Fred Eyre

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Stanley Frederick Eyre, born 3 February 1944 in Manchester, is a former English footballer, coach, businessman, author and radio pundit. He played as a wing half and was Manchester City’s first ever apprentice, even cleaning boots for players such as Bert Trautmann and Denis Law. He didn’t break into City’s first team and moved to Lincoln City in 1963, then Crewe Alexandra, where he again made no first‑team appearances. He spent much of his career in non‑league football with around twenty clubs, including Oswestry Town, Rossendale United, New Brighton, Ellesmere Port, Radcliffe Borough and Chadderton. He had a brief Football League return with Bradford Park Avenue in 1969–70, making one appearance, before continuing with Oswestry Town and later Wigan Athletic.

After playing, Eyre worked on coaching staffs at Bradford Park Avenue and Southport, and had a short spell as caretaker manager of Wigan Athletic in 1981, with one win and one draw. He was Assistant Manager and Chief Scout at Sheffield United in 1998. He started an office‑supply business, became an after‑dinner speaker, and wrote the book Kicked into Touch, which had sold over a million copies by 2005. He is known for a story about meeting Ferenc Puskás in Australia and passing him a brilliant pass that led to a goal.

As of 2009–2011, Eyre did co‑commentary on Manchester City matches for BBC Radio Manchester, and he continued in that role in 2011 before suffering a mysterious illness. He is the father of Steve Eyre, former Rochdale manager.