Background
McManus was born in Limavady and played for Coleraine before joining English club Coventry City in 1969.
McManus was born in Limavady and played for Coleraine before joining English club Coventry City in 1969.
He joined N ottinghamshire County in the summer of 1972 and played in four matches in 1972-1973 as the Magpies finished in 2nd place earning promotion to the Second Division.
He failed to break into the first team at Highfield Road making just seven appearances in three seasons. He became the regular number one at Meadow Lane making 265 appearances before joining Stoke City in the summer of 1979. At the Victoria Ground McManus was second choice behind Peter Fox and so spent the 1979-1980 out on loan at Lincoln City and didn"t play at all in 1980-1981.
In 1981-1982 McManus played in four matches when Fox was unavailable.
He joined Bradford City in August 1982 where he made 139 appearances in three seasons at Valley Parade. On the last day of that successful season his day was to turn into a nightmare when 56 spectators were killed in a horrendous stand fire while playing Lincoln City.
Out favour in 1985-1986, McManus spent time out on loan at Middlesbrough (making two appearances) and Peterborough United (making 18 appearances) before leaving permanently to join Tranmere Rovers. He was second choice to Billy O"Rourke in 1986-1987 making five appearances and later went on to play for non-league Boston United.
He was head of youth scouting at Walsall, until he left on 31 October 2008.