View source for Tony Waiters

{{Short description|English footballer (1937–2020)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Tony Waiters
| image = Tony Waiters crop.jpg
| caption = Waiters in December 1964
| fullname = Anthony Keith Waiters
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1937|2|1|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Southport]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|2020|11|05|1937|2|1|df=y}}
| position = [[Goalkeeper (association football)|Goalkeeper]] 
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 =
| years1 = 1957–1958
| years2 = 1958–1959
| years3 = 1959–1967
| years4 = 1970–1972
| clubs1 = [[Bishop Auckland F.C.|Bishop Auckland]]
| clubs2 = [[Macclesfield Town F.C.|Macclesfield Town]]
| clubs3 = [[Blackpool F.C.|Blackpool]]
| clubs4 = [[Burnley F.C.|Burnley]]
| caps1 =
| caps2 = 11
| caps3 = 257
| caps4 = 38
| goals1 =
| goals2 = 0
| goals3 = 0
| goals4 = 0
| totalcaps  = 306
| totalgoals = 0
| manageryears1 = 1972–1977
| manageryears2 = 1977–1979
| manageryears3 = 1981–1986
| manageryears4 = 1990–1991
| managerclubs1 = [[Plymouth Argyle F.C.|Plymouth Argyle]]
| managerclubs2 = [[Vancouver Whitecaps (NASL)|Vancouver Whitecaps]]
| managerclubs3 = [[Canada men's national soccer team|Canada]]
| managerclubs4 = [[Canada men's national soccer team|Canada]]
| nationalyears1 = 1964
| nationalteam1 = [[England national football team|England]]
| nationalcaps1 = 5
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry|{{fb|CAN}}}}<small>(as manager)</small>
{{MedalSport|Men's [[Association football]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[CONCACAF Championship]]}}
{{Medal|W|[[1985 CONCACAF Championship|1985 North America]]|}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[North American Nations Cup]]}}
{{Medal|W|[[1990 North American Nations Cup|1990 Canada]]|}}
{{Medal|3rd|[[1991 North American Nations Cup|1991 United States]]|}}
}}
'''Anthony Keith Waiters''' (1 February 1937 – 5 November 2020) was an English footballer who played as a [[Goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]]. He is better known for his coaching career in [[Canada]]. He managed the [[Vancouver Whitecaps (NASL)|Vancouver Whitecaps]] to an [[North American Soccer League (1968-1984)|NASL]] championship, and was in charge of the [[Canada men's national soccer team|Canada national team]], when they qualified for the [[1986 FIFA World Cup|1986 World Cup]], which is their first appearance in the tournament.<ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/05/sports/soccer-canadians-and-misl-at-odds-for-cup.html|title=SOCCER - CANADIANS AND M.I.S.L. AT ODDS FOR CUP - NYTimes.com|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2014-07-12|first=Alex|last=Yannis|date=5 April 1986}}</ref><ref name="latimes">{{cite news |url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-05-11-sp-5654-story.html |title=Canada's World Cup Coach Struggles to Put Together a Winning Soccer Team |website=Los Angeles Times |date=11 May 1986 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714213444/http://articles.latimes.com/1986-05-11/sports/sp-5654_1_misl |archive-date=14 July 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Playing career==
Waiters began his career as an amateur with [[Northern Football League (England)|Northern League]] club [[Bishop Auckland F.C.|Bishop Auckland]], moving to [[Macclesfield Town F.C.|Macclesfield Town]] in 1958. He was capped as an [[England national amateur football team|England Amateur]] in May 1959 while at Loughborough College. He played centre-half in schoolboy football and took up goalkeeping when serving in the RAF.<ref>{{cite book|title=Soccer Who's Who|author=Maurice Golesworth|publisher=The Sportsmans Book Club|year=1965}}</ref>

The same year, he was spotted by [[Blackpool F.C.|Blackpool]] manager [[Ron Suart]] and signed to replace the aging [[George Farm]]. Turning professional, he appeared over 250 times for Blackpool. He won five England caps in 1964, as [[Alf Ramsey]] sought a backup for [[Gordon Banks]] with the [[1966 World Cup]] imminent. Although selected in Ramsey's initial squad of 40, ultimately, however, Waiters was not chosen for the final 22. Waiters retired in 1967, as Blackpool were relegated from the [[Football League First Division|First Division]]. Taking up coaching, he worked for [[the Football Association]] as a Regional Coach, and for Liverpool's youth development program before moving to [[Burnley F.C.|Burnley]]. In 1970, an injury to Burnley's goalkeeper [[Peter Mellor]] led to Waiters' coming out of retirement. After making another 40 appearances, he finally retired in 1972.

==Managerial career==
Waiters began coaching with the England national youth side and led them to a European Championship held in Italy (1973). He took over at [[Plymouth Argyle F.C.|Plymouth Argyle]] and led them to the Third Division championship and promotion in 1975. He took over the Whitecaps midway through the [[1977 North American Soccer League season|1977 season]] and in [[1979 North American Soccer League season|1979]] led them to an upset of the [[New York Cosmos (1971–1985)|New York Cosmos]] en route to victory in [[Soccer Bowl '79]], the NASL championship. He was promoted to general manager in 1980 and remained in this role until 1982.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Labow |first1=Jeffrey |title=Storms keep brewing in Whitecaps' camp |work=The Globe and Mail |date=June 11, 1980}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Stinson|first=Dan|title=Bridgwater set for test as Waiters' replacement|work=The Vancouver Sun|date=October 5, 1982|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YaFlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UIwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2705,2037662|accessdate=November 25, 2011}}</ref>

At the helm of Canada, Waiters saw the side reach the quarterfinals of the [[1984 Summer Olympics|1984 Olympics]]. In 1985, his team won the [[1985 CONCACAF Championship|CONCACAF Championship]], qualifying them to the next year's World Cup.<ref name="cadsoccer">{{cite web|url=https://www.canadasoccer.com/news/in-memory-of-tony-waiters-hall-of-fame-honoured-member-passed-away/|title=IN MEMORY OF TONY WAITERS, HALL OF FAME HONOURED MEMBER|publisher=Canada Soccer|access-date=2022-03-29}}</ref> At the [[1986 World Cup]], Canada held [[France national football team|France]] scoreless until late in a 1–0 loss. The team went on to lose their two remaining games and go scoreless for the finals.<ref name="sportsnet">{{cite web|url=http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/world-cup-2014/one-and-only-remembering-canadas-lone-world-cup-appearance/|title=One and Only: Remembering Canada's lone World Cup appearance - Sportsnet.ca|publisher=sportsnet.ca|access-date=2014-07-12}}</ref> Waiters managed the team again briefly in 1990.

==Coaching and advisory roles==
Waiters wrote books on soccer skills and coaching. He was inducted into the [[Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame]] as a builder in 2001, and into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.

Waiters created his company - [http://www.worldofsoccer.com World of Soccer] - in the 1980s, producing a complete series of coaching books, soccer equipment, such as WOS markers, as well as his infamous Ace Coaching cards. Since 2000 he took World of Soccer to a new level, developing Total Player Development, which in turn was the base for [http://www.bytesizecoaching.com Byte Size Coaching], a simple yet comprehensive website for soccer parents, coaches and volunteers. Byte Size Coaching is now used by over 350 clubs ranging from Canada, America, UK, Australia and Singapore. Byte Size Coaching was created to help community clubs and soccer associations reach all their coaches.

Waiters continued to coach children and young adults, helping them pursue their soccer goals and moulding players for the future. He was appointed the first Director of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's (NSCAA) Goalkeeping Institute, stepping down in 2006. He remained a National Staff Coach of the NSCAA and U.S. Soccer.

==Death==
Waiters died at age 83 on November 5, 2020, in North Vancouver, BC, of complications from pneumonia. It was several days before the word of his death became public so in some outlets the date of his death was erroneously reported as being November 10.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/sport/football/former-plymouth-argyle-manager-tony-4685394/|title=Former Plymouth Argyle manager Tony Waiters passes away aged 83|publisher=Plymouth Live|access-date=11 November 2020}}</ref>

==Honours==
===As Manager===

'''Canada'''
*[[CONCACAF Championship]]: [[1985 CONCACAF Championship|1985]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesc/conca85det.html|title=Torneo Premundial 1985 (IX Campeonato de Naciones (NORCECA) CONCACAF)|access-date=April 20, 2024}}</ref>
*[[North American Nations Cup]]: [[1990 North American Nations Cup|1990]];<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/north-am-champ90.html#sqd|title=North American Championship 1990 (Canada)-Squads|access-date=April 20, 2025}}</ref> 3rd place, [[1991 North American Nations Cup|1991]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/north-am-champ91.html#sqd|title=North American Championship 1991 (Los Angeles, USA)-Squads|access-date=April 20, 2025}}</ref>

===Individual===
* [[Canada Soccer Awards|Aubrey Sanford Meritorious Service Award]]: 1996

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.worldofsoccer.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 Waiters' official website]
*{{NeilBrownPlayers|player/tonywaiters}}
*{{Englandstats}}
*{{Canada Soccer player|id=3279}} / [[Canada Soccer Hall of Fame]]
{{Navboxes
| title = Awards
| bg = gold
| fg = navy
| bordercolor = 
| list1 = 
{{NASL winning head coaches}}
{{Mike Berticelli Award}}
{{Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame}}
{{CONCACAF Championship / Gold Cup winning managers}}
}}
{{Navboxes
|title=Canada squads
| bg = red
| fg = white
|list1=
{{Canada Squad 1984 Summer Olympics}}
{{Canada squad 1985 CONCACAF Championship}}
{{Canada Squad 1986 World Cup}}
{{Canada Squad 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup}}
}}
{{navboxes
|title=Managerial positions
|list1=
{{Plymouth Argyle F.C. managers}}
{{NASL Vancouver Whitecaps coaches}}
{{Canada national soccer team managers}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waiters, Tony}}
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:Canada men's national soccer team managers]]
[[Category:England men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football goalkeepers]]
[[Category:English men's footballers]]
[[Category:Expatriate soccer coaches in Canada]]
[[Category:Blackpool F.C. players]]
[[Category:Macclesfield Town F.C. players]]
[[Category:North American Soccer League (1968–1984) head coaches]]
[[Category:Burnley F.C. players]]
[[Category:English football managers]]
[[Category:Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) coaches]]
[[Category:Plymouth Argyle F.C. managers]]
[[Category:English Football League managers]]
[[Category:Footballers from Southport]]
[[Category:1986 FIFA World Cup managers]]
[[Category:Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:English Football League representative players]]
[[Category:Bishop Auckland F.C. players]]
[[Category:English football coaches]]
[[Category:Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) general managers]]