Jozef Vengloš

Jozef Vengloš

Personal information
Date of birth	(1936-02-18)18 February 1936
Place of birth	Ružomberok, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia)
Date of death	26 January 2021(2021-01-26) (aged 84)
Place of death	Bratislava, Slovakia
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1954–1966	Slovan Bratislava
International career
	Czechoslovakia B
Managerial career
1966	Sydney FC Prague
1966–1967	New South Wales
1967	Australia
1969–1971	VSS Košice
1970–1972	Czechoslovakia U23
1973–1976	Slovan Bratislava
1973–1978	Czechoslovakia (assistant)
1978–1982	Czechoslovakia
1983–1984	Sporting CP
1985–1987	Kuala Lumpur FA
1986–1987	Malaysia
1988–1990	Czechoslovakia
1990–1991	Aston Villa
1991–1993	Fenerbahçe
1993–1995	Slovakia
1996–1997	Oman
1998–1999	Celtic
2002	JEF United Ichihara
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jozef Vengloš (18 February 1936 – 26 January 2021^[1]) was a Slovak professional football player and manager. He held a doctorate in Physical Education and also specialised in Psychology. He was selected by FIFA on various occasions to lecture at the FIFA academies throughout the world.

Playing career

Born in Ružomberok, Czechoslovakia (now in Slovakia), Vengloš played as a midfielder for Slovan Bratislava 1954–1966, and later captained the team, and also played for Czechoslovakia at the B level. After his playing career was prematurely ended by hepatitis, he began his managerial career in Australia, first in club football, before going on to manage the national team.^[2] He then returned to Czechoslovakia and coached at club and Under-23 national level.^[3]

Coaching career

In 1973, Vengloš was appointed as manager of Slovan Bratislava. During his three years in charge, he twice won the championship. He was also assistant manager of Czechoslovakia from 1973–1978. As assistant to Václav Ježek, he helped guide the team to victory in the Euro 1976, beating the Netherlands in the semi-finals and West Germany in the Final.

As manager of Czechoslovakia from 1978 to 1982, Vengloš led his side to 3rd place in the 1980 European Championship. He also led them to the 1982 World Cup Finals, where they went out in the first round. He then coached Sporting Lisbon from 1983 to 1984, before coaching in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur FA & Malaysia). In 1988, he was re-appointed to manage Czechoslovakia and took them to the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup.

Following the 1990 World Cup, he took over at Aston Villa, becoming the first manager born outside Britain or Ireland to take charge of a top division club in England.^[4] He left after one season after they finished just two places above the First Division relegation zone. He then moved to the Turkish league, where he managed Fenerbahçe from 1991 to 1993. He was the first manager of the Slovakia national team from 1993 to 1995, before managing Oman 1996–1997.

Vengloš was appointed as Head Coach of Celtic on 17 July 1998 following a prolonged search. Initial reaction from supporters was of anger, hundreds congregating outside the stadium and citing his doctorate by chanting "Dr Who?"^[5]

Season 1998–99 saw his Celtic team in some excellent form, but they failed to qualify for the Champions League. At the end of the season, Vengloš left to take up a new position as a European technical adviser and as a scout for Celtic. He is most credited with signing fans' idol Ľubomír Moravčík during his season as manager. Other successful signings include club legend Johan Mjällby and while not winning a trophy, he is still looked upon fondly by fans for bringing such players to the club. The stand-out of his reign came as his Celtic side inflicted a punishing 5–1 defeat on arch-rivals Rangers in the first half of the season. In the new year of 1999, he also took Celtic to Ibrox where they held their Old Firm rivals to a 2–2 draw on their own soil.^[6]

He later managed Japanese side JEF United Ichihara (now JEF United Chiba) briefly in 2002.

Other roles

Venglos also served as president of the European Coaches Union,^[7] chairman of the UEFA Commission for Technical Progress, a technical adviser to FIFA, a member of the SFZ executive committee, and an adviser to the President of the Slovak Republic and the Minister of Education of the Slovak Republic.^[8]

He also ran for president of the Slovak Olympic Committee (SOV) in 1999, but lost out to František Chmelár.^[8]

Honours

Player

Slovan Bratislava

• Czechoslovak First League (1): 1955^[9]
• Czechoslovak Cup (2): 1961–62, 1962–63^[9]

Assistant

Czechoslovakia

• UEFA European Championship (1): 1976^[10]

Manager

Sydney FC Prague

• Ampol Cup: 1969^[11]

Czechoslovakia U23

• UEFA U-23 Championship (1): 1972^[12]

Slovan Bratislava

• Czechoslovak First League (2): 1973–74, 1974–75^[10]
• Czechoslovak Cup (1): 1973–74
• Slovak Cup (2): 1973–74, 1975–76

Czechoslovakia

• UEFA European Championship bronze medal: 1980^[10]
• 1990 FIFA World Cup: quarter-final

Kuala Lumpur City

• Malaysian First Division (1): 1986^[13]
• Malaysia Cup runner-up: 1985^[13]

Malaysia

• Merdeka Tournament: 1986^[14]

Fenerbache

• Chancellor Cup runner-up 1992

Celtic

• Scottish Cup runner-up: 1998–99^[15]

Individual

• Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee (SOSV)
  • Chairman's Fair Play award (1993)^[8]
  • Bronze Rings award (2001)^[8]
  • Silver Rings award (2009).^[8]
  • Honorary member of SOSV (2011)^[8]
• CIFP Honorary Diploma of the UNESCO (1993)^[8]
• Laureate Crystal Wing award (2001)^[8]
• UEFA Diamond Order of Merit (2007)^[16]
• FIFA Centennial Order of Merit (2014)^[16]
• Slovak Football Hall of Fame (2017)^[17]

Death

On 26 January 2021, Vengloš died at the age of 84.^[18][1]

Cultural references

Vengloš is mentioned in the song "This One's for Now" by the band Half Man Half Biscuit on their 2014 album Urge For Offal.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. "Zemřel slavný trenér Jozef Vengloš". www.sport.cz (in Czech). 26 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
2. Bell, Stephen; Zlotkowski, Andre (6 June 2008). "Scotland XI Tour of Asia and Oceania 1967". RSSSF. Retrieved 16 October 2013. Australia was coached by Joe Venglos
3. "VENGLOŠ: Úspech na ME 1976 mi otvoril cestu do sveta" (in Slovak). Webnoviny.sk. 1 April 2011.
4. "Sport: Football Celtic appoints new coach". BBC News. 17 July 1998. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
5. ";Celtic fans have been waiting for months for a new manager; They queued up outside Parkhead yesterday expecting a big name like Gullit or Vogts. Instead they got ...DR WHO". Daily Record. 18 July 1998.
6. "Top Ten Old Firm derbies". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014.
7. "Vale Dr Jozef Vengloš". Football Federation of Australia. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
8. "Zomrela jedna z najväčších osobností slovenského futbalu a čestný člen SOŠV Jozef Vengloš" (in Slovak). Slovakian Olympic Committee. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
9. "The 'Doctor' from Ruzomberok: Jozef Venglos' historic Aston Villa stint". FIFA. 13 July 2023. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
10. "Jozef Vengloš passed away". SK Slovan Bratislava. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
11. "1969 Victorian Ampol Cup Results". Oz Football. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
12. "Jozef Venglos, First Foreigner to Coach English Top Division Club, Dies at 84". News Agency for the Slovak Republic (in Slovak). 27 January 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
13. "Jozef Vengloš: The trailblazer who broke the mould in English football". New Straits Times. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
14. "Jozef Venglos - International Matches as Coach". rsssf.org. RSSSF. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
15. "Rangers take treble". BBC Sport. BBC. 29 May 1999. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
16. "Jozef Venglos látinn (1936-2021)". Soccer Coaches Association of Iceland (in Icelandic). Retrieved 12 February 2023.
17. "Slovak football's Hall of Fame". uefa.com. UEFA. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
18. "Former Villa & Celtic boss Venglos dies". BBC Sport.

External links

• Jozef Vengloš management career statistics at Soccerbase
• Jozef Vengloš manager profile at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)