A Pioneer Of American Soccer Dies In Dunwoody

There are 10s of thousands of youth soccer players running around on soccer field in Georgia who never heard of Phil Woosnam.

Chances are their parents don’t recall the name either. But Woosnam had a significant impact on soccer in the United States and a direct impact on establishing soccer in the Atlanta area.

Like many others who came to Atlanta to play for the Atlanta Chiefs in the original North American Soccer League, Woosnam stayed in Georgia.

He passed away on July 19 in Dunwoody, reportedly from complications of prostate cancer and Altzheimer’s desease. He was 80 years old.

Woosnam was born in Wales and was an elite player in the English professional league. He played for Manchester City, West Ham United and for Aston Villa before coming to Atlanta to play for the Chiefs in 1966.

He would later be the team’s coach and then general manager. But [show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’]his impact was not limited to Atlanta. In 1968 he became commissioner of the NASL.

Optimistic that soccer had a future in the United States, he weathered the ups and down of the NASL, and along with Clive Toye, was instrumental in putting together the New York Cosmos in 1971.

That would be the Cosmos of Pele and Franz Beckenbauer, and a host of other international stars.

“Phil was one of the pioneers of professional soccer in North America,” MLS Commissioner Don Garber said the day after Woosnam’s death. “When we started MLS, Phil was always willing to share with us his time and his experience with the NASL.

“We will always remember his passion for, and his contributions, to our sport. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

Michael Lewis, in BigAppleSoccer. com article about Woosnam’s passing, quoted Ted Howard, CONCACAF deputy general sectreary, who worked under Woosnam for 14 years.

“To me, he’s the father of professional soccer in this country,” said Howard. “The authentic father, not one of the people who started the leagues in 1967 and 1968. When it (the NASL) went to five and six teams, he picked it up and made it whatever it became. I don’t think anybody would ever deny that.

“You can’t do it all by yourself, but clearly he was just that dynamic. He led that charge. He wouldn’t let up until he saw it was something that had made it.”

Woosnam ran the original NASL for 15 seasons, and moved the league headquarters to New York City. By 1978, the league had expanded to 24, and soon thereafter teams began to fold. By 1982, it was a 14-team league, and the club owners voted to remove Woosnam as league commissioner.

In time he moved back to Georgia. He was inducted into a number of soccer Hall of Fames, including the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame and the Georgia Soccer Hall of Fame. He eventually became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

“I’d like the younger generation to realize what Phil Woosnam did for the game,” said Angus McAlpine, a longtime friend of Woosnam in an article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “He was soccer in America in the 1970s.

“He was a tremendous figure in the game. He did it all as a player-coach and commissioner. He was a great friend.”

Woosnam was but one of the many players who came to Atlanta to continue professional careers with the Chiefs. They all left their marks on the game in Georgia, and the Welshman from Caersws was at the top of the list.

Those thousands of youth players now running around hundreds of soccer fields in Georgia may not know what Phil Woosnam did for soccer in this country, but all those other soccer pioneers, who knew him in the day, certainly did.