William Jeffrey

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William "Bill" Jeffrey (born August 3, 1892 in Edinburgh , Scotland , † January 7, 1966 in New York City ) was an American football coach .

Live and act

He was from 1926 to 1951 coach of the Penn State team , with which he could win a total of ten college championships in the USA. As one of the leading coaches of US college football, he was appointed coach of the US team for the World Cup in 1950 , where the USA were eliminated after the preliminary round, but with a 1-0 win over England one of the biggest surprises of the World Cup history. In 1951 Jeffrey was inducted into the US National Soccer Hall of Fame .

Jeffrey worked as a mechanic for the Pennsylvania Railroad and coached the football team at the railway company's Altoona Works . During a friendly against Penn State, Jeffrey impressed the director of the university's sports programs so much that he hired Jeffrey as the new coach. He stayed that way for a total of 27 seasons, including a series without defeat from 1932 to 1941.

Jeffrey was one of the founders of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and its president in 1948, which annually awards the Bill Jeffrey Award, named after him, to college coaches who have made a special contribution to college football.

William Jeffrey died in 1966 at the age of 73. He found his final resting place in the Center County Memorial Cemetery in State College , Pennsylvania .

Individual evidence

  1. PENN STATE SOCCER TIMELINE , Penn State Soccer (accessed June 23, 2014).
  2. Bill Jeffrey Award , website of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America , as of 2013 (accessed June 23, 2014).
  3. knerger.de: The grave of William “Bill” Jeffrey