Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TOSHACK ‘BOSS OF CENTURY’
THREE years, two months and one day was all it took for John Toshack to pull off his Mission Impossible.
The Wales striker’s Liverpool teammates thought him crazy to leave Anfield in 1978 and go to Swansea, struggling at the bottom of the Football League.
Pete Jones, who has written the soon-to-be-released documentary ‘Tosh’ said: “Tosh was only 29 but he knew he was coming to the end of his Liverpool career.
“Cardiff wanted him to be their player-coach, but Tosh wanted the top job. He wanted to be a manager.
“The Swansea chairman, Malcolm Struel, heard he was at a sports fair in Swansea, so he went along and offered him the player-manager job.”
Toshack accepted. Kop colleague Emlyn Hughes joined him to go and watch the Swans at Rochdale, who were propping up the Fourth Division.
Even the worst team in the country had too much for Swansea that night, Rochdale winning 2-1. Hughes then asked Tosh: “You’re leaving the European champions to come here?”
But Toshack was unveiled as Swansea manager and declared: “I’ll get us into the top flight in four years.”
He convinced Liverpool greats Ian Callaghan and Tommy Smith to join his Swans revolution and with them in the side, they did as Tosh predicted and won promotion to the top tier on May 2, 1981.
Bill Shankly, Toshack’s mentor at Anfield, described him as “the manager of the century” after this third promotion in four seasons.
They kicked off that historic
1981-82 campaign against Leeds, thumping them 5-1 in front of 23,500 delirious fans at the Vetch Field.
Swansea emerged as genuine title contenders, too, with Liverpool in the hunt. Then the Reds suffered the loss of Shankly – Toshack was a pall bearer at his funeral only days before Swansea and Liverpool fought out a 2-2 draw at Anfield in October.
Swansea topped the table at Christmas. Liverpool were struggling, so they contacted Tosh.
“They told him the Liverpool job was his if he wanted it,” said Jones. “Tosh stuck with Swansea, but I think he took his eye off the ball.”
Top of the table in April, Swansea lost five of their last six games and ended up finishing sixth – with Liverpool lifting the title after ending their season with a 16-match unbeaten run.