagements in Greece. When he was hired by Greek champions [[Olympiacos F.C.|Olympiacos]] in 1975, he finished the season to 1976 in third place and did not gain an extension to his contract. His last job was with [[A.E. Rodos|Rodos]], another Greek First Division side, where he joined at the beginning of the 1979–80 season. The team was relegated at the end of the season.

==Personal life==
Buckingham was born in [[Greenwich]], the son of Annie Elizabeth Jenkins and William George Buckingham.<ref name="AK">{{Cite web |url=https://archief.amsterdam/indexen/deeds/985333fb-326c-56a3-e053-b784100ade19|title=Victor Frederick Buckingham|website=Stadsarchief Amsterdam|access-date=28 February 2022}}</ref> He was married to Lilian Emma King and had three children.<ref name="AK"/> He died aged 79 in [[Chichester]], England.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituaries-vic-buckingham-1570444.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220817/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituaries-vic-buckingham-1570444.html |archive-date=17 August 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=OBITUARIES:Vic Buckingham|author=Ivan Ponting|date=30 January 1995|work=[[The Independent]]}}</ref>

===Managerial statistics===
{{updated|match played on 26 December 2020}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Tony Pulis at 1,000 games: Footballers are film stars now|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37444207|website=BBC Sport|date=22 September 2016 |access-date=22 September 2016}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align: center"
|-
!rowspan=2 width=120|Team
!rowspan=2 width=120|From
!rowspan=2 width=120|To
!colspan=5|Record
|-
!width=30|G
!width=30|W
!width=30|D
!width=30|L
!width=40|Win %
|-
!scope="row"|[[Bradford Park Avenue A.F.C.|Bradford Park Avenue]]
|align=left|8 July 1951
|align=left|5 July 1953
{{WDL|100|42|26|32}}
|-
!scope="row"|[[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]]
|align=left|1 February 1953
|align=left|3 June 1959
{{WDL|301|130|78|93}}
|-
!scope="row"|[[AFC Ajax|Ajax]]
|align=left|3 June 1959
|align=left|7 June 1961
{{WDL|76|51|13|12}}
|-
!scope="row"|[[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]]
|align=left|10 June 1961
|align=left|9 April 1964
{{WDL|134|63|47|24}}
|-
!scope="row"|Ajax
|align=left|9 April 1964
|align=left|6 January 1965
{{WDL|28|9|5|14}}
|-
!scope="row"|[[Fulham F.C.|Fulham]]
|align=left|13 Αpril 1965
|align=left|10 January 1968
{{WDL|142|45|33|64}}
|-
!scope="row"|[[Ethnikos Piraeus F.C.|Ethnikos Piraeus]]
|align=left|7 July 1968
|align=left|24 December 1969
{{WDL|39|13|11|15}}
|-
!scope="row"|[[FC Barcelona|Barcelona]]
|align=left|24 December 1969
|align=left|8 July 1971
{{WDL|65|33|16|16}}
|-
!scope="row"|[[Sevilla FC|Sevilla]]
|align=left|5 March 1972
|align=left|30 September 1972
{{WDL|16|5|5|6}}
|-
!scope="row"|Ethnikos Piraeus
|align=left|2 August 1973
|align=left|16 March 1975
{{WDL|58|28|10|20}}
|-
!scope="row"|[[Olympiacos F.C.|Olympiacos]]
|align=left|8 July 1975
|align=left|24 June 1976
{{WDL|36|20|11|5}}
|-
!scope="row"|[[Rodos F.C.|Rodos]]
|align=left|19 July 1979
|align=left|22 June 1980
{{WDL|35|5|9|21}}
|-
!scope="row"|[[Enosis Neon Paralimni FC|Enosis Neon Paralimni]]
|align=left|7 July 1982
|align=left|26 December 1982
{{WDL|13|5|5|3}}
|-
|-class="sortbottom"
!colspan=3|Total
{{WDLtot|1043|449|269|325}}
|}

== Managerial honours==
'''West Bromwich Albion'''
* [[Football League First Division]] runner-up: [[1953–54 Football League|1953–54]]
* [[FA Cup]]: [[1954 FA Cup Final|1954]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.leaguemanagers.com/managers/vic-buckingham/|title=League Managers Association - VIC BUCKINGHAM|website=www.leaguemanagers.com|access-date=10 December 2019|archive-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422084705/https://www.leaguemanagers.com/managers/vic-buckingham/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[FA Charity Shield]]: [[1954 FA Charity Shield|1954]] (shared with [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolverhampton Wanderers]])

'''Ajax'''
* [[Eredivisie]]: [[1959–60 Eredivisie|1959–60]]; runner-up [[1960–61 Eredivisie|1960–61]]

'''Barcelona'''
* [[Copa del Generalísimo]]: [[1970–71 Copa del Generalísimo|1970–71]]
* [[1970–71 La Liga|Primera División]] runner-up: [[1970–71 La Liga|1970–71]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
If not indicated differently, club movements, league positions, results, etc. were taken from the [https://www.worldfootball.net/player_summary/vic-buckingham/ profile page of Vic Buckingham on worldfootball.net] and pages linked from there as available on 2020-03-01. Further information was taken from
* {{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituariesvic-buckingham-1570444.html|title=Obituaries: Vic Buckingham|date=30 January 1995|website=The Independent}}
*[http://www.adrianbullock.com/swfc/stats/man0006.htm Short biography from the Sheffield Wednesday archive]
*{{soccerbase (manager)|1259|Vic Buckingham}}

{{FA Cup winning managers}}
{{Copa del Rey winning managers}}
{{Eredivisie winning managers}}
{{Navboxes
|title= Vic Buckingham managerial positions
|list1=
{{Bradford Park Avenue A.F.C. managers}}
{{West Bromwich Albion F.C. managers}}
{{AFC Ajax managers}}
{{Sheffield Wednesday F.C. managers}}
{{Fulham F.C. managers}}
{{Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. managers}}
{{FC Barcelona managers}}
{{Sevilla FC managers}}
{{Olympiacos managers}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckingham, Vic}}
[[Category:1915 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:Footballers from the Royal Borough of Greenwich]]
[[Category:People from Greenwich]]
[[Category:English men's footballers]]
[[Category:England men's wartime international footballers]]
[[Category:Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players]]
[[Category:English football managers]]
[[Category:English expatriate football managers]]
[[Category:Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. managers]]
[[Category:West Bromwich Albion F.C. managers]]
[[Category:AFC Ajax managers]]
[[Category:Sheffield Wednesday F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Fulham F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. managers]]
[[Category:FC Barcelona managers]]
[[Category:Sevilla FC managers]]
[[Category:Olympiacos F.C. managers]]
[[Category:A.S. Rodos managers]]
[[Category:Eredivisie managers]]
[[Category:La Liga managers]]
[[Category:English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands]]
[[Category:English expatriate sportspeople in Greece]]
[[Category:English expatriate sportspeople in Spain]]
[[Category:Expatriate football managers in Greece]]
[[Category:Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands]]
[[Category:Expatriate football managers in Spain]]
[[Category:Northfleet United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Men's association football wing halves]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]