Commentary
From NASL 1971 to Concacaf 2017, Ted Howard reflects on career at forefront of soccer's rise
- by Mike Woitalla @MikeWoitalla, Aug 14, 2017
One of the most important events in the history of American soccer may have occurred back in 1964, when Ted Howard got cut from the Chico State varsity basketball team.
At age 19, after Howard failed to make the jump from JV basketball to varsity, he heard Chico State was starting a soccer team. He took a soccer phys ed class, was a strong runner, and ended up being team captain and MVP.
He became even more enthralled with the sport after watching England beat Germany, 4-2, at Wembley -- in the 1966 final of the first World Cup televised in the USA.
While working on his business administration master’s degree, Howard served as Chico State’s assistant coach, the commissioner of a fledgling youth soccer association, and interned with the NASL’s Oakland Clippers. His master’s thesis was about their attendance.
“Soccer became a lifestyle for me,” he said.
And that was a good thing for American soccer.
"Ted has been an extraordinary servant to the game over the last 40-plus years,” said U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. “In that period, few others have been so quietly dedicated to the sport in so many different ways.”
“Quietly” is a good way to describe Howard’s work, because it has been behind-the-scenes. Greatly appreciated by those who have paid close attention to the rise of American soccer -- Howard entered the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003 -- but unknown to the average fan.
Last month’s final of the Gold Cup -- the biennial continental championship that has become a major success thanks much to Howard’s work -- coincided with Howard’s retirement as Concacaf Deputy General Secretary. His long career in soccer had begun nearly half a century earlier.
Howard joined the NASL staff on 1971 -- before the Pele years -- on a three-person staff and handled everything from scheduling games to press relations.
He had replaced Clive Toye as assistant commissioner when Toye moved to the Cosmos, which shared a small office with the NASL at the time.
“I remember this young guy arriving all enthusiastic and hard-working,” said Toye, the man who would bring Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Giorgio Chinaglia to the NASL. “Then he became older, and enthusiastic and hard-working. Then eventually became quite old, and enthusiastic and hard-working.”
Beside Woosnam, Howard was the longest serving executive in the NASL, the league that folded in 1985 but had planted the roots that led to the American soccer boom.
“He's been in leadership positions at the professional level, at U.S. Soccer and at Concacaf -- and carried out his responsibilities with an admirable dedication,” said Gulati. “And throughout, he's been humble and unassuming.”
After the NASL’s demise, Howard joined Ohlmeyer Communciations before spending a decade with the National Basketball Association, while also serving as U.S. Soccer’s International Games Committee chair. In 1998, he joined Concacaf, overseeing its administration and operations, and communication with its 41 member nations.
“During his tenure at our organization, he has been an outstanding administrator who has made significant contributions to the success of our Confederation and the growth of soccer throughout the region,” said Concacaf President Victor Montagliani. “His administrative expertise helped enhance the areas of refereeing and security, as well as club and national teams competitions."
Howard also spent nine years on FIFA’s Referee Committee and seven on its Security & Stadiums Committee. He served as Security Officer at three World Cups, three FIFA Club World Cups and a U-17 World Cup.
Ted Howard on …
Greatest games he saw in person
1. 1970 World Cup final (Brazil 4 Italy 1 in Mexico City)
My first
World Cup final was a thrill that has lasted a lifetime from what may be the greatest World Cup ever. The final three goals were scored right in front of me as my seats were right behind the goal at
that end.
2. 1977 NASL (Cosmos 8 Ft. Lauderdale Strikers 3 in East Rutherford, N.J.)
We flew over the stadium in a helicopter getting to the game from another game in
Minnesota earlier in the day. The first major sellout crowd at Giants Stadium -- 77,691. It was a day when we all began to believe that soccer would become a major sport in the U.S. It was one of the
most exhilarating days of my life. At the same time, having the opportunity to watch the Cosmos with Pele, Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto, Roberto Cabanas, Giorgio Chinaglia, and
the many other stars, week in and week out, was an unforgettable experience.
3. 1982 World Cup quarterfinal (Italy 3 Brazil 2 in
Barcelona)
In the small Espanyol stadium -- a historic quarterfinal matchup -- Italy and Brazil played a thriller with Paolo Rossi's hat trick proving to be the
difference and Brazil was shockingly eliminated early. Because more tickets were distributed than capacity, I never got to my seat, and like many others we stood the entire match.
4.
2012 friendly (Argentina 4 Brazil 3 in East Rutherford, N.J.)
Lionel Messi put on a spectacular show, with a hat trick that included a curling shot from 25 yards, after
running across the box, into the top left-hand corner of the goal. It was such a joy to watch him come to play, even in a friendly. A highlight of my soccer life has been the opportunity to watch
Messi on TV almost on a weekly basis play with such joy and enthusiasm. We never had the opportunity to watch Pele or Diego Maradona play with such frequency.
5. 1999
Women's World Cup final (USA 0 China 0, 1-0, PKs, at the Rose Bowl)
Being part of that incredible drama, at the 90,185 sold-out Rose Bowl, was a life-altering experience for my wife and
girls.
6. Gold Cup 2007 final (USA 2 Mexico 1 in Chicago)
Benny Feilhaber's long-range goal with 12 minutes to play in the second half was decisive.
7. 1987 Olympic qualifying (USA 3 Canada 0 at the St. Louis Soccer Park)
The USA had lost the first leg in Canada, 2-0, and needed three goals to keep its hopes alive of
qualifying for the Olympics. It got three goals (two from Paul Krumpe and one from Jim Gabarra) late in the game to win and advance. It was an amazing result.
The early NASL days
There were basically three of us in the New York office. Me and Phil Woosnam and a secretary for what was an eight-team league in 1971. On
Sundays, I’d come into the office and type of the results from the weekend and the standings. Then I would walk to AP, UPI and Canadian Press -- news organizations didn’t take phone calls
about soccer in those days -- and hand them the standings, and we’d hope that somebody would put the agate in. And that was where we were then. To see where American soccer is now is pretty
amazing.
Pele and Co.
The NASL was a great league from a competition standpoint. Certainly, the introduction of Pele and some of the other superstars who
came to play was eye-opening because of the number of places they were able to sell out, and do something soccer had never done before. You also had players spending 50 percent of their time in
community relations to get the word out.
We talked about how soccer was supposed to be the sport of the 1980s, and that never happened. And that was discouraging to a lot of us. But you see what’s happened in the cities where the NASL was. It had a profound impact on the game and its growth.
The NBA stint
I was working at Ohlmeyer and [NBA
commissioner] David Stern called me out of the blue one day and asked would I like to come and work for them. The NBA was a real eye-opener because it was an established league, but
believe it or not, I was there to help set up its marketing department. And obviously that’s exploded since then.
The rise of MLS
More
than anything, the failure of the NASL was -- I think it’s pretty clear -- because of the fact that everybody wanted to have a Pele and people overspent on their budgets for players who were not
worth the value of what they were drawing at the gate. And it was premature. In the end, what MLS did and learned from the NASL were two important things:
Be measured in your growth. Take your time. Be patient. Let the sport develop. And I give them tremendous kudos for what they’ve generated in that way. They have created a soccer environment in the United States.
And secondly, and probably the most importantly: They built their own facilities. I think we all realized in the NASL, if you don’t control all your assets down to parking and concession, every revenue stream, you can’t make it happen on just gate receipts. And in the end, once you build it big enough, TV revenue will be the key thing that makes it possible and viable to spend more on players.
Thank God there were visionaries like Lamar Hunt, Philip Anschutz and Robert Kraft who believed so firmly in where the game would go that they built the foundation and let it grow.
The Gold Cup
When it started, people thought it was sort of a nothing event. We took it in-house to refocus and
give it the guidance it needed. Now, the Gold Cup is the World Cup for Concacaf. In essence, it funds all of our programs because of what it’s grown into. It created a whole different level of
everything for Concacaf.
Working at World Cups
As Security Officer, getting to understand the whole world of soccer from the fan side. Understanding the
emotions and how to deal with people to keep control in the stadium. You just realize there's a level of passion beyond anything I've seen in any sport in United States. And it’s fun to see the
differences from nation to nation.
What he'd like to see
I think the fact that this country is one where we can run a Gold Cup and some other big events that
fill the NFL stadiums without a second thought is pretty amazing. What I'd really like to see now is the development of top players who make the USA competitive with the best teams in the world. The
possibility of the U.S. winning the World Cup or getting to the final.
WOW, Where has the time gone...I know guys like Ric Fonseca, Wooden Ships, Bob Ashpole, Jay, myself and some other Old guys share the beautiful memories of those days. I have to say, we old guys were very fortunate to have experienced some of the most beautiful times of this rich soccer history. Who else can say we saw, Pele, Garrincha, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Best, Puskas, DiStefano, Dzajic, Jimmy Johnstone, etc, and so many,many other great ones play. It was those memories of having seen and heard stories of the great ones play, that became the elixir of love for this game that I employed in teaching the youth and telling the stories of the great ones to them and what they did on the field. I find this element of teaching the kid the beauty of the game, the stories of the great players who gave a regalness to the game so missing; for playing the game is so different than having the love for the game and playing it. This is one of the problems that creates "Burn Out" in kids today for they have never had a chance to be taught, hear the stories and taught to see the beauty and love for the sport. No, how could they , for they have been influenced by coaches who ,one, themselves have probably never have seen the many greats play, and ,two, the only things that you hear come from their mouths and"programmed' dogmatic brain, 'be efficient, one-touch it, Please!, he's open over there, you dribble too much, get rid of it, work harder!, switch it, PASS IT ,PASS IT !!. How else can you explain 'Burn Out" as compared to when I played 20 to 35 hours a week as a kid in the streets for I certainly never came across that term until I came to America where I realized "Burn Out" is actually a phenomenon created by coaches who have never learned the love the game,who have difficulty taking on a lamppost one on one, but they are licensed and that makes them eligible. And coaching has become a cottage industry, filled with Psychiatrist, Educators, you name it ,all which couldn't match the successful development street soccer kids attained without coaching, Go figure....
Frank, thank you very much for your kind words and the historical vignette, as I know only too well and remember those players you name, especially when as a SA "Correspondent" I attended a reception put on in Beverly Hills for the Cosmos, if memory serves me correct in '80, there I met all those Cosmos luminaries, my gorgeous wife met and chatted with Pele, et. al. It was a wonderful setting. But more importantly, I for sure remember Ted Howard, a tall almost rail thin young fellow when as an undergrad at Cal Sta Hayward (now CSU East Bay) played Chico State on several occasions, and then again when he worked for the then very fledgling Oakland Clippers in their almost closet-sized offices. I also sold Clippers tickets to students of the game as the university and elsewhere, sold them for the Oakland Clippers vs Santos and Pele (I still have the game program!) Susequently I heard through the grapevine that Ted had gone on to bigger and better (then, mind you) soccer gigs, NY, Miami, CONCACAF, FIFA, etc. Throughout the time I've known him, he is and has been a gentleman, and I hope he puts his memoirs pen to paper, or should I say, fingers to keyboard and share with us, as Frank has put it, "Old guys...(sic)"
Ric, Great stuff, wonderful memories.
Thanks for your comment
and Carlos Alberto, Roberto Cabanas, Bogesevich (?)
Charles, you can still watch Bogicevich and the great Dzajic in full games on YouTube. WC'74 Yugoslavia-Brazil, or any of those WC'74 Yugoslavian games
I hope Kumar see this and sees why it's important to be patient with the growth of soccer in our country.
FPGN, now I know that I am getting a tad bit long in the tooth (is that how one says it? Heck I don't know as I am STILL learning of this phrases, sayings, etc., after all as a short little "scrub" [my statement] from Mexico...) but who in the heck is "Kumar?"??
H Savage is Kumar. He has used many names to post on this site because he keeps getting deleted by the moderators.
There are lots of people on here who express opposing viewpoints. The difference between them and you is that they do it like grown ups. Your emotional intelligence and ability to debate calmly are that of a child, which leads you to call people names and say immature things that cause you to get deleted over and over and over...
Another comprehension fail and declaration of victory. Who does that?
How in the world did we get from Ted Howard's memories to debating development in China vs. the USA? Even though it was not one of Howard's favorite memories, mine go back to his early days. The game that inspired me to coach (and I am still at it) was the exhibition at the Oakland Coliseum between the Clippers and Santos of Brazil with Pele in, was it the summer of 1968?
James , did you remember EDU and PEPE playing for them.
Great piece, Mike, on a great guy. Tim is one of the real, real good ones!