John Best (11 July 1940 – 5 October 2014) was a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a defender, spending six seasons in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

where he was a five-time first team All Star. He later coached the NASL Seattle Sounders and served as the general manager of the Sounders and the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

. Born in England, he also earned one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

with the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

in 1973.

Playing career

Best began his career in England. He played for

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in 1959 under the new manager, Bill Shankly, after which he played seven games with

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

in 1960. In 1967, he moved to the United States where he signed with the

Philadelphia Spartans The Philadelphia Spartans were a soccer team that was a charter member of the non-FIFA sanctioned National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in 1967. Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania they played their home games at Temple Stadium in North ...

of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). In 1968, the NPSL merged with the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association (USA) was a professional association football, soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League ( ...

to form the

. When the Spartans folded, Best and several of his teammates, transferred to the

Cleveland Stokers The Cleveland Stokers were a soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio that played in the United Soccer Association during 1967 and the North American Soccer League in 1968. Their home field was Cleveland Stadium. History United Soccer Association I ...

for the 1969 NASL season. When the Stokers folded at the end of the season, he moved to the

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. T ...

(NASL). From 1969 to 1973, he played in ninety-three games and was a five-time first team All Star. In

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, the Tornado won the NASL championship. Best retired at the end of the 1973 season. Best also returned briefly to England in 1968 to play for

Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...

in the Northern Premier League.

United States national team

Best earned his one

with the

in a 17 March 1963 game with

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

. Best began the game, a 4–0 loss, and came off for Johnny Moore.

Coaching and managerial career

In 1974, the NASL expansion team Seattle Sounders began assembling its staff and roster. The owners hired

Cliff McCrath Charles Clifford McCrath (born February 3, 1936) is a retired American soccer player and coach. His greatest fame came as coach of Seattle Pacific University where he led the team to five NCAA Division II championships. He was the 1978 NSCAA Coac ...

, the head coach of the local

Seattle Pacific University Seattle Pacific University (SPU) is a private Christian university in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 in conjunction with the Oregon and Washington Conference of the Free Methodist Church as the Seattle Seminary. It ...

to fill in the team's roster spots. He hired Best as the team's first head coach. Over his three years as coach, Best compiled a 43–26 record. After leaving the Sounders, Best moved north to become the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the

. One of his most successful personnel moves was hiring

Tony Waiters Anthony Keith Waiters (1 February 1937 – 5 November 2020) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is better known for his coaching career in Canada. He managed the Vancouver Whitecaps to an NASL championship, and was in charge ...

as head coach. This move and several others led to the Whitecaps winning the 1979 NASL championship. In

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. ...

, the Sounders opened their season 2–7. The team ownership turned to Best who became the Sounders' general manager on 14 June 1982. The Sounders turned their season around and went to the championship game, only to lose to the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

. Despite this success, the team was losing money, and after its sale to new ownership in January 1983, Best left the team.

Later years

Best remained in the Seattle area, founding Tacoma Indoor Soccer, Inc, which became the ownership group for the

Tacoma Stars The Tacoma Stars are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). The franchise also operates in USL League Two, a minor outdoor league. Founded in 2003, the indo ...

of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). He was later inducted into the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame. In 1990, Best was diagnosed with kidney disease and in 2002 received a kidney transplant from his wife, Claudia.

Death

On 5 October 2014, Best died from a lung infection at the age of 74 while visiting family in Ireland.

Honors

Dallas Tornado * NASL Championships:

, 1971 indoor; runner-up

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

Individual * NASL First Team All Star:

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

References

External links

John Best NASL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Best, John 1940 births 2014 deaths English emigrants to the United States American men's soccer players English men's footballers Footballers from Liverpool Men's association football defenders United States men's international soccer players National Professional Soccer League (1967) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Liverpool F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals players Philadelphia Spartans players Cleveland Stokers players Fleetwood Town F.C. players California Jaguars players Dallas Tornado players Seattle Sounders (1974–1983) players American soccer coaches North American Soccer League (1968–1984) head coaches Seattle Sounders (1974–1983) head coaches English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) commentators English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) general managers