 Woosnam circa 1975 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Phillip Abraham Woosnam | ||
| Date of birth | (1932-12-22)22 December 1932 | ||
| Place of birth | Caersws, Powys, Wales, UK | ||
| Date of death | 19 July 2013(2013-07-19) (aged 80) | ||
| Place of death | Dunwoody, Georgia, US | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Caersws | |||
| Wrexham | |||
| Welshpool, | |||
| Oswestry Town | |||
| Bangor University | |||
| Peritus | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1950-1951 | Bangor City | 5 | |
| 1952–1953 | Aberystwyth Town | 1 | (0) |
| 1952–1953 | Manchester City | 1 | (0) |
| 1953–1954 | Portmadoc | 1 | (1) |
| 1953–1954 | Sutton United | ||
| 1954–1958 | Leyton Orient | 108 | (19) |
| 1958–1962 | West Ham United | 138 | (26) |
| 1962–1966 | Aston Villa | 106 | (24) |
| 1967–1968 | Atlanta Chiefs | 21 | (9) |
| International career | |||
| 1952–1958 | Wales Amateurs | 16 | (4) |
| 1958–1963 | Wales | 17 | (3) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1961 | West Ham United (caretaker) | ||
| 1967–1968 | Atlanta Chiefs | ||
| 1968 | United States | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Phillip Abraham Woosnam (22 December 1932 – 19 July 2013) was a Welshassociation footballinside-right and manager. A native ofCaersws, Powys, Wales,[1] Woosnam played for numerous clubs in Wales, England and one in the United States. He played international football forWales. He was described as a "gifted inside-forward with a pronounced football intelligence".[2]
He was commissioner of theNorth American Soccer League from 1969 to 1982, overseeing the league's expansion and boom years. He was inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1997.
Woosnam played football with Montgomeryshire Schoolboys and gained youth international honours with Wales, and gained eight amateurcaps, the first against England in 1951. While studyingphysics, he captainedBangor University's football team at the Welsh Universities' Championship and played for the Peritus club. Woosnam completed his national service with theRoyal Artillery where he played for 55th RA Tonfanau and was selected for the Army XI several times, including alongsideEddie Colman andDuncan Edwards ofManchester United.[2]
Retainiong his amateur status throughout, Woosnam played club football forWelshpool,Oswestry Town,Bangor City,Wrexham,Manchester City,Caersws,Aberystwyth Town,[3]Portmadoc,Sutton United, as well as guesting occasionally forMiddlesex Wanderers, before he joinedLeyton Orient.[4] His only Manchester City appearance was in a 6-0 defeat versus Cardiff City at Ninian Park. He made his senior international debut forWales againstScotland in October 1958, having turned professional in January 1957.[5] He represented theLondon XI againstLausanne Sports while atBrisbane Road. He was named amateur footballer of the year in 1955.[2]
In November 1958, Woosnam was signed byWest Ham United for £30,000 and left his job as a physics teacher atLeyton County High School for Boys to turn professional. West Ham insisted that they would only sign Wooosnam if he gave up full-time teaching.[6] A condition of his release from teaching to turn professional with the Hammers was that the Upton Park club would send its first team to face the school's first XI.[7] Such a fixture became a regular annual occurrence at Leyton County with West Ham visiting again - once with Woosnam as Hammers' captain - as well as Charlton Athletic, Leyton Orient and Crystal Palace.[8] While at Leyton County Woosnam would recommend promising schoolboys to Leyton Orient. He made his debut againstArsenal that month and went on to make 138 league appearances for the club, scoring 26 goals. He made 15 cup appearances, scoring three goals. While atUpton Park, he added 14 full international caps to the one he had gained while at Orient. He also represented theFootball League[9] and theWales national amateur football team,[10] for whom he won 16 caps, scoring four goals, only one less than the national amateur record. His caps total places him joint 7th in the all-time amateur appearance list.
Woosnam moved toAston Villa in 1962 for a £25,000 fee. He made his Villa debut on 1 December 1962 in a 5–0 home win againstBolton Wanderers.[11] He went on to score 24 goals in 106 League games, and gained a further two international caps.[12]
Woosnam acted as caretaker manager at West Ham afterTed Fenton's reign came to an end in 1961.[citation needed] Woosnam was only 29 years old and had designs on the job beforeRon Greenwood was appointed.[citation needed] Greenwood soon saw Woosnam and some other senior players as a threat to his authority, which in part prompted Woosnam's transfer to Aston Villa.[citation needed]
Woosnam immigrated to the United States in 1966 when he was appointed player-coach for theAtlanta Chiefs and scored the first goal in the first football game in the AtlantaFulton County Stadium.[13] Woosnam was named 'Coach of the Year' in 1968.[14] In 1968, with qualifiers for the1970 FIFA World Cup about to start, Woosnam accepted an invitation to coach theUnited States national team. It would be the USMNT's first full internationals in three and half years.[15] He was in post for only two months in which the team played nine internationals, including a three match tour ofHaiti. Under Woosnam, the team won four games, lost four and drew one. It was during this period thatCoventry City's proud ScotGerry Baker was persuaded to turn out for the US where he had been born 30 years earlier.
When Woosnam stepped down to become commissioner of theNASL, he was succeeded by his assistant, EnglishmanGordon Jago. Ultimately, the team failed to qualify for the 1970 World Cup.
Woosnam was commissioner of theNASL from 1969 to 1982.[13] He is credited as an important factor in the development of the NASL, and was a major figure in promoting the league and had secured TV contracts fromCBS andABC.[16] He played a key role during 1970 in recruiting executives atWarner Communications to invest in an expansion team—theNew York Cosmos.[17] Woosnam oversaw the westward expansion of NASL in the early 1970s, establishing teams in Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Seattle, and Vancouver. However, he also guided the league into several poor business decisions, such as over-expansion to 24 teams. Facing mounting financial losses, the owners voted to fire Woosnam in 1982.[16]
Woosnam later became managing director of the marketing arm ofUS Soccer, and helped bring the1994 World Cup to the US. He was inducted into the USNational Soccer Hall of Fame and the Georgia Soccer Hall of Fame in 1997.[13]
Woosnam was also in charge of venues during the1996 Olympic Games hosted in his adopted city of Atlanta.
In 2003, theWales national football team travelled toSan Jose, California for an end of season friendly international against the USA.[18] TheFootball Association of Wales invited Woosnam to be its guest for the week the squad was inCalifornia preparing for the game.
Woosnam, a cousin to golferIan Woosnam and a nephew of the English footballer,Max Woosnam, became a naturalized American citizen.[when?][1]
Phil Woosnam died on 19 July 2013 inDunwoody, Georgia[14] from complications related toprostate cancer andAlzheimer's disease, at the age of 80.[13]
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