Ex-Plymouth and Birmingham defender Newman dies

Ex-Plymouth and Birmingham defender Newman dies

Former Plymouth Argyle and Birmingham City defender John Newman, who was also one of Exeter City's longest-serving managers, has died at the age of 91.

Newman began his career with Birmingham in 1951 and was part of the side that won the Division Two title in 1954-55 and reached the 1956 FA Cup final, which they lost to Manchester City.

After moving to Leicester City a year later, Hereford-born Newman joined Argyle, for whom he would go on to make more than 300 appearances between 1960 and 1967.

He spent the last five years of his playing career with Exeter and took over initially as player-manager following Frank Broome's departure in April 1969.

Newman retired from playing in 1972 and consolidated the club's standing in the fourth tier but could not win promotion back to Division Three during his spell of nearly eight seasons at the helm.

Exeter's seventh-placed finish in 1975-76 was their best under Newman, who also had spells at Grimsby and Derby before finishing his managerial career with his hometown club, taking charge of Hereford United between 1983 and 1987.

He took the Bulls close to going up from Division Four in 1984-85 when they finished seven points outside the promotion places and took Arsenal to a replay in the FA Cup that same season.

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