John Best (soccer player)

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John Best (born July 11, 1940 in Liverpool , England - † October 6, 2014 ) was an English and American defensive football player and coach. After a very short career as a player in the Tranmere Rovers and in reserve for Liverpool FC , he became one of the pioneers of the North American Soccer League (NASL), US national player and later coach and manager of the soccer teams Seattle Sounders , Vancouver Whitecaps and Tacoma Stars .

Best played some games for the reserve team of Liverpool FC in the 1959/60 season, but left the club after the end of the season; However, in 1960 he played his first seven real professional games for Tranmere Rovers.

His next professional station did not follow until the end of the 1960s when players for the new professional league were being sought in the USA. He first played for the Philadelphia Spartans of the National Professional Soccer League and the Cleveland Stokers of the NASL. However, both franchises went bankrupt after a short time with the majority of the leagues, only with his third club, the Dallas Tornado from 1969, he had more luck: he stayed there for five years until his retirement in 1973. In each of the years he was also elected to the league's all-star team . His last game for Dallas - the game for the championship in 1973 against the Philadelphia Atoms - chose Best with the unsustainable own goal crashed back pass to 0: 2nd In the same summer, was also called to the US national team.

After the end of his playing career, Best was the first coach of the new Seattle Sounders franchise , the greatest success with the club was reaching the championship semi-finals in 1976. He was then general manager of the Vancouver Whitecaps until the early 1980s . After the NASL ended, he founded the Tacoma Stars in the Major Indoor Soccer League .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ RIP John Best (Spanish) on liverpoolfc.com, accessed January 3, 2015
  2. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.liverweb.org.uk
  3. ↑ a b c Dave Litterer: TOP INTERNATIONAL STARS IN THE NASL, 1967–1984 ( Memento of the original from November 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / homepages.sover.net
  4. ↑ David Whitney: NASL All-Star teams, all-time ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / homepages.sover.net
  5. ↑ a b Steve Holroyd: The Year in American Soccer - 1973 ( Memento of the original from July 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / homepages.sover.net
  6. ^ Sandy Ringer: Prep notebook: Pasco track meet attracts returning state champions , The Seattle Times April 21, 2005.
personal data
SURNAME Best, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English and American football player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH July 11, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Liverpool , England
DATE OF DEATH October 6, 2014