Player Profile

When Shankly bought Gordon Milne in his first full season as manager he knew the boy pretty well having been his dad's teammate at Preston for a few years. Milne's play was uncomplicated and others prospered around his unselfish and skilful play. He made the transition from Second Division to the First without any problems and he was a vital part on the right side of Shankly's midfield. He only missed a handful of League fixtures in three seasons as Liverpool won the Second Division in 1962, established themselves in the First Division and then won the League Championship in 1964. Milne's greatest disappointment was without a doubt missing out on the 1965 FA Cup final, just as his father, Jimmy, had missed Preston's cup win in 1938. Another League title followed in 1966 but he was two months out through injury which proved a setback to his chances of making the World Cup squad. Milne had played 14 internationals and had hoped to be one of Liverpool's four players with England in the 1966 World Cup, but he wasn't chosen for the final group. 

Despite being a regular in the previous season 30-year-old Milne was sold to second division Blackpool in May 1967. Three years later he took on the role of player-manager at non-league Wigan Athletic. He was the England youth team manager for nearly 12 months before eight years as manager of Coventry City. After a four-year spell as manager of Leicester City, he moved abroad to coach Turkish club Besiktas and enjoyed great success with them, helping them to a hat-trick of championship wins in 1990, 1991 and 1992. Following a spell with Grampus Eight in Japan Milne became the Chief Executive of the League Manager's Association in 1995 before returning to management in Turkey. He took over as Director of Football at Newcastle United in 1999 working alongside Sir Bobby Robson until 2004 when he was appointed to the same post at Besiktas where he stayed until his retirement in 2007.