McHale retires as Collingwood coach
Jock McHale has retired as coach of Collingwood Football Club. The Magpie committee last night accepted his resignation and decided to call for applications for non-playing coach from past and present Collingwood players only.
McHale’s resignation will cause a sensation in football circles. However, it was not unexpected in some quarters at Collingwood, where discussions on a successor for McHale had been lively for some time.
It is believed there will be prolonged discussions before McHale's successor is appointed. Factions on the Collingwood committee have set preferences.
Players representatives, Phonse Kyne, Neil Mann and Gordon Hocking, were excluded from all discussions. A club spokesman said last night McHale had retired because he was getting too old for the position. McHale lived at Essendon and felt he could not carry on the job satisfactorily.
Jock McHale has been the outstanding coach in the history of Victorian football. He was a leading centreman in the days when players were paid only 6d. a game.
This was to have been his 40th season as the Magpies' coach. It is well known that he seriously considered retiring at' the end of the 1949 season, but a strong section of club members asked him to continue until the appointment of a successor was clarified. The three most likely candidates for the coaching job are Albert Collier, former star Magpie half-back; Phonse Kyne, the veteran captain, and seconds coach, Bervyn Woods. Woods has the support of several members of the executive. He was a follower and back pocket player in the brilliant "Coventry era" at Collingwood.
Believed in teamwork
The retired coach, now 67, concentrated on developing teamwork among ordinary players rather than building a team around a few stars. He is a native of N.S.W., born at Botany Bay on December 12, 1882. He came to Melbourne when five and played as a schoolboy with Christian Brothers College, East Melbourne. He played for Coburg as a junior in 1900-02. He was rejected by Collingwood at the end of 1902 but gained a place the following 'year. He wore the colors for 17 years. For eleven years he was playing coach. On his retirement, he automatically became non-playing coach.
Footnotes
Title: McHale Retires as Collingwood Coach
Author: Canberra Time Staff Writer
Publisher: The Age (Melbourne, Vic: 1854-1954)
Date: 5 April 1950, p.22
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