Ron Greenwood was born in Burnley in 1921. At the age of 10 the family upped sticks and moved down to London .The son of a painter, he was apprenticed as a youngster to a firm of signwriters – some of his handiwork ended up in Wembley Stadium of all places. As a player he attracted the attention of Chelsea who signed him in 1940 only for more pressing matters in Europe to see him drafted into the RAF.
After the war Ron signed for Bradford Park Avenue returning to London with Brentford in 1949. Three years later he returned to Chelsea and, although he was transferred to Fulham in February 1955, his 21 appearances for “The Pensioners” that season were enough to gain him a League Championship medal. He retired from playing at the end of the 1955/56 season having gained one international cap at England “B” level.After retirement from playing he turned to coaching and, following a spell at Eastbourne United he ended up in 1958 as assistant manager to George Swindin at Arsenal, a job he combined with part time roles within the England youth and under 23 set-ups. Ron’s inspiration at the time had been the legendary 1953 Hungarian side that had come to Wembley and become the first side outside the British Isles to defeat England on home soil. The flowing, attractive style of “The Magnificent Magyars” was in direct contrast to the regimented and inflexible style prevalent in English football at the time and the lesson was one that was not wasted on Greenwood.
In 1961 Ron Greenwood became only the fourth person to manage West Ham United FC. Ron was the first person from outside the club to have been appointed to the top role. Ron carried on the work started by his predecessor Ted Fenton who, with senior professionals such as Malcolm Allison, had started a quiet revolution in E13 by espousing a more continental approach to the game. Under Ron’s visionary approach to the game West Ham started to flourish and in 1964 the club won its first FA Cup with a 3-2 win over Preston North End at a Wembley Stadium that still had signs on its doors that had been hand-painted by a young R Greenwood esq!
One of the goals in that final was scored by Geoff Hurst. Hurst’s place in history owes much to his club manager as it was Greenwood who saw Hurst’s potential as a striker – before Greenwood’s arrival at the club Hurst had been an unspectacular midfield player.
Twelve months later Greenwood’s Hammers were back at Wembley , taking the now defunct European Cup-Winners Cup with a memorable 2-0 victory over TSV Munich 1860. The manner of the victory in what was described at the time as the finest game ever seen at the stadium owed everything to Greenwood’s style of football – respected continental coaches were amazed at how “un-English” West Ham’s style of play had been.
As any self-respecting fan knows it was West Ham that went on to win the 1966 World Cup, again at Wembley. If you ever come across a supporter of another club who might want to dispute this fact, you could do worse than pointing them in the direction of Geoff Hurst’s first goal. Bobby Moore’s quick free-kick was met perfectly by Hurst’s perfectly-timed near-post run across a surprised West German defence. The near-post cross. Simple, effective and perfected at Chadwell Heath under Greenwood’s expert tutelage. Or, as my Dad always put it “a West Ham goal”.
Ron, in the thick of it, with Bobby Moore and team mates
Ron Greenwood was often described as a purist. His desire to do things in what he liked to call “the right way” extended into all his dealings within football. An example of this was the signing in 1967 of Bobby Ferguson from Kilmarnock for what was at the time a world record fee for a goalkeeper of £65,000.
Greenwood had earlier been in touch with Leicester City with a view to signing World Cup winner Gordon Banks but, as time had dragged on, Greenwood decided that a new ‘keeper was required sooner rather than later and turned his attention to Ferguson. Following discussions with Killies manager Malcolm MacDonald – a former playing colleague from his Brentford days – Greenwood verbally agreed to sign Ferguson. However, shortly after shaking hands on the deal Leicester boss Matt Gillies contacted Greenwood offering Banks for £50,000. Greenwood refused the deal on the, by modern standards, amazing grounds that he had shaken hands on the Ferguson deal.
Geoff Hurst was also someone who had total faith in the manager’s integrity, on one occasion signing a blank contract entrusting Greenwood to complete the little details such as wages, bonuses etc!
In 1974 after a shaky start to the season Ron decided that the time was right for his protégé, assistant Manager John Lyall, to take over control of first team affairs and he stepped “upstairs” to take the position of “General Manager” – a position I guess that modern day clubs would refer to as “Director of Football”. A stunning spell of results saw the team go from near bottom of the league to top in a few short weeks at one spell scoring over 20 goals in five games and the team reached the 1975 Cup Final. Lyall, mindful of Greenwood’s input into the club, suggested that Ron should lead the team out at Wembley. Ron’s reply was typically modest. “No – It’s your team. You should lead them out”.
And there the story might have ended but for the tale of an England manager and a trip to oil-rich Dubai. In 1977, part way through an unsuccessful World Cup qualifying campaign, England boss Don Revie took a trip to Dubai with a view to taking over the running of the United Arab Emirates national side. An outraged FA banned Revie from football for 10 years though the ban was later overturned in the High Court. Revie had won League Championships but few friends as his Leeds side had taken gamesmanship to new depths. There had also been unsubstantiated rumours of financial irregularities and even allegations that opposition players had been bribed to throw matches. Revie’s latest tactic was almost regarded as treason within the FA hierarchy and it was decided that a safe pair of hands would be required at the England helm. Cloughie was interviewed but eventually Ron Greenwood was chosen to bring some dignity back to the national side.
Greenwood’s arrival, which many thought should have taken place on the dismissal of Sir Alf Ramsey, came too late to enable qualification for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, though a 2-0 Wembley win over eventual qualifiers Italy restored some pride.
An unspectacular Euro1980 where England failed to get past the group stages was followed by a difficult qualifying competition for the 1982 World Cup in Spain. An unexpected defeat in Switzerland prompted Ron to seriously consider resignation only to be talked out of it by the senior members of his squad. A spectacular win in Budapest over Hungary – the one with the goal from Trevor Brooking that ended up stuck between stanchion and net- put qualification back on course. Injuries to the key partnership of Brooking and Keegan cost England dearly as two 0-0 draws against West Germany and the host nation in the second group stage meant that England went out unbeaten and Greenwood went off to enjoy well-deserved retirement.
The word influential is often bandied about with little thought. It’s fair to say that Ron Greenwood MBE can be considered to be truly influential. Many developments in modern football – such as the aforementioned “near post cross” tactic may not have been invented by Ron but he did more than anyone to develop the game and much of what we take for granted as “The West Ham Way” can be traced directly back to the advent of the Greenwood Years. Both West Ham and English football owe a major debt of gratitude to someone who was that rarity in football – a gifted coach and a gentleman.
Rest in peace sir and thank you.
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