“A Soccer Pioneer” Now Available To Order

I’m delighted to share that “A Soccer Pioneer”, the autobiography of Gordon Jago, is now available to order via Amazon.com.

Gordon has lived an incredible life – he is most well known in British soccer for his spells in charge of QPR and Millwall, two London clubs where he is arguably known as their greatest ever managers. His work at QPR saw him considered for the England position; Gordon is a man of such integrity that when the BBC screened a Panorama special which undermined all of the great community work at Millwall, he walked out of British football and went back to the US, where he had previously worked.

Gordon worked as boss of Tampa Bay Rowdies but it is in Dallas where he has earned a reputation as the grandfather of American youth soccer, serving as the  figure at the forefront of the internationally renowned youth tournament, the Dallas Cup.

These are the facts, but the story of how and why is fascinating.

To supporters of QPR and Millwall, Gordon Jago needs no introduction. They will adore the story of the manager who revolutionized their clubs and how he did it. But the Jago effect stretches beyond English football, across the Atlantic and his work continues to inspire in Dallas. His ghost writer, Wayne Barton, has a passion for uncovering football’s lost yarns and rediscovering forgotten characters from times when the game seemed simpler and so much more fun. —Matt Barlow, Football Writer, Daily Mail

Gordon Jago’s role as one of the innovators of football coaching has been criminally overlooked, considering how much both England and the United States owe to him. As usual, with his historian’s eye for detail and high readable style. Wayne Barton has delved to the heart of the subject. Few football coaches can say they have transformed sides from Millwall to Dallas, but Jago is one. An excellent story, full of surprises. —Ian Herbert, Chief Sportswriter of the Independent