View source for Eddie Firmani

{{Short description|Footballer (born 1933)}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Eddie Firmani
| image = Eddie Firmani, MISL 1984-85 media guide page 019.tif
| caption = Firmani circa 1984
| fullname = Edwin Ronald Firmani
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1933|8|7|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Cape Town]], [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]]
| position = [[Striker (association football)|Striker]]
| youthyears1 = 1949–1950
| youthclubs1 = Clyde F.C. (Cape Town)
| years1 = 1950–1955
| clubs1 = [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]]
| caps1 = 100
| goals1 = 50
| years2 = 1955–1958
| clubs2 = [[U.C. Sampdoria|Sampdoria]]
| caps2 = 63
| goals2 = 52
| years3 = 1958–1961
| clubs3 = [[Inter Milan]]
| caps3 = 82
| goals3 = 38
| years4 = 1961–1963
| clubs4 = [[Genoa C.F.C.|Genoa]]
| caps4 = 62
| goals4 = 25
| years5 = 1963–1965
| clubs5 = [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]]
| caps5 = 55
| goals5 = 32
| years6 = 1965–1967
| clubs6 = [[Southend United F.C.|Southend United]]
| caps6 = 55
| goals6 = 24
| years7 = 1967–1968
| clubs7 = [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]]
| caps7 = 10
| goals7 = 6
| years8 = 1975
| clubs8 = [[Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993)|Tampa Bay Rowdies]]
| caps8 = 1
| goals8 = 0
| totalcaps = 440
| totalgoals = 238
| nationalyears1 = 1956–1958
| nationalteam1 = [[Italy national football team|Italy]]
| nationalcaps1 = 3
| nationalgoals1 = 2
| manageryears1 = 1967–1970
| managerclubs1 = [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]]
| manageryears2 = 1975–1977
| managerclubs2 = [[Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993)|Tampa Bay Rowdies]]
| manageryears3 = 1977–1979
| managerclubs3 = [[New York Cosmos (1971–1985)|New York Cosmos]]
| manageryears4 = 1980
| managerclubs4 = [[Philadelphia Fury (1978–80)|Philadelphia Fury]]
| manageryears5 = 1981–1982
| managerclubs5 = [[Montreal Manic]]
| manageryears6 = 1983
| managerclubs6 = [[FC Inter-Montréal|Inter-Montréal]]
| manageryears7 = 1984
| managerclubs7 = [[New York Cosmos (1971–1985)|New York Cosmos]]
| manageryears8 = 1985–1990
| managerclubs8 = [[Kazma Sporting Club|Kazma SC]]
| manageryears9 = 1990
| managerclubs9 = [[Al-Talaba]]
| manageryears10 = 1991
| managerclubs10= [[Montreal Supra]]
| manageryears11 = 1992–1993
| managerclubs11 = [[Sur Club|Sur FC]]
| manageryears12 = 1993
| managerclubs12 = [[Montreal Impact (1992–2011)|Montreal Impact]]
| manageryears13 = 1996
| managerclubs13 = [[New York Red Bulls|New York/New Jersey MetroStars]]
}}
'''Edwin Ronald Firmani''' ({{IPA|it|ˈɛddi firˈmaːni}}; born 7 August 1933) is a former professional [[association football|football]] player and manager. A former [[Forward (association football)|forward]], he spent most of his playing career in Italy and England. He managed 13 different clubs over 29 years, mostly in the United States, Canada, and the [[Middle East]]. Born in [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]], he represented the [[Italy national football team|Italy national team]] internationally.

==Playing career==
Firmani played as a [[centre forward|centre]] or [[inside forward]]. He joined English team [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]] in 1950 and became a regular goal scorer, including scoring five goals in a 6–1 win against [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] in 1955. At the time the Charlton team included several South Africans, [[John Hewie]], [[Stuart Leary]] and [[Sid O'Linn]]. During his first spell with Charlton he married Pat Robinson, daughter of the club's assistant manager. Later in 1955 he moved to Italian team [[U.C. Sampdoria|Sampdoria]] for £35,000, which at the time was a [[Progression of British football transfer fee record|record transfer fee involving a British club]], beginning an eight-year spell in Italy when he gained three [[caps (football)|caps]] for the [[Italy national football team|Italy national team]], qualifying for the national team because his grandfather was Italian. He also played for [[Inter Milan]] and [[Genoa C.F.C.|Genoa]].

While playing in Italy, he was given a [[nickname]] which was later modified twice. He was originally called ''Il Tacchino'' (The [[Turkey (bird)|Turkey]]) because he flapped his [[elbow]]s when he ran. It was first changed to ''Il Tacchino Freddo'' (The Cold Turkey) for the phlegmatic way he celebrated his goals, before he was finally known as ''Il Tacchino d'Oro'' (The Golden Turkey) when he began scoring with greater frequency.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20201020040054/https://vault.si.com/vault/43252#&gid=ci0258bdb2f01226ef&pid=43252---cover-image Moses, Sam. "All the way with Tampa Bay," ''Sports Illustrated'', September 1, 1975 (article on page 48).] Retrieved 12 December 2020</ref>

In 1960 Firmani wrote a volume of autobiography "Football with the Millionaires", which provides an interesting contrast between the lifestyle of Italian footballers and their English counterparts in the era of the [[maximum wage]].

He returned to England in 1963, linking up again with Charlton, now playing in the second division. After two years he moved to [[Southend United F.C.|Southend United]] in the third division but returned to [[The Valley (London)|The Valley]] for a third spell with Charlton two seasons later. In total, he made 177 appearances for the Addicks, scoring 89 goals. In recognition of his talents, he was named as Charlton's greatest overseas player in 2005. Firmani is the only man ever to have scored 100 League goals in both England and Italy, albeit only 50 in the English first division. In 1975, he played one game for the [[Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993)|Tampa Bay Rowdies]] of the [[North American Soccer League (1968–1984)|North American Soccer League]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasljerseys.com/Players/F/Firmani.Eddie.htm|title=NASL-|website=www.nasljerseys.com|access-date=25 July 2018}}</ref>

==Managerial career==

===Charlton Athletic===
In 1967 Firmani was appointed Charlton manager and retired as a player. Firmani thus became the first Italian international to manage an English club.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2010/may/19/the-footballing-life-eddie-firmani|title=From Cape Town to NY, via Charlton: the footballing life of Eddie Firmani|last=Harris|first=Nick|date=19 May 2010|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=25 July 2018}}</ref> In his second season in charge, Charlton finished third in the [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]] just missing out on promotion. He was fired in March 1970 with the Addicks battling against relegation to the [[Football League Third Division|Third Division]].

===North America===
[[File:Eddie Firmani, NASL 1975 media guide page 40.png|thumb|right|Firmani circa 1975]]
Firmani moved to North America and managed several [[North American Soccer League (1968–1984)|North American Soccer League]] sides: [[Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993)|Tampa Bay Rowdies]], [[New York Cosmos (1971–1985)|New York Cosmos]] and [[Philadelphia Fury (1978–80)|Philadelphia Fury]] which turned into [[Montreal Manic]]. He managed the Rowdies to the [[Soccer Bowl '75|NASL championship]] in [[1975 North American Soccer League season|1975]] in his first year in charge and was named the NASL coach of the year in [[1976 North American Soccer League season#Post season awards|1976]], when he guided Tampa Bay to the best regular season record. He also led the Rowdies to the finals of the NASL's [[Indoor soccer|indoor]] tournament in both [[1975 NASL Indoor tournament|1975]] and [[1976 NASL Indoor tournament|1976]], winning the latter. He was the first of only three coaches ''([[Ron Newman (footballer)|Ron Newman]] and [[Al Miller (soccer)|Al Miller]])'' to win both an outdoor and indoor title in the NASL.

In 1977 Firmani was signed by the Cosmos mid-season, after having resigned from the Rowdies for personal reasons. At the time the Cosmos had a team featuring [[Pelé]], [[Beckenbauer]], [[Giorgio Chinaglia]] et al. Firmani added [[Carlos Alberto Torres|Carlos Alberto]], Brazil's World Cup-winning [[1970 FIFA World Cup squads#.C2.A0Brazil|captain]] of [[1970 FIFA World Cup|1970]], and the Cosmos won back-to-back titles in [[Soccer Bowl '77|1977]] and [[Soccer Bowl '78|1978]]. For the second time in three years his squad had the best record at the end of the [[1978 North American Soccer League season|1978 season]]. After being fired by the Cosmos in June 1979, he was quickly hired to coach the [[New Jersey Americans (soccer)|New Jersey Americans]] of the [[American Soccer League (1933-1983)|American Soccer League]]. The following season, he returned to coach in the NASL as coach of the Fury.

He later managed Canadian sides [[FC Inter-Montréal]] of the [[Canadian Professional Soccer League (1983)|Canadian Professional Soccer League]] in 1983 and [[Montreal Impact (1992–2011)|Montreal Impact]] in 1993 of the [[American Professional Soccer League]] and lastly the [[Major League Soccer]] side [[New York/New Jersey MetroStars]] in 1996.

===The Middle East===
Firmani coached in the Middle East during the mid-to-late 1980s, and in the early 1990s. He worked as a manager in both [[Kuwait]] and later in [[Oman]]. He mentioned in an interview how he and his wife had "liked it in Oman", and then described how he had led [[Sur Club|Sur]] to the first division for the first time in the club's history.<ref name="Yannis">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/13/sports/sidelines-continuous-success-in-volatile-corner.html|title=SIDELINES; Continuous Success in Volatile Corner|last=Yannis|first=Alex|work=The New York Times |date=13 July 1992 |access-date=25 July 2018|language=en}}</ref> After Sur was promoted to first division, Mohammed Bahwan, son of famous Omani [[Car dealership|car-dealership]] owner, Saud Bahwan, gave Firmani and members of the club large bonuses.<ref name="Yannis"/>

He was also held captive during the [[Gulf War|First Gulf War]], but was released unharmed.<ref name="Yannis"/>

==Career statistics==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year<ref name="Eddie Firmani European Football profile">{{cite web |url=http://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=6002 |title=Eddie Firmani – profile |publisher=European Football |access-date=6 January 2012}}</ref>
|-
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="3"|[[Italy national football team|Italy]]
|1956||1||1
|-
|1957||1||0
|-
|1958||1||1
|-
!colspan="2"|Total!!3!!2
|}
:''Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Firmani goal.''

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Eddie Firmani<ref name="Eddie Firmani European Football profile"/>
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
|-
| style="text-align:center"|1 || 11 November 1956 || [[Wankdorf Stadium|Wankdorfstadion]], [[Bern]] || {{fb|SUI}} || style="text-align:center"|1–1 || style="text-align:center"|1–1 || 1956 [[Central European International Cup|Dr. Gerö Cup]]
|-
| style="text-align:center"|2 || 23 March 1958 || [[Ernst-Happel-Stadion|Praterstadion]], Vienna || {{fb|AUT}} || style="text-align:center"|2–1 || style="text-align:center"|2–3 || 1958 Dr. Gerö Cup
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070826170754/http://www.cafc.co.uk/personality.ink?page=7287 Profile at www.cafc.co.uk]

{{Navboxes
|title=Eddie Firmani managerial positions
|list1=
{{Charlton Athletic F.C. managers}}
{{Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) managers}}
{{New York Cosmos managers}}
{{Montreal Impact (1992–2011) coaches}}
{{New York Red Bulls managers}}
}}
{{NASL winning head coaches}}
{{Charlton Athletic F.C. Hall of Fame}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Firmani, Eddie}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:White South African people]]
[[Category:South African people of British descent]]
[[Category:Charlton Athletic F.C. players]]
[[Category:Charlton Athletic F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in England]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Italy]]
[[Category:Expatriate football managers in England]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States]]
[[Category:Expatriate soccer coaches in the United States]]
[[Category:Expatriate soccer coaches in Canada]]
[[Category:Inter Milan players]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:Italy men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:New York Red Bulls head coaches]]
[[Category:Montreal Impact (1992–2011) head coaches]]
[[Category:North American Soccer League (1968–1984) head coaches]]
[[Category:North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players]]
[[Category:Soccer players from Cape Town]]
[[Category:South African expatriate men's soccer players]]
[[Category:South African expatriate sportspeople in Canada]]
[[Category:South African expatriate sportspeople in Italy]]
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[[Category:South African soccer managers]]
[[Category:South African men's soccer players]]
[[Category:South African people of Italian descent]]
[[Category:South African emigrants to Italy]]
[[Category:Southend United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players]]
[[Category:Expatriate football managers in Kuwait]]
[[Category:Expatriate football managers in Iraq]]
[[Category:Expatriate football managers in Oman]]
[[Category:Italian expatriate football managers]]
[[Category:London XI players]]
[[Category:Tampa Bay Rowdies coaches]]
[[Category:Serie A players]]
[[Category:Serie B players]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:Player-coaches]]
[[Category:Italian men's footballers]]
[[Category:Montreal Supra coaches]]
[[Category:Kazma SC managers]]
[[Category:Kuwait Premier League managers]]
[[Category:South African expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait]]
[[Category:South African expatriate sportspeople in Oman]]
[[Category:Italian expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait]]
[[Category:Italian expatriate sportspeople in England]]
[[Category:Italian expatriate sportspeople in Oman]]
[[Category:Italian expatriate sportspeople in Iraq]]
[[Category:Al-Talaba SC managers]]
[[Category:South African expatriate sportspeople in Iraq]]
[[Category:Italian expatriate sportspeople in the United States]]
[[Category:Italian expatriate sportspeople in Canada]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century South African sportsmen]]