Len Cantello (born 11 September 1951) is a former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Career

Len Cantello played for England Schoolboys v Scotland at Wembley April 1967

West Bromwich Albion: 1967–1979

Cantello joined

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

as an apprentice in 1967. At the age of 18, Cantello played in the 1970 League Cup Final, but finished on the losing side. He helped Albion win promotion back to the First Division in 1976. Cantello scored ITV's goal of the season in December 1978, playing against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in a memorable 5-3 win for the visitors. Albion finished third in the league that season and also reached the quarter finals of the

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 ...

. During his 12-year stay at the Hawthorns, Cantello made 371 appearances. In 1978, he played with 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 ...

. Although signing for

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

in the summer of 1979 for a fee of £350,000, Cantello was awarded a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

by West Bromwich Albion that saw a team of white players play against a team of black players.

Bolton Wanderers: 1979–1982

In 1979, he moved to

, spending three years with them.

Later career: 1982–1990

In 1982, Cantello moved two divisions down on loan to

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

. He made just one appearance and then moved again on loan to Bury. In 1981, he went on loan to the

of 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 ...

. In 1983, he was transferred to Dutch side

SC Cambuur SC Cambuur, also known as Cambuur Leeuwarden, or simply Cambuur, () is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Leeuwarden formed on 19 June 1964. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutc ...

, before finishing with two seasons at

Eastern AA Eastern Athletic Association Football Team Limited, also known as Eastern Sports Club (), is a Hong Kong professional sports club whose association football, football section competes in the Hong Kong Premier League, the top flight of Football ...

. In 1989 and 1990, he played in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

with Calgary Strikers and

London Lasers The London Lasers were a professional soccer team in London, Ontario, Canada that played in the original Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992), Canadian Soccer League in 1990 and 1992. History The London Lasers were founded in 1990 as an expans ...

with a spell as manager of Radcliffe Borough in between.

Post-playing career

After retiring from professional sport, Cantello became the UK managing Director of

FieldTurf FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by FieldTurf Tarkett, a division of French company Tarkett. FieldTurf is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its primary manufacturing facility i ...

, a Canadian-based brand of

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

playing surface. He currently resides in his home town of Manchester.

References

External links

*
Len Cantello (West Brom) at Sporting-heroes.net

Len Cantello (Bolton Wanderers) at Sporting-heroes.net

1951 births Living people English men's footballers Footballers from Manchester West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Radcliffe Borough players Bury F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Dallas Tornado players Eastern Sports Club footballers England men's under-23 international footballers English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Stockport County F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football midfielders English expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Calgary Kickers players London Lasers players English Football League players {{England-footy-midfielder-1950s-stub