 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Jeffrey | ||
| Date of birth | (1892-08-03)August 3, 1892 | ||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | January 7, 1966(1966-01-07) (aged 73) | ||
| Place of death | New York City, U.S. | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| –1925 | Altoona Works | ||
| 1926–1952 | Penn State | ||
| 1950 | United States | ||
William Jeffrey (August 3, 1892 – January 7, 1966) was the head coach of theUnited States national soccer team at the1950 FIFA World Cup that famously beatEngland1–0 in one of the greatest upsets in the history ofsoccer. He was the coach ofPenn State for 26 seasons, winning ten national college championships. He is a member of theNational Soccer Hall of Fame.
Born inEdinburgh, Scotland, Jeffrey began playing at an early age, but suffered a career-ending injury. His mother sent him to live with an uncle in the United States. He began working as a mechanic with theAltoona Railroad Shop of thePennsylvania Railroad.
He eventually came to manage the company team. In 1925, his team played an exhibition game withPenn State University. This resulted in an offer to coach the men's soccer team, a position he held for 27 years.[1] Beginning in 1932, the Nittany Lions would go on a 65-game unbeaten streak, a streak which ended in November 1941. A founding member of theNSCAA, he served as president of the association in 1948.[2]
TheUnited States Soccer Football Federation selected Jeffrey to coach theUnited States men's national soccer team at the1950 FIFA World Cup just two weeks before the competition afterErno Schwarz declined the position. Jeffrey led the U.S. team to its historic1–0 win overEngland in the 1950 World Cup, considered one of the greatest upsets in soccer history.[3]
In 1953, he retired from Penn State. He moved to Puerto Rico where he taught and coached for several years. On September 29, 1972, the Penn State soccer stadium was named after Jeffrey.[4] TheNSCAA awards the annual Bill Jeffrey Award to college coaches.[5]
100 Years, 4 Generations of Penn State Coaching History
Jeffrey, who started his coaching career inAltoona, Pennsylvania became the head coach ofPenn State University Men's Soccer Team in the early 1920s, and later became the men's national team head coach in theFIFA World Cup. Coach Jeffrey died in 1966 and his coaching lineage worked through four generations atPennsylvania State University. The captain of Jeffrey's 1950 U.S. team,Walter Bahr became coach at Penn State though the years of 1974-1988. His assistant,Barry Gorman, later succeeded him, keeping the Penn State job through the 2009 season. In 2021, the connection to Jeffrey continues with Coach Gorman’s youth player,Fraser Kershaw, who took the head coaching job atPenn State Altoona. The coaching connection reached four separate generations of soccer, reaching a 100-year continual coaching succession.[6]
Jeffrey died of a heart attack while attending theNCAA soccer meetings in New York. He is buried in Centre County Memorial Cemetery inState College, Pennsylvania.
