With heavy hearts, the Tampa Bay Rowdies join the soccer community in mourning the recent passing of former Rowdies Head Coach Gordon Jago.
Having lived to 92 years old, Jago leaves a remarkable legacy in the sport here in America and his home country of England. He earned numerous honors during his lifetime, including Member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006. In 2013, he was also inducted in the National Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame.
Jago spent his entire professional playing career as a center back for Charlton Athletic, where he was teammates with original Rowdies Head Coach Eddie Firmani.
Following his eight-year playing career, Jago entered the coaching ranks with Eastbourne United in England before moving stateside to lead the Baltimore Bays for several seasons in the National Professional Soccer League and North American Soccer League. He even served briefly as head coach of the U.S. Men’s national team in 1969.
Jago returned to England to join Queens Park Rangers as an assistant, but he was named as caretaker manager midway through the 1970/71 season after the resignation of Les Allen. He earned the full time job by the end of that season and went on to help QPR earn promotion to the top flight in his third season.
The Englishman made his way back to the U.S. to take charge of the Rowdies in 1978 and quickly found success, leading the club to back-to-back appearances in the NASL Soccer Bowl Championship Final and an indoor soccer title in his first two years. In the club’s 50-year history, no coach has amassed as many wins as Jago did during his five-year tenure as head coach.
After departing the Rowdies, Jago coached indoor soccer with the Dallas Sidekicks in two separate stints, first from 1984-89 and then from 1991-97. He remained in Dallas after retiring from professional coaching and eventually became Executive Director of the Dallas Cup, helping to elevate the tournament into a showcase for elite youth teams from around the world. In 2012, the Dallas Cup renamed the U-19 age bracket of the tournament the Gordon Jago Super Group in his honor.
The Rowdies extend their condolences to all of Coach Jago’s loved ones at this time.
