John Toshack
John Benjamin Toshack is a Welsh former professional football player and manager.
He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for the side when he made his debut in 1965. After establishing himself in the first-team, he went on to make over 200 appearances and scored 100 goals in all competitions after forming a striking partnership with Brian Clark.
In 1970, he joined First Division side Liverpool, where he formed a noted forward partnership with Kevin Keegan and Steve Heighway that helped the club to win two league titles, the European Cup, the UEFA Cup on two occasions, the FA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. His partnership with Keegan was so effective that the two were described as telepathic. Mounting injuries eventually led to him securing his release from Liverpool to join Swansea City as player-manager in March 1978. He led the club to three promotions in four seasons, elevating them from the Fourth Division to the First Division in a feat that led former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly to describe him as the "manager of the century". During his career, he scored over 150 goals in the Football League in more than 350 appearances and also represented Wales at international level, winning 40 caps and scoring 13 goals.
He resigned from Swansea in 1984 after suffering relegation and embarked on a managerial career abroad, taking charge of Sporting CP in Portugal and later Spanish side Real Sociedad, winning the Copa del Rey in 1987. Two years later, he was appointed manager of Real Madrid and led them to a fifth consecutive La Liga title with a record total of points and goals scored. However, a disappointing start to the following season resulted in his dismissal in November 1990 and he returned to Real Sociedad. In 1994, he was appointed part-time manager of Wales alongside his job at Real Sociedad but resigned from the role after just 47 days having been in charge for one match, citing the strong support for former manager Terry Yorath among fans and a "political war" as reasons. In 1995, he was appointed manager of Deportivo La Coruña during the club's "Super Depor" era, reaching the Cup Winners' Cup semifinals in his first season before departing acrimoniously in February 1997.
After a spell in Turkey with Beşiktaş, he returned to Real Madrid for a second time but was sacked ten months later after refusing to retract criticism he had made of his players in a press conference following a defeat. In 2004, he was appointed as manager of Wales for a second time and remained with the side for six years, presiding over three ultimately unsuccessful qualifying campaigns. He later managed Macedonia and Azerbaijani side Khazar Lankaran before managing outside Europe for the first time in his career with Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca and Tractor of Iran.
Early life
John Toshack was born on 22 March 1949 in Cardiff, Wales, and grew up on Northumberland Street in the Canton area of the city. His father George was from Dunfermline in Scotland and worked as a carpenter. He moved to Wales while serving in the RAF, being stationed at MOD St Athan, and met Toshack's mother Joan, whom he later married.As a child, Toshack attended Radnor Road Primary School, where he first played football for ten minutes in a school trial match, and later Canton High School for Boys. As a teenager, Toshack also played rugby and cricket and was regarded as a promising outside-half before a fractured shoulder suffered playing rugby led to him focusing on football. He left the school at the age of sixteen with O-levels in French and history.
Playing career
Cardiff City
While at school, Toshack was selected to represent Cardiff Boys, where he played alongside Terry Yorath. In 1963, Toshack scored in every match he played for the side and broke the team's scoring record with his 33rd goal in eleven matches as Cardiff defeated Swansea 2–0 in the Welsh schools divisional final. He was later selected to represent the Wales under-15 side.In 1965, he joined his hometown club Cardiff City, signing for them as a 16-year-old on a contract worth £12 a week with an £8 appearance bonus and a £4 win bonus. In his early days at the club, he was in charge of cleaning the boots of John Charles. He became the youngest ever player to play in a senior match for the club when he came on as a substitute in place of Graham Coldrick to make a goalscoring debut during a 3–1 win over Leyton Orient on 13 November 1965 at the age of 16 years and 236 days, a record which stood for 41 years until it was broken by Aaron Ramsey in 2007. His performance during his debut persuaded manager Jimmy Scoular to promote him to the starting line-up for the following match and Toshack found the net again, scoring a brace during a 4–3 victory over Middlesbrough. In his first season in professional football, he scored six goals during nine appearances in all competitions.
Establishing himself in the side over the next few years, Toshack rejected a £70,000 move to Fulham when he was 18 as he felt he was too inexperienced to play in the First Division and would learn more by playing under Cardiff manager Scoular. He scored his first career hat-trick in January 1968 in an 8–0 win over Ebbw Vale in the Welsh Cup, and went on to form one of the most prolific partnerships in the club's history alongside Brian Clark. In the 1968–69 season, he scored 31 goals in all competitions, including three goals in a two-legged Welsh Cup final against Swansea City, finishing as the club's top scorer and the highest goalscorer in the Second Division. He scored two further hat-tricks for Cardiff, in 1969 against Queens Park Rangers and in 1970 against Hull City.
In November 1970, several days after scoring his 100th goal in all competitions for Cardiff during a 2–1 victory over French side Nantes in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Toshack completed a transfer to Liverpool. The club had made several previous offers for Toshack that had been rejected however, the Cardiff City board stated that they had left the decision up to the player who chose to move clubs. Cardiff manager Scoular and board member George Edwards both opposed the transfer, but were unable to convince chairman Fred Dewey to block the move.
Liverpool
The deal was completed on 11 November 1970, Liverpool manager Bill Shankly paying £111,000 for the striker, a club record fee at the time. £100,000 went to Cardiff for the sale of the player while the Football League received £5,500 for the transfer and Toshack himself received the remaining £5,500. Liverpool had resurrected a potential deal for Toshack after an attempt to sign Huddersfield Town forward Frank Worthington collapsed after he failed a medical. He made his debut three days later on 14 November 1970 in a goalless league draw with Coventry City at Anfield. His first goal came a week later on 21 November in a Merseyside derby at Anfield. With the game 0–0 at half-time, Everton scored two early goals just after the start of the second half before Steve Heighway scored from an acute angle for Liverpool. In the 76th minute, Toshack headed a goal from a Heighway cross that turned the game around; then Chris Lawler volleyed home, after Toshack had headed on an Alec Lindsay cross, for the 84th-minute winner.In his first season at Anfield, Toshack scored seven times in all competitions but his noted aerial ability proved to be a key asset in Liverpool's style of play as it helped the side reach the 1971 FA Cup Final, losing 2–1 to Arsenal. The following year, Kevin Keegan joined Liverpool from Scunthorpe United and the pair struck up a successful partnership, which was often referred to as being telepathic, with Toshack winning balls in the air and Keegan finishing the knock downs.
After defeat in the 1971 FA Cup final and missing out on the league title by a single point in 1972, Toshack won his first major honour with Liverpool in 1973 despite missing 20 league matches due to injury. Don Revie's Leeds United visited Anfield on Easter Monday for a match involving two of the three 1972–73 Football League title challengers. Two minutes after the break Peter Cormack put Liverpool ahead before Keegan added a late second to seal the win. With Arsenal only drawing in their match against Southampton, Liverpool duly closed out the title with a final game 0–0 draw against Leicester City to claim their first major trophy since 1966. Toshack also helped the side to win the 1972–73 UEFA Cup against German team Borussia Mönchengladbach. The 1973 UEFA Cup Final first leg at Anfield was abandoned due to a torrential downpour after 27 minutes and rescheduled to be played again the next day. The 27 minutes that had been played had given Liverpool manager Bill Shankly an insight into Borussia Mönchengladbach's defensive vulnerability in the air. To exploit this, he brought tall forward Toshack into the starting team demoting the small build of Brian Hall to appearing only as a late substitute. Keegan profited with two goals set up by Toshack headers in a 3–0 win. Liverpool lost 2–0 away in the second leg but won the tie 3–2 on aggregate.
Toshack also played in the 1974 FA Cup Final when Liverpool defeated Newcastle United 3–0, having scored winning goals in the quarter and semi-final matches against Bristol City and Leicester City. However, he found himself out of the first-team at the start of the following season after the club signed Ray Kennedy from Arsenal. Frustrated with the situation, Toshack looked to move and the club accepted a £160,000 bid from Leicester City in November 1974. Although he stated of his desire to remain with Liverpool, he was reluctant to be only playing reserve matches. However, the deal later collapsed after he failed a medical and, at the age of 25, Toshack was told by specialist doctors that he only had around twelve months left to play due to mounting injuries. He was able to force his way back into the first-team soon after, but his training time was restricted in an effort to prolong his playing career.
He won a further league and UEFA Cup double in 1976 and enjoyed his most prolific season with Liverpool, scoring 23 goals in all competitions. He ended his medal haul with a further league title in 1977 but increasing injury concerns limited his appearances and a proposed £60,000 transfer to Belgian side Anderlecht broke down after a medical discovered calcification in some muscle tissue. Toshack eventually negotiated his release from his contract at Liverpool in order to move into management. During his time with Liverpool, Toshack scored 96 goals in 247 appearances in all competitions. He was voted in at No.34 on the Liverpool website poll 100 Players Who Shook The Kop, in which thousands of fans worldwide voted for their top 100 Liverpool players.