Jack Reynolds (footballer born 1881)

Football manager infobox
playername = Jack Reynolds


fullname = John Reynolds
nickname =
height =
dateofbirth = birth date|1881|9|23|df=y
cityofbirth = Manchester
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath = death date and age|1962|11|8|1881|9|23|df=y
cityofdeath = Amsterdam
countryofdeath = The Netherlands
currentclub =
position = Winger
years = 1902
1903
1904-1905
1905-1906

clubs = Manchester City
Burton United
Grimsby Town
Sheffield Wednesday
Watford
New Brompton
Rochdale
caps(goals) = 00 (0)
32 (3)
29 (3)
02 (0)
youthyears =
youthclubs =
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears = 1912-1914
1915-1925
1919
1925-1928
1928-1940
1945-1947
managerclubs = St. Gallen
Ajax Amsterdam
Netherlands
Blauw Wit
Ajax Amsterdam
Ajax Amsterdam

John "Jack" Reynolds (23 September, 1881, in Manchester, England - 8 November, 1962) was an Englishman who was the manager of Ajax Amsterdam from 1915-1925, 1928-1940, and 1945-1947. He was one of the pioneers of the Total Football system of playing and is considered to be among the best managers the team has had. He was also somewhat famous as a manager in Switzerland with St. Gallen.

Playing career

Reynolds was not highly regarded as a player and played for several clubs without much success, the high point being a season in the Second Division with Grimsby Town in 1904-05.

F.C. St. Gallen

Reynolds started his career as a coach with St. Gallen in 1912, but after a two year stay he left to become coach of the German national football team. The outbreak of World War I prevented that, and he moved to the Netherlands instead.

Ajax Amsterdam

In 1915, Reynolds started his 27 year association with Ajax, during which he pioneered the Total Football system of playing and started the highly successful Ajax youth system. During his three spells with the club they won the Eredivisie (the Dutch top division) 8 times and the KNVB Cup (Dutch FA cup) once; Ajax had not won either prize before. After Reynolds retired in 1947, he lived in Amsterdam until his death in 1962. Three years later in 1965 a stand at the De Meer Stadion was named after him.

Netherlands national football team

In 1919, Reynolds became the first manager to coach the Netherlands since the suspension of international football due to World War I. He assumed the honours for the match against Sweden on June 9 1919. The Dutch won the match 3-1. After this match, the Royal Netherlands Football Association appointed Fred Warburton as the coach for the national team.

World War II

When the Nazis invaded The Netherlands in 1940, Reynolds was interned in Tost in Upper Silesia (now in Poland), along with other foreign nationals including P.G. Wodehouse.

Honours

Ajax Amsterdam

*sport honours|Eredivisie|8|1918, 1919, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1937, 1939, 1947
*sport honours|KNVB Cup|1|1917

References

*cite book | first=Simon | last=Kuper | title=Ajax, the Dutch, the War | id=ISBN 0-7528-4274-9 | year=2003 | publisher=Orion Books
*cite book | first=Douglas | last=Lamming | title=A Who's Who of Grimsby Town AFC 1890-1985 | id = ISBN 0-907033-34-2 | year =1985 | publisher = Hutton Press

External links

* [http://elbombin.stuarthomfray.co.uk/Jack-Reynolds/ El Bombín] - Jack Reynolds, The Founder Of The ‘Ajax-Style’
* [http://www.ajax-usa.com/history/ajax/the_jack_reynolds_era.html Ajax USA] - 1915 - 1949: The Jack Reynolds Era
* [http://www.rivals.net/default.asp?sid=909&p=2&stid=8340359 electronicfishcake.com] - The Jack Reynolds Story