View source for John Adshead

{{Short description|English footballer (born 1942)}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox football biography 
| name = John Adshead<br>{{post-nominals|country=NZL|ONZM}}
| image = John Adshead ONZM (cropped).jpg
| caption = Adshead in 2013
| fullname = 
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1942|3|27}}
| birth_place = [[Fleetwood]], [[Lancashire]], England
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| position = 
| youthyears1 = 
| youthclubs1 = 
| years1 = 
| years2 = 
| clubs1 = 
| clubs2 = 
| caps1 = 
| goals1 = 
| manageryears1 = 
| manageryears2 = 1979–82, 1989–90
| manageryears3 = 2005–06
| managerclubs1 = [[Manurewa AFC|Manurewa]]
| managerclubs2 = [[New Zealand national football team|New Zealand]]
| managerclubs3 = [[New Zealand Knights FC|New Zealand Knights]]
}}
'''John Adshead''' {{post-nominals|country=NZL|ONZM}} (born 27 March 1942) is an English-born former head coach of New Zealand's national football team—the [[New Zealand national football team|All Whites]]—whom he led to their first [[FIFA World Cup]] appearance in the [[1982 FIFA World Cup|1982 tournament]].

==Life and work==
Adshead is one of the most important figures in the history of New Zealand football. Born in [[Fleetwood]], Lancashire, England, in 1942,<ref name="NZ Herald 2006">{{cite news | url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10376905 | title=Soccer: Adshead catches Knights off guard | date=10 April 2006 | work=The New Zealand Herald | access-date=6 June 2015 | first=David | last=Leggat}}</ref> Adshead first started off as a player with [[Sidmouth Town A.F.C.]] before injury ended his career at just 22. Following his retirement as a player, Adshead instantly got into coaching and upon his arrival in [[Western Australia]] in 1970 he coached for six years in the [[Football West State League|Western Australian State League]].

It was in New Zealand where Adshead made his mark, after arriving in the country in January 1976.<ref name="NZ Herald 2006"/> With his club [[Manurewa AFC|Manurewa]] he won six trophies including the [[Chatham Cup]] in 1978 and promotion into the top division in [[New Zealand]] the same year. In 1979 Adshead was appointed as the coach of the [[New Zealand national football team|New Zealand]] national side. He successfully led the team to the [[1982 FIFA World Cup]] after they overcame the [[Rudi Gutendorf]] led [[Australia men's national soccer team|Australia]] as well as Indonesia, Fiji and Chinese Taipei in the first qualifying round before meeting [[Kuwait national football team|Kuwait]], [[Saudi Arabia national football team|Saudi Arabia]] and [[China PR national football team|China]] in the second round, eventually finishing joint second with China, against whom New Zealand won a playoff 2–1 in Singapore to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in their history. It was to be another 28 years before they repeated this feat, qualifying for the [[2010 FIFA World Cup]] in South Africa. A total of 15 qualifying games were required by the All Whites to reach the finals tournament of 1982. New Zealand lost all three finals games, against [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]] (5–2), [[Soviet Union national football team|Soviet Union]] (3–0) and [[Brazil national football team|Brazil]] (4–0)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080216130713/http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/page/all-whites%2526%2523039%3B-results-1982-soccer-world-cup |1982 Soccer World Cup Results]</ref>

After leaving the New Zealand national coaching job in February 1983, Adshead spent time in football obscurity again before returning to coach [[New Zealand national football team|New Zealand]] again in 1989 to try to get the team to the [[1990 FIFA World Cup]] but they failed to get out of the [[Oceania Football Confederation|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 FC|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.

In the [[2013 Birthday Honours (New Zealand)|2013 Queen's Birthday Honours]], Adshead was appointed an [[New Zealand Order of Merit|Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit]], for services to football.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2013 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2013 |date=3 June 2013 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=18 June 2018}}</ref>

In October 2013, Adshead's achievements were recognised at a tribute event held by the independent group Friends of Football<ref>[http://www.friendsoffootballnz.com/a-tribute-to-john-adshead/ Tribute to John Adshead] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200714061705/http://www.friendsoffootballnz.com/a-tribute-to-john-adshead/ |date=14 July 2020 }}. Friends of Football. Retrieved 31 December 2014.</ref> and in November 2014, he was presented with the Friends of Football inaugural Medal of Excellence<ref>[http://www.friendsoffootballnz.com/ivan-vicelich-honoured-by-fof/ Medals for Vicelich and Adshead] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712033029/http://www.friendsoffootballnz.com/ivan-vicelich-honoured-by-fof/ |date=12 July 2020 }}. Friends of Football. Retrieved 31 December 2014.</ref>

==Managerial statistics==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
!rowspan=2|Team
!rowspan=2|From
!rowspan=2|To
!colspan=5|Record
|-
!G!!W!!D!!L!!Win %
|-
|align=left|[[New Zealand Knights FC]]
|align=left|January 2005
|align=left|April 2006
{{WDL|21|1|3|17}}
|-
!colspan=3|Total
{{WDLtot|21|1|3|17}}
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/p/pwc/q/1982.html 1982 FIFA World Cup]
* [http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/1982-soccer-world-cup The All Whites and the 1982 World Cup finals ]

{{New Zealand squad 1980 OFC Nations Cup}}
{{New Zealand squad 1982 FIFA World Cup}}
{{New Zealand national football team managers}}
{{New Zealand Knights FC managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adshead, John}}
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Footballers from Fleetwood]]
[[Category:English emigrants to New Zealand]]
[[Category:1982 FIFA World Cup managers]]
[[Category:English football managers]]
[[Category:New Zealand association football managers]]
[[Category:New Zealand national football team managers]]
[[Category:A-League Men managers]]
[[Category:Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit]]