John Adshead

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John Adshead (born 27 March 1942) is an England-born former head coach of New Zealand's national football team the All Whites, whom he led to their one and only FIFA World Cup appearance in the 1982 tournament. Most recently he was the coach of the New Zealand Knights in the inaugural season of the A-League.

Adshead is arguably one of the most important people in the history of New Zealand football. The English born Adshead first started off as a player with Exeter City before injury ended his career at just 22. Following his retirment as a player, Adshead instantly got into coaching and upon his arrival in Western Australia in 1970 he coached for six years in the Western Australian State League.

It was in New Zealand where Adshead made his mark. With his club Manurewa he won six trophies including Chatham Cup and got the club into the top division in New Zealand. In 1979 Adshead was appointed as the coach of the New Zealand national side and with the World Cup having one spot for Oceania it was down to the two strongest teams in Oceania to fight for the spot. New Zealand overcame the Les Scheinflug led Australians to qualify for the World Cup for the first and only time in their history.

After leaving the New Zealand national coaching job in 1983, Adshead spent time in football obscurity again before returning to coach New Zealand again in 1987 to try and get the team to the 1990 World Cup but they failed to get out of the Oceania round by one point. Adshead again coached in Perth and as a youth coach in Oman before returning to New Zealand to coach the New Zealand Knights in the inaugural season of the A-League. A cancer scare just after his appointment and the poor on field performances of the club led to his retirement after the end of the 2005/06 season.

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	New Zealand squad - 1982 FIFA World Cup
1 Wilson \| 2 Dods \| 3 Herbert \| 4 Turner \| 5 Bright \| 6 Almond \| 7 Rufer \| 8 Cole \| 9 Wooddin \| 10 Sumner \| 11 Malcolmson \| 12 Mackay \| 13 Cresswell \| 14 Elrick \| 15 Hill \| 16 Adam \| 17 Boath \| 18 Simonsen \| 19 McClure \| 20 Turner \| 21 Pickering \| 22 van Hattum \| Coach: Adshead