Born: 11 November 1921
Died: 9 February 2006
West Ham Manager: 1961-1974

Widely considered to be an innovative visionary, Ron Greenwood was the manager who guided West Ham United to the first major trophies in the Club’s history.

Born in Lancashire, Greenwood was appointed in April 1961 following a successful playing career as a defender with Bradford Park Avenue, Brentford, Chelsea and Fulham.
Capped once by England at ‘B’ level in the Netherlands in March 1952, Greenwood returned at the age of 34 and went into coaching.

After short spells with non-league Eastbourne United, Oxford University and the England Youth and U23 sides – where he first came across a young Bobby Moore – Greenwood was appointed as assistant manager at Arsenal under George Swindin in December 1957.

On his arrival at West Ham, the new manager set about building on the Academy of Football philosophy introduced by predecessor Ted Fenton.

Under his leadership, the likes of Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, among others, developed into some of the best English players of all-time.

In 1964, Greenwood’s Hammers won the FA Cup for the first time, defeating Preston North End 3-2 in a thrilling Wembley final.

The following year, 1965, the manager led his West Ham team out at the Home of Football again, this time for a superb 2-0 victory over West Germans TSV 1860 Munich in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final.

Greenwood continued to oversee the development of what has become known worldwide as ‘The West Ham Way’ – the production of good players and good people, playing attractive, attacking football.
After 13 years at the helm, he moved to a new role of general manager in 1974, with assistant John Lyall taking over as first-team manager.

In 1977, Greenwood was appointed as England manager, ending 16 years at the Boleyn Ground. As national-team boss, he led England to the 1980 UEFA European Championship finals and 1982 FIFA World Cup before retiring from football.

In 1981, he was made a CBE for his services to football before being inducted into the FA Hall of Fame in 2002.

Ron Greenwood passed away in February 2006 at the age of 84.

Honours FA Cup (1964), European Cup Winners' Cup (1965), FA Youth Cup (1963), International Soccer League (1963), FA Charity Shield (1964, Shared)

Appointed 1 April 1961
Departed 16 August 1974
Games Managed 658
Games Won 236
Games Drawn 174
Games Lost 248
Win Percentage 35.87%