Product Code Database
James Hagan
As manager he had his greatest successes with S.L. Benfica in the early 1970s.
With a weekly wage of £7 per week plus a first-team appearance fee of £1, Hagan made his debut two days later on 5 November 1938 in a 2–1 victory against Swansea Town in the Second Division. His first goal came 21 days later at Bramall Lane in a 3–1 victory over West Ham United. His first hat-trick for the club came in the last game of the 1938–39 season, with United needing to win to gain promotion instead of local rivals Sheffield Wednesday who having played all their 42 games were one point ahead on 53 with a superior goal average. Promotion was secured with a 6–1 win, Hagan contributing a goal.
After the war, Hagan initially refused to re-sign for United, missing the first four games of the 1946–47 season. Having got a job as a trainee chartered surveyor he only rejoined the team on a part-time basis. His solitary England cap came in a 0–0 draw against Denmark in Copenhagen on 26 September 1948.
He continued to play for United until 1958, as captain between 1946 and 1949, despite United accepting what would have been a British record transfer fee of £32,500 from Wednesday in February 1951. Hagan rejected the transfer and Wednesday were relegated to the Second Division.
He finally retired after playing against his former club, Derby County, on 14 September 1957, having scored 117 league goals in 361 league matches. His testimonial game was played on 10 March 1958 between a Sheffield XI and an International XI.
In May and June 1958, Hagan joined fifteen Blackpool players on a tour of Australia. He scored 21 goals in his fifteen appearances.Wolstenholme, Gerry (2014). By Bus to Wollongong, Panther Press, 2014 He had previously toured Australia with an FA party seven years earlier, scoring eight goals in a match versus Tasmania.
His greatest successes were with S.L. Benfica in Lisbon where he led the club between 1970 and 1973 to three successive Portuguese championships and once to the national cup, a record no coach has since been able to repeat at the helm of the Águias. In this period Benfica also attracted Europe-wide attention when the team reached the semi-finals of the European Cup, where the team was only narrowly defeated 0–1 on aggregate by the legendary AFC Ajax of that era.
In 1972 and 1973, Hagan led Benfica to become the first club in Portugal ever to win the championship without defeats and won 28 matches – 23 consecutively – out of 30, drawing the other two. In that year Eusébio also became Europe's top scorer with 40 goals, in what was his penultimate season as a Benfica player. The team scored 101 goals, breaking 100 only for the second time in their history.
Jimmy Hagan separated from the club in September 1973 after an argument concerning the line-up for the testimonial match for Eusébio. Eusébio, with whom Hagan enjoyed a lifelong friendship since those days, described the coach as "a strong disciplinarian".
"All the players thought his training schedules were too punishing and some were physically sick after the first training session. But after a while, they realised it was worth it as we started winning games. He gave us the extra strength and he is the reason Benfica won three successive championships."
In 1975, he managed Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia for the First Portuguese League. In Lisbon he also managed Benfica's local rivals Sporting in the 1976–77 season. He also had spells at Vitoria de Setubal, Belenenses and Boavista where he won the Portuguese Cup.
| 1938–39 | Division Two | 28 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 11 |
| 1939–40 | East Midlands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 8 |
| 1940–41 | North Regional | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| 1941–42 | Northern | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 1942–43 | League North | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 1943–44 | League North | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 1944–45 | League North | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1945–46 | League North | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 12 | 5 |
| 1946–47 | Division One | 33 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 15 |
| 1947–48 | Division One | 29 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 6 |
| 1948–49 | Division One | 40 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 44 | 13 |
| 1949–50 | Division Two | 26 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 29 | 7 |
| 1950–51 | Division Two | 36 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 17 |
| 1951–52 | Division Two | 26 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 32 | 12 |
| 1952–53 | Division Two | 37 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 18 |
| 1953–54 | Division One | 25 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 28 | 8 |
| 1954–55 | Division One | 28 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 8 |
| 1955–56 | Division One | 22 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 26 | 8 |
| 1956–57 | Division Two | 27 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 32 | 10 |
| 1957–58 | Division Two | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | 361 | 117 | 28 | 5 | 53 | 29 | 442 | 151 |
Benfica
Estoril
Boavista
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