RON GREENWOOD, who has died in Suffolk at the age of 84 after a protracted illness, was probably the finest coach English football has produced. He was blessedly free of the didactic orthodoxy that blemished the FA’s coaching scheme, initiated by his own mentor, Walter Winterbottom.
Greenwood left his indelible mark on West Ham United and their fabled “academy” of arts and sciences, producing three of the salient figures of England’s World Cup triumph in 1966 — Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst, who has just paid abundant tribute to Greenwood’s influence.
Greenwood later became manager of England, but only after he was persuaded to come out of retirement by the Grey Eminence of the FA, Sir Harold Thompson.
An Oxford University professor who presided over the university’s football team, Thompson well remembered Greenwood’s impact when he coached that team for a time. Above all, Thompson wanted an irreproachable successor to Don Revie, who walked out on England to make money in the Middle East.
It might be said, with due respect to Greenwood and his abilities, that this appointment in 1977 proved something of a bridge too far. He had given up the game because of his deep disillusion with the way things were going. It was strange but perhaps indicative, when he picked his first England team that year, that he should leave out one of his brightest West Ham protégés, Trevor Brooking, a skilful playmaker, in favour of Ian Callaghan, the pedestrian Liverpool midfield player.
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By the same token, when Greenwood gave Glenn Hoddle his debut against Bulgaria in a European Championship qualifier in 1979, Hoddle responding with a glittering display and spectacular long-range goal, Greenwood promptly dropped him with the puzzling words: “Disappointment is part of football.”
Greenwood himself was no mean player, a mobile, intelligent and forceful centre half who won a league championship medal with Chelsea when they won their first title, in 1954-55. He and the younger Stan Wicks split precisely the 42 games between them.
Greenwood was originally from Burnley but moved to London as a youngster and worked on the groundstaff at Wembley Stadium. Brentford signed him from Bradford Park Avenue and one still remembers seeing his robust performance when they unexpectedly held Tottenham Hotspur to a draw at White Hart Lane (and they won the replay). One recalls, too, the part he played in Park Avenue’s sensational win at Highbury against Arsenal, who were on their way to winning the league title, in the third round of the FA Cup in January 1948. When he left Stamford Bridge, it was to play briefly for Fulham.
His first coaching job came with the amateurs of Eastbourne United. Next, a long step up to Arsenal, where he coached the teams under the aegis of George Swindin, their former goalkeeper. Bill Dodgin Jr, the Arsenal centre half at the time and a future coach, spoke of the two as “night and day”, but some players, such as Derek Tapscott, the Wales forward, rebelled at Greenwood’s progressive methods.
Taking over at Upton Park, Greenwood found full scope for his originality and ambition. His emphasis was on technique and tactical originality. He turned Moore from a cool but unexceptional centre half into a majestic second stopper.
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Greenwood was about to sell Hurst, a moderate wing half at the time, to Southend United when he changed his mind and proceeded to transform him into an outstanding striker, destined to score that hat-trick and that ever-controversial goal in the World Cup final at Wembley in 1966.
Under Greenwood’s tutelage, West Ham won the FA Cup for the first time, in 1964, 41 years after being runners-up to Bolton Wanderers in the first Wembley Final. The next year they beat 1860 Munich in the same stadium in the final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
Greenwood would never be as happy with England. There was a notable setback in Oslo when, to the crowing delight of a local radio commentator, England lost a World Cup qualifying game 2-1 to a talented Norway team in 1981. One vividly remembers the strange scene when Greenwood was giving his post-match press conference. Behind a huge, plate-glass window, a young fan was mouthing unheard abuse, eventually hurling down his England scarf and stamping on it.
Greenwood still managed to take England to the 1982 finals in Spain, in which they were unbeaten but were eliminated at the second group stage. Again this was hardly the innovative Greenwood of his West Ham days. At the press conference he gave after a goalless draw with Germany, he told the assembled journalists that he was amazed that we had not asked a certain question. We looked bewildered until he told us, triumphantly: “We didn’t let Manny Kaltz get in any crosses.” Kaltz was Germany’s right back.
When it came to the last group match against a mediocre Spain team — which England had to win to progress — Greenwood allowed Kevin Keegan to persuade him that he should play. Keegan had only just returned from a surreptitious trip to Germany for intensive treatment on a chronic back injury. In the event, he came on as a substitute, missed a simple headed chance, England drew and out they went.
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But in his West Ham days, Greenwood was a beacon of light in a pedestrian world.
TRACK RECORD A LIFE IN FOOTBALL
1921: Born Burnley, Nov 11
1945: Makes senior debut with Bradford Park Avenue
1949: Moves to Brentford
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1952: Joins Chelsea and helps to win title in 1954-55
1955: Transfers to Fulham
1956: Retires having made 308 league appearances and won one England B cap
1957: First managerial job at Eastbourne United but is soon Arsenal assistant manager and England youth-team coach
1958: Becomes England Under-23 coach
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1961: Appointed West Ham United manager
1964: West Ham collect first significant trophy, beating Preston North End in FA Cup Final
1965: West Ham beat 1860 Munich in Cup Winners’ Cup final
1974: Hands over to John Lyall and becomes general manager
1977: Appointed England caretaker manager in July. Is given job in December
1980: England finish third in group at European Championship
1981: In June, tells England squad he plans to resign but players persuade him not to. Qualifies for World Cup finals
1982: Unbeaten at finals but eliminated. Stands down
2006: Dies after long illness, aged 84