Freddie Goodwin (born 28 June 1933 in
Heywood,
Lancashire,
England) is a former
English professional
football player and manager.
Career
A
half back, Goodwin was signed as a trainee from Cheshire Schoolboys by
Manchester United on 1 October 1953 as one of the
Busby Babes. He made his senior debut for the club on 20 November 1954 against
Arsenal. He helped the club win the 1956 and 1957 league championships, and was a member of the United team that made a comeback from the
Munich air disaster that claimed the lives of eight players and ended the careers of two others, to reach the
1958 FA Cup Final, losing 2–0 to
Bolton. He was not on the plane to Munich, having not been selected in the squad for the quarter-final second leg tie with
Red Star Belgrade of
Yugoslavia.
In his United career, he scored eight goals in 107 appearances. He was signed by
Leeds United on 16 March 1960 for £10,000. In the
1963–64 season, a collision with former Leeds team-mate
John Charles in an FA Cup tie against
Cardiff City caused him to suffer a triple fracture of his leg, eventually resulting in his retirement from playing on 1 December 1964. He scored two goals in 120 appearances for Leeds.
Goodwin went on to become a player-manager at
Scunthorpe United, although he did not play many games due to his injury, making six appearances and scoring one goal for the club. He left Scunthorpe United on 1 June 1966 and then became a manager for the
New York Generals and
Brighton and Hove Albion, before becoming manager of
First Division club
Birmingham City. It was at Birmingham where he introduced the young
Trevor Francis into league football. At Birmingham, he was also known for introducing yoga, psychological testing and other new training techniques.
From 1976 to early 1981, he was the first coach of the
Minnesota Kicks of the
North American Soccer League. Goodwin and wife Sylvia retired to the Pacific Northwest in the early 1990s.
References