Peter Withe (born 30 August 1951) is an English former football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

and striker who played between 1971 and 1990. At Nottingham Forest he won the

Anglo-Scottish Cup The Anglo-Scottish Cup was a tournament arranged for teams in the English and Scottish football leagues during the summer for several years during the 1970s. It was created in 1975 as a new incarnation of the Texaco Cup, with a similar format t ...

and

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

promotion in 1976–77, First Division and the

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...

in 1977–78, and the

1978 FA Charity Shield The 1978 FA Charity Shield was the 56th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Football League and FA Cup competitions. The match took place on 12 August 1978 at Wembley Stadium and was pl ...

. After a barren spell at Newcastle it was back to more success at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park, ...

with whom he won the First Division 1980–81, going on to score the only goal in the

1982 European Cup Final The 1982 European Cup Final was played on 26 May 1982. Football League winners Aston Villa defeated Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Baye ...

and also win the

1982 European Super Cup The 1982 European Super Cup was contested between the European Cup holders Aston Villa and the Cup Winners' Cup holders Barcelona. The match took place over two legs in January 1983. The first leg was won by Barcelona 1–0 at the Camp Nou stadium ...

. He played for England 11 times, scoring once, and was a squad member at the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 ...

. After his playing career he worked as a manager, predominantly in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

Playing career

Style of play

Withe was a big, tall, strong, powerful and imposing centre-forward. Dangerous in the air, his ability to shield the ball was also an asset to teammates."The Peter Withe Autobiography – All for the Love of the Game" goodyearpublications.com
/ref>
/ref>"Blue-eyed boys – Peter Withe" bcfc.com
/ref>"Player Details Peter Withe" toon1892
/ref> His biggest successes were when paired with a sharp, quick strike partner.

Club career

Early career

He began his career at Southport but left in 1971 after a handful of appearances. Late that year he made an appearance for the reserve team of

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

but soon moved on to Barrow for whom he made one appearance (against his former club Southport on 1 January 1972). After this he played in South Africa. Withe played for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...

in two seasons from 1973. In 17 league games he scored three goals.Peter Withe on Neil Brown's player website
/ref> During the summer of 1975, Withe spent one season in the United States as a member of the expansion

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at ...

of the North American Soccer League (NASL). He scored 17 goals and added 7 assists in 22 games, leading the Timbers to first place in their division, and tied for the best record in the league at 16–6. Withe's goals that summer made him a Timbers fans favourite, who nicknamed him "The Mad Header" and "The Wizard of Nod". In August the Timbers played two home play-off games in front of more than 30,000 fans each, numbers unheard of for US soccer at the time. They advanced to

Soccer Bowl '75 Soccer Bowl '75 was the championship final of the 1975 NASL season, played between the Tampa Bay Rowdies and the Portland Timbers. The match took place on August 24, 1975 at Spartan Stadium, in San Jose, California. It was the first North Ameri ...

, the League Championship final, in San Jose, California on August 24, where they lost to the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

2–0. Withe returned to the West Midlands to join

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

in 1975. He scored nine goals in 35 league games in just over a season before departing early in the 1976/77 season.

Nottingham Forest

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engli ...

joined Nottingham Forest as manager in January 1975. In the summer of 1976 he was joined by

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politi ...

, who had been his assistant at

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

in winning the 1971-72 Football League.dcfc.co.uk "Derby County Club History"
/ref> From Taylor's arrival Forest immediately went into upswing.nffc.co.uk "History of NFFC – Nottingham Forest"
/ref> Forest signed the 25-year-old Withe to make his debut for the club on 25 September 1976. He scored on his debut in a 5–1

Football League Division Two The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

home win v

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Park s ...

with strike partner

John O'Hare John O'Hare (born 24 September 1946) is a Scottish former footballer. O'Hare's clubs included Sunderland, Derby County, Leeds United and also Nottingham Forest and was part of their European Cup victory in 1980, coming on as a substitute in t ...

also scoring. Withe was given a new strike partner on 3 November 1976 in an

2–0 win at

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...

. Tony Woodcock was recalled to the first team, bringing speed and anticipation to the front two to complement Withe's height, strength and power."Arsenal's original 'Fox-in-the-box" – Highbury Hero Tony Woodcock"
/ref> Withe and Woodcock both scored at Ayr. Withe ended the season as the club top scorer with 19 goals and Woodcock second with 17 and Forest's Player of the Year despite his November seasonal debut. Forest's first trophy of the Clough and Taylor regime was in December that season beating Orient over two legs in the Anglo-Scottish Cup final. Withe played in the 1–1 first leg away draw on 13 December 1976 but then spent two weeks out the side missing the 4–0 second leg win. Forest won promotion at the end of the season to the top tier from finishing third in Division Two."The City Ground – Peter Withe"
/ref>"The City Ground – Tony Woodcock"
/ref> Withe and Woodcock won the 1977-78 Football League First Division and 1977-78 Football League Cup with Forest. They ended the season as Forest's joint top scorers with 19 goals each. Withe scored in the

5–0 win against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

on 12 August 1978. After playing in the 1–1 league home draw the week after against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, Forest agreed to sell him for £225,000 just before his 27th birthday at the end of that month. Withe scored 39 goals in 99 competitive first team games for Forest. This included 28 goals in 75 league games. His place in the next three games was given to league debutant Steve Elliott; all of them ended goalless."SEASON: 1978–79" The City Ground
/ref> The number 9 jersey was then given to 22-year-old

Garry Birtles Garry Birtles (born 27 July 1956) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a forward in the Football League between the 1970s and 1990s. He is best known for his time at Nottingham Forest, during which he won the 1979 and 19 ...

who promptly became a regular first choice, winning the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

with Forest in this season and the following one."GARRY BIRTLES"
/ref>

Newcastle United

Withe joined

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

then in the

for a transfer fee of £225,000. He debuted in a 1–1 home draw v

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

In just under two seasons he scored 25 goals in 76 league games.

Aston Villa

Ron Saunders Ronald Saunders (6 November 1932 – 7 December 2019) was an English football player and manager. He played for Everton, Tonbridge Angels, Gillingham, Portsmouth, Watford and Charlton Athletic during a 16-year playing career, before moving in ...

took him to

on the eve of the 1980–81 season when the Birmingham club paid £500,000 for the club's record signing at the time. He was 29 at the end of the month that league season started. Withe was paired with Gary Shaw whose pace and anticipation gave Withe a strike partner with playing similarities to Tony Woodcock when Withe was at Forest."Gary Shaw: A true Aston Villa legend" Express and Star, 27 February 2017
/ref>"We are the Champions: 1980-81- Aston Villa" gameofthepeople.com 25 November 2016
/ref> Withe won a trophy in each of his first three seasons at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...

."Peter Withe" Aston Villa Football Club
/ref> Withe scored 20 times in 36 games to finish joint-top scorer in the league with

's Steve Archibald in that first season as

won the Football League title. Withe and Spurs'

Mark Falco Mark Peter Falco (born 22 October 1960) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for a number of clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, Watford, Rangers and Queens Park Rangers. Career Falco was born in Bethnal Green ...

both scored twice sharing the

1981 FA Charity Shield The 1981 FA Charity Shield was the 59th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Football League and FA Cup competitions. The match was played on 22 August 1981 at Wembley Stadium and played b ...

from a 2–2 draw.footballsite.co.uk 1981–82 Charity Shield
/ref> Withe scored the only goal in the

win against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

. The season after Withe played in the

3–1 aggregate win against

F.C. Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

. He scored 90 goals in over 200 games for Villa. After five years he eventually moved on in what he later described as "the biggest wrench of my career."

Later career

He joined

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

scoring 18 goals in 74 league games in three seasons from 1985 to 1988. In his last season there he scored twice in eight league games on loan back at ex-club, Birmingham City. He ended his senior playing days scoring once in 38 league games at

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

between 1988 and 1990.

International

His England debut was in a 1–0 home friendly defeat by Brazil on 12 May 1981. His first four England caps were all without victory with a draw with Wales and defeats by Scotland and Norway."Peter Withe" Sporting Heroes
/ref> Capped by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

11 times, Withe scored once, and was the first Aston Villa player to be selected in an England World Cup Finals squad (in España 82). His goal was against Hungary on 27 April 1983 in his 7th cap. His last cap was on 14 November 1984 when Turkey were beaten 8–0. Withe ended his international career with 5 wins, 3 draws and 3 defeats.

Managerial career

Withe returned to Aston Villa in a coaching capacity in January 1991. During this time, he also made one playing appearance for Villa's reserve team. Withe had a brief spell as manager of Wimbledon, being brought in from the position of reserve team coach at Aston Villa in October 1991 following

Ray Harford Raymond Thomas Harford (1 June 1945 – 9 August 2003) was an English footballer, better known for his successes as a coach and manager than as a player. He is considered to have been one of the top coaches of his generation. During his playin ...

's resignation. Withe's time in charge was not at all successful, winning only one game out of thirteen in the league, and he was replaced after just 105 days at the helm by the club's youth team coach

Joe Kinnear Joseph Patrick Kinnear (born 27 December 1946) is an Irish former football manager and player. Kinnear played as a defender, spending the majority of his career—ten seasons—with Tottenham Hotspur. With Tottenham he won the FA Cup, the EFL ...

. Withe went into

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

and, after propelling the Thailand national team towards some success, managed

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

until 18 January 2007. He was sacked due to his side's inability to go past the first round of the

ASEAN Football Championship The ASEAN Football Federation Championship (less formally the AFF Championship or AFF Cup), currently known as the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup for sponsorship reason, is the primary association football tournament organized by the ASEAN Football ...

, the tournament which he previously won with Thailand in 2000 and 2002, then finished as the runner-up with Indonesia in 2004. He was given a brief touchline ban as manager of Thailand for wearing shorts during an international match against the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

. The head of the Thai Football Association said he should be wearing a suit. He managed English non-league club Stockport Sports from April to November 2012.

Family

His brother,

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

, played for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. Withe's son,

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He ...

, also became a footballer, coach and manager.

Honours

As a player

Portland Timbers *

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league ba ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

Nottingham Forest * First Division: 1977–78 *

: 1977–78 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier L ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

: 1976 Aston Villa * First Division: 1980–81 * FA Charity Shield:

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

: 1981–82 *

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

As a manager

Thailand *

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with sup ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

Indonesia *

Runner-up:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

References

External links

*
Withe looks to improve Indonesia's fortunesPersonal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Withe, Peter Living people 1951 births English footballers English expatriate footballers England international footballers English Football League players First Division/Premier League top scorers 1982 FIFA World Cup players Arcadia Shepherds F.C. players Southport F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff Portland Timbers (1975–1982) players Birmingham City F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players English football managers Wimbledon F.C. managers Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate soccer players in South Africa Thailand national football team managers 2000 AFC Asian Cup managers Footballers from Liverpool Indonesia national football team managers Port Elizabeth City F.C. players Association football forwards English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia English expatriate sportspeople in Thailand National Football League (South Africa) players