John O. Best

John O. Best (born April 20, 1912 in England , † January 8, 1996 in Harbor City , California ) was an English-American football referee and association official.

In 1929, Best emigrated to Chicago, USA, where he played for various amateur teams in the 1930s before becoming referee in 1936. 1948-1963 he was approved by FIFA for international competitions. He headed 33 A-internationals, his first major tournament was the 1948 Olympic football tournament in London, in which he participated as a linesman . At the Pan American Games in 1955 , he directed twelve games in ten days. At the 1952 Olympics he headed the preliminary round match between Yugoslavia and India and two preliminary round games at the 1959 Pan American Games .

In 1962 he became commissioner of the Southern California Football Association (California Soccer Association-South), which he integrated with the Northern California sister association into the US Football Association . He himself became Vice President of the US Association in 1964, which he remained with an interruption from 1974-76 to 1979. In 1973 he became the manager of the US national team .

In 1982 Best was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame and in 1987 with the Eddie Pearson Award for special service to the US refereeing. In 2006 he was also inducted into the Hall of Fame of the United States Adult Soccer Association .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} National Soccer Hall of Fame : John O. Best - Eddie Pearson Award - 1987 ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2016 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. . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} United States Adult Soccer Association : 2006 Hall of Fame Members .
3. ^ Macario Reyes: XV. Olympiad Helsinki 1952 Football Tournament .
4. ^ José de Jesus Mora Rivera, Dave Litterer, Niel Morrison, Mikael Jönsson: Panamerican Games 1959 (Chicago) .
5. ↑ 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.