Matt Gillies
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Matthew Muirhead Gillies | ||
| Date of birth | 12 August 1921 | ||
| Place of birth | Loganlea, West Lothian, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 24 December 1998 (aged 77) | ||
| Place of death | Nottingham, England | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| ? | Motherwell | ? | |
| 1946–1952 | Bolton Wanderers | 145 | (1) |
| 1952–1955 | Leicester City | 103 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1958–1968 | Leicester City | ||
| 1969–1972 | Nottingham Forest | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Matthew Muirhead Gillies (12 August 1921 – 24 December 1998) was a Scottish football player and manager who played for, captained, coached and managed Leicester City for a total of 15 years between 1952–1955 and 1956-1968. He is the club's longest serving manager, lasting a decade in the manager's seat between November 1958-November 1968. He took charge of Leicester for a club record 508 matches, after making 111 appearances for the club as a player.
He was manager of the Leicester side nicknamed the 'Ice Kings', which chased the double in 1962–63.
Gillies played for R.A.F. Weeton, Bolton Wanderers and Leicester City, making a total of 248 appearances in the Football League.
Gillies took a brief break from football after finishing his playing career at Leicester in the summer of 1955, but returned to the club less than a year later to become part of the club's coaching staff in April 1956, before being made the club's manager on 1 November 1958.
In 1959, Gillies signed then-unknown 22-year-old goalkeeper Gordon Banks from Chesterfield for just £7,000. He also signed club stalwarts Dave Gibson, Mike Stringfellow, Lenny Glover and Derek Dougan. He was known as a fine nurturer and scout of young talent, bringing along Peter Shilton, , Graham Cross and David Nish.
Gillies took over the Foxes on 8 November 1958 as they sat bottom of the First Division and amidst fan unrest after his predecessor Norman Bullock had recently sold star striker Arthur Rowley to Shrewsbury Town. He brought in Bert Johnson as his assistant and head scout and the pair would embark in arguably the most successful period in the club's history.
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