Profile of Bobby Gould on Famous Like Me

Robert "Bobby" Gould (born June 12, 1946 in Coventry) is a former English football player and manager.

Playing Career

As a player, Gould first played for Coventry City, making his debut for the club whilst still an apprentice at the age of 16. A striker, he scored 40 goals in 80 games for the Sky Blues, before being signed by Arsenal in February 1968. However, he could not hold down a place in the Arsenal first team, and took no part in Arsenal's 1970 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final win.

In the summer of 1970 he moved to West Bromwich Albion, and later played for Bristol City, West Ham United, Wolves, Bristol Rovers, Hereford United, Bristol Rovers and Aldershot before retiring from playing in 1980.

Management Career

He began his managerial career with Bristol Rovers in the early 1980s but is most famous for his achievements with Wimbledon. He moved to the South Londoners in the summer of 1987 after their first season as a First Division club. His first season brought one of the most famous FA Cup victories in history, when his unfancied Wimbledon side beat Liverpool to clinch the FA Cup in the final at Wembley. Gould remained with the Dons for two more seasons before quitting to make way for his assistant Ray Harford.

On leaving Wimbledon, Gould was recruited by QPR to work as assistant to manager Don Howe, having played under Howe at West Bromwich Albion. Fittingly enough, his short-lived spell at Loftus Road ended in January 1991 when he took the vacant manager's job at Albion. But he was unable to prevent them from suffering relegation to the old Third Division at the end of the 1990-91 season - the first time that Albion had slipped to such depths. In 1991-92, Albion just missed out on the playoffs in their first season as a Third Division club and Gould left soon afterwards to join Coventry, his former club.

Bobby Gould remained at Coventry City until December 1993, when he resigned despite defying all the odds and keeping them clear of relegation from the Premiership.

His next stop was with the Welsh national team. He became national coach in June 1995 but quit four years later after their failure to qualify for the 1998 World Cup.

In August 2000, Bobby Gould was named as manager of Division Three side Cardiff City. But two months later he handed over his duties to Alan Cork and was promoted to the role of general manager. After seeing the Bluebirds win promotion at the end of 2000-01 he left Ninian Park to seek a return to management.

Bobby Gould's final full time managerial post came in January 2003 when he took over at Division Two strugglers Cheltenham Town. Despite his efforts, Cheltenham were unable to avoid relegation back to Division Three and Gould resigned soon after the 2003-04 campaign was underway.

In season 2004/2005 Gould was employed to coach Peterborough United by owner Barry Fry but was eventually released due to lack of funds to pay even his expenses.

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