John Boyle (born 25 December 1946) is a Scottish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played during the 1960s and 1970s. Born in

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

, he signed for

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

club Chelsea as a 15-year-old whilst on holiday in the city. Boyle was one of the lesser-known, but nevertheless important, members of the successful Chelsea side of the period, usually playing in the midfield ball-winner role. He made his Chelsea debut in a League Cup semi-final against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and ultimately picked up a winners' medal in that competition the same year after playing in Chelsea's two-legged final victory over

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. He played in Chelsea's

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

final loss to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

two years later but missed out due to injury when they won their FA Cup final against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in 1970. He made amends the following season, playing in both matches of Chelsea's successful Cup Winners' Cup final against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. Boyle spent two months on loan at

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

before leaving Chelsea in December 1973 to sign for

Orient The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

. He then joined 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 ...

expansion side

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 ...

in February 1975 just ahead of their indoor campaign. He captained Tampa Bay to a runner-up finish in the

1975 NASL Indoor tournament In early 1975, the North American Soccer League (1968–84), North American Soccer League hosted its first league-wide indoor soccer tournament over the course of seven weeks. All but four NASL teams participated. Overview Though the Dallas Torn ...

in March, and in August to victory in Soccer Bowl '75. Boyle retired in late 1975 and later had a brief spell coaching the Rowdies in 1977 after Eddie Firmani abruptly resigned from the post.

Honours

Chelsea *

runner-up: 1966–67

References

External links

NASL/MISL stats
1946 births Living people Footballers from Motherwell Men's association football midfielders Scottish men's footballers Chelsea F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players English Football League players Scottish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Scottish football managers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Phoenix Inferno players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) head coaches Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States Tampa Bay Rowdies coaches Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-midfielder-1940s-stub