| Ron Greenwood |
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PLAYING CAREER Ron Greenwood was born in the village of Worsthorne, near Burnley , but moved to London as a child during the 1930's Depression . He played as a Centre-half , joining Chelsea as an amateur whilst training as an apprentice signwriter. During World War II he served in the Royal Air Force in Northern Ireland and guested for Belfast Celtic . In 1945 he left Chelsea for Bradford Park Avenue , and made 59 appearances over the next four seasons. In 1949 Greenwood moved to the club he supported as a boy, Brentford , where he made 142 league appearances and scored one goal. After three years at Brentford, he returned to Chelsea, where he played 65 times and won a First Division winners' medal in 1954-55 under Ted Drake . That summer, he moved on to Fulham , where he made another 42 league appearances before retiring at the end of the 1955 - 1956 season. He was never capped for his country, though he did make a single 'B' team appearance. COACHING CAREER After retiring Greenwood moved into Coach ing. He coached Eastbourne United, Oxford University (where he came to the attention of Sir Harold Thompson , a future Chairman of the F.A.), the England Youth and Under-23 teams. He combined the England Under-23 post with being the assistant manager at Arsenal under George Swindin . He was appointed as the manager of West Ham in 1961. Greenwood's reign at West Ham brought them sizeable success. He oversaw the development of players such as the -winning trio of Bobby Moore , Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters , and under him the Hammers won the FA Cup in 1964 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965 . He moved upstairs in 1974, becoming the club's general manager. After England coach Don Revie 's resignation in 1977, Greenwood was appointed first as Caretaker Manager of the national side, then full-time manager in December 1977. Under Greenwood, England qualified for the 1980 European Championship and then the 1982 World Cup , their first World Cup in 12 years. England came through the tournament unbeaten, but did not win enough games to progress beyond the second group stage. Greenwood resigned after the World Cup and retired from the game. After his career in football Greenwood was a regular analyst on BBC Radio . He died in 2006 aged 84, after a long illness. When West Ham played Birmingham on 13 February 2006 , a one minute silence was held in Greenwood's honour. West Ham won the game 3-0. He leaves a widow Lucy. EXTERNAL LINKS
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