Gordon Bradley

Gordon Bradley (23 November 1933 – 29 April 2008) was an English-American soccer midfielder born and raised on Wearside who played several seasons with lower-division English clubs before moving to play in Canada at the age of 30.

During the Canadian off-season, he played and coached in the U.S.-based German American Soccer League.

In 1950, English conscription laws forced Bradley to choose between working in the government coal mines or entering the military when he turned nineteen.

Bradley chose to work in the coal mines at Easington Colliery.

In addition to working in the mine, Bradley continued to play soccer.

While he began his career as a forward with Sunderland, the injury slowed Bradley and he moved into defense.

Bradley signed with Bradford Park Avenue in 1955 then in 1957, he moved to Carlisle United where he eventually played 130 games, scoring 3 goals.

Bradley spent five seasons in Canada playing in the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League.

In 1962, he helped Toronto Roma win the league title.

After the conclusion of the 1962 ECPSL season he played in the National Soccer League with Toronto Ukrainia.

While playing in the summer in Canada in 1963 and 1964, Bradley would then move south during the fall and winter to play and coach the New York Ukrainians of the German American Soccer League (GASL) and won the 1964-1965 US Open Cup.

Bradley gained his start in coaching with the New York Ukrainians of the German-American Soccer League in 1963.

After three seasons with Roma, he then moved to Toronto City for the 1965 season.

In 1965, he moved to the New York Americans, a GASL team, which competed in the International Soccer League.

In 1966, he played for Toronto Inter Roma.

In 1967, two new national soccer leagues, the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the United Soccer Association (USA) formed in the United States.

Bradley signed with the New York Generals of the NPSL.

The two leagues merged at the end of the season to form the North American Soccer League (NASL).

Bradley remained with the Generals as they entered the NASL, serving as both player and assistant coach during the 1968 season.

He later served as an assistant coach with the New York Generals of the North American Soccer League in 1968.

When the Generals folded, Bradley coached the boys soccer team of Manhattan's St. Bernard's School..

His team went undefeated until the final game, which it lost, (1 - 0), to arch-rival, St. David's School.

The Generals folded at the end of the season and Bradley moved to the Baltimore Bays for the 1969 NASL season.

The Bays folded at the end of the 1969 season and Bradley was not associated with any NASL team for the 1970 season.

In 1971, he became a player and head coach for the New York Cosmos.

In addition to coaching the Cosmos, he has coached the U.S. national team and at the collegiate and high school levels.

He returned to the NASL in 1971 when the expansion New York Cosmos signed Bradley as both its first coach and first player.

In 1971, the New York Cosmos hired Bradley as the team's first coach.

While he took the Cosmos to the 1972 NASL championship, he had two losing seasons in 1974 and 1975 and was fired at the end of the season and replaced by Ken Furphy.

Bradley also earned one cap with the U.S. national team in 1973.

He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Bradley grew up in Sunderland, England where he turned professional with the local Sunderland club at age sixteen.

However, his career nearly ended just as it was beginning.

During a training session, he shattered his right kneecap kicking a ball and it took over two years before he was fit to play again.

Bradley earned one cap with the U.S. national team in a 2–0 loss to Israel on 15 November 1973.

At the time, he was serving as the national team coach and ironically, he did not gain his U.S. citizenship until 1974.

He both played and coached the Cosmos through the end of the 1975 season when he was fired after a 10–12 season and replaced by Ken Furphy.

Having only played in one game in 1975, Bradley retired from playing professionally.

In 1976, the Cosmos fired Furphy after the team began the season 8-6 briefly.

Bradley lasted until 7 July 1977 when the team moved him to the front office as Vice President of Player personnel during the season and replaced him as coach with Eddie Firmani.