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Ron Greenwood (1921-2006)
| Category: | Manager |
| Year Inducted: | 2006 |
Profile by Robert Galvin, the author of Football's Greatest Heroes, the official book of the National Football Museum Hall of Fame:
A pioneer coach and loyal servant of both club and country, Ron Greenwood played an important role in making England the best team in the world, and then returned as manager a decade later and lifted morale at a time of crisis.
When the former manager of West Ham United was put in charge of England in 1977, 11 years had elapsed since Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst – three graduates of the Upton Park youth system – took their turn lifting the Jules Rimet trophy.
Another five years on, his England side ended a World Cup tournament unbeaten for the first time since 1966, a fitting culmination to a distinguished coaching career spanning four decades.
Trevor Brooking, a stalwart for West Ham and England, paid this tribute: ‘Ron will be regarded as one of the best coaches England has produced over the past 50 years.'
In the mid-1960s, Greenwood guided the Hammers to victory in the FA Cup Final and the European Cup-winners' Cup in successive seasons, playing a vibrant, counter-attacking style of football.
His belief in attacking football never faltered. ‘At its best, the game is a joy, a battle of wit and muscle and character; it involves and inspires,' he once said. The message to his players was always the same: ‘Let's go out there to win and to win in style.'
Over a period of 13 years, following his appointment in 1961, Greenwood established the Hammers' reputation for attacking football. ‘Ron taught us to stay out of space until we were ready to make use of it,' Geoff Hurst recalled. ‘This was new thinking at the time.'
Recognising his tactical acumen, FIFA appointed him a technical advisor at successive World Cup tournaments, in 1966 and 1970. Bobby Moore once called him ‘an encyclopaedia of football'.
A reliable centre-half who made one appearance for England ‘B' and won a championship medal with Chelsea in 1954-55, Greenwood was persuaded out of retirement to take charge of the national side in 1977, following the defection of Don Revie.
Tactically, the veteran manager stayed true to his beliefs: Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking at the heart of things in a positive 4-2-4 formation, with Steve Coppell and Peter Barnes on the wings. After a decade in the international wilderness, England then qualified for the European Championships in 1980 and the World Cup in Spain two years later.
On Greenwood's suggestion, the FA appointed managers and coaches at all levels of the England set-up, an arrangement that proffered Bobby Robson and Terry Venables valuable international experience.
Of even greater and lasting importance, Greenwood handed caps to Viv Anderson, Laurie Cunningham and Cyrille Regis – the first three black players to represent England. ‘The only colour that matters should be the colour of a player's shirt,' Greenwood said.
As a club manager, Greenwood was both innovative and positive, always encouraging his players to work out their own problems, both on and off the pitch. In addition to taking a coaching course at Lilleshall, West Ham players were sent on scouting missions in Europe.
‘I want my players to have both lively minds and lively bodies,' Greenwood once said.
Looking back over his career in club management, Greenwood had one regret: the failure of West Ham to win a championship title. Though praised for their positive, attacking football, the Hammers lacked the necessary consistency and ‘steel' over a gruelling League season, as their manager, in hindsight, readily conceded.
Perhaps, though, his legacy as a man of integrity and positive values goes beyond the winning or losing of titles. ‘I cared more about the purity and finer values of football than I did about winning for winning's sake – and if that is a sin, then I am a sinner,' Greenwood said. ‘Football should be about taking risks.'