John Best (soccer)

John Best ( born July 11, 1940 in Liverpool, England ) was an English and American defensive football player and coach. After a very short career as a player of Tranmere Rovers and reserve of Liverpool FC, he was one of the pioneers of the North American Soccer League ( NASL ), U.S. national team and later coach or manager of the soccer team Seattle Sounders, Vancouver Whitecaps and Tacoma Stars.

Best played in the season 1959/60 some games for the reserve team of FC Liverpool, but left the club after the end of the season; played for 1960 but for his first seven true professional games for Tranmere Rovers.

His next professional station followed until the end of the 1960s, as were sought in the U.S. players for the new professional league. He first played for the Philadelphia Spartans of the National Professional Soccer League, and the Cleveland Stokers the NASL. However, both franchises were each after a short time with the majority of leagues bankrupt, first with his third club Dallas Tornado from 1969, he had more luck: there he remained until his retirement in late 1973 of five years. In each of the years he was also elected to the All- Star team in the league. His last game for Dallas - the game for the championship in 1973 against the Philadelphia Atoms - Best decided with a unfortunate own goal to unsustainable pass back to 0:2. In the same summer was also appointed to the U.S. national team.

After his playing career, Best was the first coach of the new franchise Seattle Sounders biggest success was with the club reaching the Cup semi-finals in 1976. Afterwards he was until the early 1980s, general manager of the Vancouver Whitecaps .. After the end of the NASL, he founded the Tacoma Stars in the Major Indoor Soccer League.