50 Facts About John Toshack

John Benjamin Toshack was born on 22 March 1949 and is a Welsh former professional football player and manager.

John Toshack began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for the side when he made his debut in 1965.

John Toshack led the club to three promotions in four seasons, elevating them from the Fourth Division to the First Division in a feat that led former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly to describe him as the "manager of the century".

John Toshack resigned from Swansea in 1984 after suffering relegation and embarked on a managerial career abroad, taking charge of Sporting CP in Portugal and later Spanish side Real Sociedad, winning the Copa del Rey in 1987.

John Toshack later managed Macedonia and Azerbaijani side Khazar Lankaran before managing outside Europe for the first time in his career with Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca and Tractor of Iran.

John Toshack was born on 22 March 1949 in Cardiff, Wales, and grew up on Northumberland Street in the Canton area of the city.

John Toshack moved to Wales while serving in the RAF, being stationed at MOD St Athan, and met Toshack's mother Joan, whom he later married.

John Toshack left the school at the age of sixteen with O-levels in French and history.

John Toshack was later selected to represent the Wales under-15 side.

John Toshack scored two further hat-tricks for Cardiff, in 1969 against Queens Park Rangers and in 1970 against Hull City.

The club had made several previous offers for John Toshack that had been rejected however, the Cardiff City board stated that they had left the decision up to the player who chose to move clubs.

John Toshack made his debut three days later on 14 November 1970 in a goalless league draw with Coventry City at Anfield.

However, the deal later collapsed after he failed a medical and, at the age of 25, John Toshack was told by specialist doctors that he only had around twelve months left to play due to mounting injuries.

John Toshack was able to force his way back into the first-team soon after, but his training time was restricted in an effort to prolong his playing career.

John Toshack won a further league and UEFA Cup double in 1976 and enjoyed his most prolific season with Liverpool, scoring 23 goals in all competitions.

John Toshack eventually negotiated his release from his contract at Liverpool in order to move into management.

John Toshack was voted in at No 34 on the Liverpool website poll 100 Players Who Shook The Kop, in which thousands of fans worldwide voted for their top 100 Liverpool players.

John Toshack was part of the Welsh side that topped their qualifying group for UEFA Euro 1976, scoring three times during qualifying, before losing a two-legged play-off match against Yugoslavia.

John Toshack went on to earn 40 caps and scored 13 goals, including a hat trick against Scotland in the 1979 British Home Championship.

John Toshack instead received a phone call from Swansea City chairman Malcolm Struel and was invited to a meeting at the club.

John Toshack overhauled numerous aspects of the club's day-to-day routine including changing players' diets, moderating their alcohol intake and revising travel arrangements for away matches.

John Toshack was an immediate success at the Vetch Field, winning promotion from the Fourth Division in his first season in charge after finishing third.

In recognition of his achievements at the club, John Toshack was awarded an MBE midway through the season.

John Toshack had openly coveted the position stating "When I went to Swansea the thing I wanted in the long term was to end up at Liverpool".

John Toshack resigned in October 1983 but returned eight weeks later, remaining with the club for a further three months before departing again in March 1984.

In 1984, John Toshack was appointed manager of the Portuguese side Sporting Clube de Portugal, but he only lasted one season in the post during which he led the team to second place in the league.

Nevertheless, John Toshack strengthened defensively by adding Oscar Ruggeri and Fernando Hierro to the club's ranks but endured a difficult start after losing to rivals Barcelona and being eliminated from the European Cup in the second round and was under pressure from local press despite leading the La Liga table after ten matches.

John Toshack was noted for a habit of literally translating English-language idioms into Spanish during his press conferences, to the confusion of Spanish journalists.

In 1994, John Toshack was appointed as manager of the Wales national team on a part-time basis, taking the job alongside his position in charge of Sociedad after approaches for Terry Venables and Bobby Robson were rejected.

John Toshack was appointed to succeed Terry Yorath who had narrowly missed out on qualification to the 1994 FIFA World Cup and had expressed his desire to remain in the role but was not offered a new contract by the Football Association of Wales.

John Toshack had already come under scrutiny over his commitment to the role after arriving in Wales only two nights before the match and taking a single training session with the team beforehand.

John Toshack later claimed that there was a political "war" surrounding the team following Yorath's acrimonious departure and he decided to "wash his hands" of the situation.

John Toshack claimed that his words were meant as a motivational tactic and refused club president Lorenzo Sanz's request that he withdraw his comments, saying "there's more chance of a pig flying over the Bernabeu".

John Toshack later spent short periods with French side AS Saint-Etienne, a third spell in charge of Real Sociedad, and Italian team Catania before returning to Spain again with Real Murcia.

In November 2004, John Toshack was appointed as manager of the Wales national team for the second time after being named as the "unanimous" choice of the FAW.

John Toshack was named in a three-man shortlist for the role alongside Frenchman Philippe Troussier and Welsh former international player Dean Saunders.

John Toshack's appointment was unpopular with some senior players with Robbie Savage claiming he could face a player mutiny if appointed.

In total, seven players announced their international retirement within months of John Toshack's appointment, including Savage, captain Gary Speed, who had been critical of John Toshack's opinions previously, Mark Pembridge and Andy Melville.

John Toshack left the job by mutual consent on 9 September 2010, although he had stated his desire to remain in the job for the two following qualifying matches.

Eleven months after resigning from his role with Wales, John Toshack was appointed manager of the Macedonia national football team on 7 August 2011.

On 8 March 2013, it was announced that John Toshack would take over as manager of Khazar Lankaran of the Azerbaijan Premier League on 15 March 2013.

John Toshack's first game in charge of Khazar Lankaran was a one all home draw against AZAL.

John Toshack won his first trophy with Khazar Lankaran on 23 October 2013, defeating Neftchi Baku in the 2013 Azerbaijan Supercup.

On 22 November 2013, John Toshack resigned as manager of Khazar Lankaran following 14 points in the first 14 games of the season, leaving Khazar in eighth place in the league.

On 20 June 2014, John Toshack was appointed as manager of Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca.

John Toshack led the club to a league title in his first season in charge and a second-place finish the following year, but on 16 September 2016, after suffering a heavy defeat to Zamalek in the first leg of the 2016 CAF Champions League semi-finals, Toshack and Wydad Casablanca parted ways.

In 1976, while playing for Liverpool, John Toshack composed and published a book of poems entitled Gosh, it's Tosh.

In 1981, John Toshack won the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year and received the MBE for his services to football in the 1982 New Year Honours list.

John Toshack was the subject of an episode of This Is Your Life in 1982 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the Roehampton Club in London.

On 27 February 2022, John Toshack was reported to be seriously ill with COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated, on a ventilator in hospital in Spain.