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Apologies:
Obituaries are always a priority when updating the
website, and I'm sorry the site let some visitors down by
not reporting the following more promptly. It was due to
my hard-drive packing out on me. In fact the crash
occured when updating this obituary page, and it has
taken 3 weeks to get the site active again. Believe me, I
was more upset about not being able to pass on my
respects to my childhood heroes than with any other part
of the process of getting back online. Bob.
Ron Greenwood (West Ham United manager)
I was sad to hear the
death of former West Ham and England manager Ron
Greenwood. Thank you to Laszlo Szabo for sending me the
following article that appeared at www.premierleague.com
West Ham United boss
Alan Pardew has paid tribute to former Hammers and
England manager Ron Greenwood, who has died aged 84.
Greenwood died peacefully at his home in Suffolk on
Wednesday evening after a long illness and has been
hailed as one of British football's innovators.
Pardew never got to
meet the man who led the Hammers to FA Cup and
European Cup Winners' Cup glory, but is well aware of
the legacy he left behind at Upton Park. He
said: "Unfortunately, I never had the chance to
meet Ron but I know he was highly respected by
everyone in the game and gave West Ham and England
fantastic service during his time as manager.
"(Sir) Geoff
Hurst has said that his coaching abilities and ideas
were ahead of his time, and that his teams were
always a joy to watch, and I know there are many
other former players and supporters who would agree
with that sentiment.
"His loss is a
very sad occasion for the club and I'm sure all our
supporters will be eager to pay their respects to a
man who did so much to establish West Ham as a great
name in English football."
World Cup-winner
Hurst, former players Trevor Francis and Peter
Shilton and Greenwood’s former England assistant
Don Howe were among others to pay their tributes.
I
n 1977, after Don
Revie's shock move to the Middle East, Greenwood took
over as England manager and held the post for five
years, having made his name managing the likes of
Hurst, Bobby Moore and Martin Peters at West Ham.
He led England to
the European Championship finals in 1980 and the
World Cup finals in Spain in 1982, where they reached
the second round only to miss out on a semi-final
place despite being unbeaten.
Hurst, whose
hat-trick in the 1966 final won the World Cup for
England, said: “It would not be overstating the
case to say that Ron Greenwood was the single most
influential figure in my career.
“I considered
it a privilege to play for him. He opened the door to
the world of modern football.”
His former England
number two Howe told Sky Sports News: “Ron
really was a pleasure to be with all the time. He was
wonderful, he really was.
“His technical
thinking was way ahead. He was up there with anyone
in the world. He knew how to get the players to
understand, and used to say simplicity was genius -
and it was with him.
“Walter
Winterbottom was director of coaching at the FA and
he took Ron on. Together they took the game forward.
“If we lost, he
was always down, though he didn’t show it. He
was very sad about it in 1982 because it was a
different type of World Cup.
“They kept
putting people in groups and our group was Spain and
Germany, a very difficult group. And we didn’t
lose. When you don’t lose at football you
don’t expect to be knocked out, but we were.
“I worked with
Ron, then Sir Bobby Robson and Terry Venables - three
great men. I think Terry and Bobby would say Ron
Greenwood (was the best of the three).”
Shilton, England's
most capped player, said Greenwood was “ahead of
his time”. " It's very sad news. Ron
was a real football man in the sense he loved to play
the right way,” he said. “I think he was a
bit ahead of his time in the 1960s and 70s when he
was in charge of West Ham because the way they played
the game, they were really ahead of their time. It
was great football to watch.”
Francis, a two-time
European Cup winner with Nottingham Forest, played
under Greenwood in 1982. “Ron Greenwood
was a gentleman; it was a pleasure to play for
him,” he said on Sky Sports News. “There
wasn’t a bad bone in his body and he is one of
the nicest guys I’ve ever come across in my
football career.
“He was always
at his best on the training field. He loved coaching;
he was always putting on interesting sessions.
“He worked very
well with Don Howe; they had a very good partnership
and in 1982 we were very unfortunate not to have gone
further. We felt we were good enough to go all the
way.
“Ron was a
great believer in playing attacking football but you
had to play it the right way. “He was
always coming up with different training ideas and
different tactics. It was a real pleasure to play for
him because you realised you were playing for a
person everyone in the squad had the utmost respect
for.”
Sports minister
Richard Caborn added: "I was saddened to hear of
Ron's death. He was a man who brought integrity to
football at a difficult time for the sport. He had
the respect of all who were fortunate enough to know
him and his love of the national game will not be
forgotten."
A minute's silence
will be held ahead of West Ham's Barclays Premiership
clash against Birmingham City on Monday night in
tribute to the east London club's former manager.
This profile of Ron's
career can be found at WHUFC.COM- Ron Greenwood
Factfile
Ron Greenwood
Factfile
1921 - Born
on November 11, in Burnley, Lancashire.
1931 -
Moved with his family to Middlesex at the age of 10,
and became an apprentice signwriter with his father
at Wembley Stadium upon leaving Alperton school at
the age of 14.
1940 -
Signed for Chelsea after impressing for a local team
and made his senior debut in December, but was
immediately called up to the RAF at the start of the
Second World War, during which time he played as a
guest for Hull City and Belfast Celtic.
1945 -
Joined Bradford Park Avenue after failing to win his
place back at Chelsea.
1949 -
Moved to second division Brentford, and became an
astute and talented centre-half, forming an
impressive half-back partnership with a young Jimmy
Hill. Went on to win an England 'B' cap.
1952 -
Returned to Chelsea and went on to play in the first
half of their Championship-winning season in 1954-55,
before moving to Fulham on a free transfer.
1956 -
Retired as a player and became a full-time coach,
having already qualified and tutored the Oxford
University side and non-league Walthamstow Avenue for
three years.
1957 -
Offered his first managerial post at Eastbourne FC.
1958 -
Became assistant manager at Arsenal, and coach of the
England youth and under-23 sides, after England
manager Walter Winterbottom described him as the
'best young coach in the game.'
1961 - Was
appointed as the fourth manager in West Ham United's
history on April 13 and took charge of a 1-1 draw
against Manchester City at Upton Park in his first
game. Led Hammers to eighth place in the old First
Division in his first full season at the Club.
1964 -
Managed West Ham United to the first major domestic
cup triumph in the Club's history, as Preston North
End were beaten 3-2 in the FA Cup final at Wembley.
1965 -
Masterminded his dream of glory on the continent, as
Hammers became only the second English club to win a
European trophy, lifting the European Cup Winners'
Cup after a classic 2-0 victory over TSV Munich 1860
at Wembley - a match described by many as the finest
display in our history.
1966 - Saw
his captain, Bobby Moore, and young protégés Geoff
Hurst and Martin Peters play a key role in English
football's finest hour, as Alf Ramsey's England team
won the World Cup with a 4-2 victory over West
Germany. Also served as a Technical adviser to FIFA
during the 1966 and 1970 World Cups.
1973 - Led
Hammers to sixth place in the old First Division, our
highest-ever league position up to that date.
1974 -
Handed over the managerial reins at Upton Park to his
assistant, John Lyall, and stepped upstairs to become
General Manager, working alongside his young
apprentice as Hammers won the FA Cup for a second
time a year later against Fulham and then reached the
European Cup Winners' Cup final in 1976, losing 4-2
to Anderlecht.
1977 - Was
appointed by the Football Association as manager of
the England national team following the departure of
Don Revie, taking charge for the first time in a 0-0
draw with Switzerland at Wembley in September.
1980 - Led
England to the European Championship finals.
1981 -
Appointed a CBE by HM The Queen at Buckingham Palace.
1982 - Took
England to the World Cup finals in Spain and, despite
going out in the second round group phase, became
only the second England manager after Ramsey to
remain unbeaten in a World Cup finals tournament.
Retired from the game full-time upon returning home.
1983 -
Received a Football Writers' Association Tribute
Award for outstanding contribution to the national
game.
1985 -
Received a Professional Footballers Association Merit
Award.
2002 -
Inducted into the Football Association Hall of Fame.
2006 - Died
on February 9, at his Suffolk home after a long
illness.
Also see a tribute by Martin Peters at BBC SPORT Football Tribute to a Hammers
legend
Further
Winter 2005-2006 news can be found at ...
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