Norman Bodell RIP

[behind the goals]

Norman Bodell our former Manager passed away on November 22nd 2024 aged 86, many older supporters will remember him unfortunately has one of the worst ever managers at Holker Street.

[AugustusCorpa]

Pedro remembers him

[Suffolk Blue]

I doubt that they’ll be asking Pedro for a Eulogy.

However, not everybody that has been part of our story has left in positive circumstances. We have had more failures than successes in our long history and some would say that misfortune has been instrumental in creating the club that many of us still love.

Poor manager does not translate to bad person. RIP Norman. Beware of my father in the afterlife though. He had some strong views about your time with us.

[blumooncrab]

I’m surprised he was only 86. Which suggests that he was only in his early 30s when manager? The board then clearly made a right hash of things and are probably the true villains. Their legacy is still there for all to see - the pitch is still not anywhere near where it needs to be for this level. Hopefully we can sort it sometime soon .

[Pedro]

I doubt that they’ll be asking Pedro for a Eulogy.

However, not everybody that has been part of our story has left in positive circumstances. We have had more failures than successes in our long history and some would say that misfortune has been instrumental in creating the club that many of us still love.

Poor manager does not translate to bad person. RIP Norman. Beware of my father in the afterlife though. He had some strong views about your time with us.

I never said he was a bad person but not a good Manager.
Yes alot of bad decisions have been made the past board.
He used to do part time modelling think that was the era of Malcolm Allison and Fiona Richmond

[Suffolk Blue]

I’m surprised he was only 86. Which suggests that he was only in his early 30s when manager? The board then clearly made a right hash of things and are probably the true villains. Their legacy is still there for all to see - the pitch is still not anywhere near where it needs to be for this level. Hopefully we can sort it sometime soon .

Yes. He was young, had some success I think with Alty and perhaps reflected an image that some felt was in keeping with the times. I’ve no doubt he was also cheap to hire and had the job of following IMO the best manager in our history - Colin Appleton - who had suddenly been taken seriously ill.

In retrospect not an ideal set of circumstances. It would be wrong to see the BoD as a bunch of villains. They were in fact a bunch of well meaning conscientious and well respected local businessmen. Though totally devoid of any real knowledge of how to build or finance a professional football club.

To some extent the history of the club still lives in the shadow of those times and the void that followed. In reality it brings into focus how remarkable if not miraculous our resurrection has been. I never take it for granted.

[FanzoneFan]

I’m surprised he was only 86. Which suggests that he was only in his early 30s when manager? The board then clearly made a right hash of things and are probably the true villains. Their legacy is still there for all to see - the pitch is still not anywhere near where it needs to be for this level. Hopefully we can sort it sometime soon .

Yes. He was young, had some success I think with Alty and perhaps reflected an image that some felt was in keeping with the times. I’ve no doubt he was also cheap to hire and had the job of following IMO the best manager in our history - Colin Appleton - who had suddenly been taken seriously ill.

In retrospect not an ideal set of circumstances. It would be wrong to see the BoD as a bunch of villains. They were in fact a bunch of well meaning conscientious and well respected local businessmen. Though totally devoid of any real knowledge of how to build or finance a professional football club.


Colin Appleton will no doubt go down as one of our greatest managers. He still played and managed after leaving us which makes one wonder what might have happened had he stayed at Holker Street a few more years. I don’t know if this is true or not but was it a stress related illness that forced him to give up the Manager’s post ?
To some extent the history of the club still lives in the shadow of those times and the void that followed. In reality it brings into focus how remarkable if not miraculous our resurrection has been. I never take it for granted.

[FanzoneFan]

Yes. He was young, had some success I think with Alty and perhaps reflected an image that some felt was in keeping with the times. I’ve no doubt he was also cheap to hire and had the job of following IMO the best manager in our history - Colin Appleton - who had suddenly been taken seriously ill.

In retrospect not an ideal set of circumstances. It would be wrong to see the BoD as a bunch of villains. They were in fact a bunch of well meaning conscientious and well respected local businessmen. Though totally devoid of any real knowledge of how to build or finance a professional football club.

Colin Appleton will no doubt go down as one of our greatest managers. He still played and managed after leaving us which makes one wonder what might have happened had he stayed at Holker Street a few more years. I don’t know if this is true or not but was it a stress related illness that forced him to give up the Manager’s post ?
To some extent the history of the club still lives in the shadow of those times and the void that followed. In reality it brings into focus how remarkable if not miraculous our resurrection has been. I never take it for granted.

[FanzoneFan]

Colin Appleton will no doubt go down as one of our greatest managers. He still played and managed after leaving us which makes one wonder what might have happened had he stayed at Holker Street a few more years. I don’t know if this is true or not but was it a stress related illness that forced him to give up the Manager’s post ?

[Hadrian]

I’m surprised he was only 86. Which suggests that he was only in his early 30s when manager? The board then clearly made a right hash of things and are probably the true villains. Their legacy is still there for all to see - the pitch is still not anywhere near where it needs to be for this level. Hopefully we can sort it sometime soon .

Making a mistake is not the sign of a villain.

Our pitch is similar to others in the league and worse than some. Be balanced.

[pjdaly]

Can I just say thank you to Suffolk Blue for some mature and appropriate comments in this thread. Those of us old enough to remember the late 1960's know full well the story of what happened to our club and the Norman Bodell connection. But well said, Suffolk Blue, as this is a moment – and a thread – to emphasise condolences for the passing of a human being and not to dredge up footballing matters that have been worn out like an old '45 over the decades. We know the story only too well but, to the best of my knowledge, he never cheated us or deliberately did us wrong and so, with that in mind, wherever he might be now in any journeys we experience beyond this world he goes with my best wishes.

[blumooncrab]

I’m surprised he was only 86. Which suggests that he was only in his early 30s when manager? The board then clearly made a right hash of things and are probably the true villains. Their legacy is still there for all to see - the pitch is still not anywhere near where it needs to be for this level. Hopefully we can sort it sometime soon .

Making a mistake is not the sign of a villain.

Our pitch is similar to others in the league and worse than some. Be balanced.

Ok - maybe the wrong phrase or term- but to be clear I'm not blaming Norman Bodell - and I'm sorry to hear of his demise- RIP Norman- we finished third from bottom and it was a combination of factors that led to our exit [Hereford, location, pitch etc]. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but trying to be balanced I'd say the errors made by the Board , the principal one of which I feel was the speedway, amounted to at least an egregious mistake, which led to 48 years of hurt that I will never forget .

I for one would like the pitch to be a lot better.

[FanzoneFan]

Apologies for a few technical errors on my earlier post, my question was why did Colin Appleton resign ? The club were in the top half of what is now League One and he went on to be a manager and player manager at other clubs.

[Jim]

Apologies for a few technical errors on my earlier post, my question was why did Colin Appleton resign ? The club were in the top half of what is now League One and he went on to be a manager and player manager at other clubs.

He was struck down with appendicitis. I do not know why he did not return after his recovery, but I have never heard any mention of stress. He was player manager, so perhaps he felt that he could no longer play at Div 4 level. He went to Scarborough as player manager.

[Suffolk Blue]

Neil Warnock still gets the bulk of the credit for Scarborough’s rise to the EFL but that journey began with Appleton. He was a very very effective coach wherever he went. More so even than as a manager. There was also the relationship with McCains which provided funding for a period of time. We never had that kind of relationship.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the stress of playing, managing and coaching all at the same time, had a serious effect on Appleton. Imagine therefore a thirty year old Bodell moving from a part-time non-league outfit to a third tier side taking on all of those responsibilities. You might conclude that it could never have worked. You’d probably be right. At worst, Norman Bodell was a part of our collective failure. But he didn’t cause it.