Jozef Venglos, a former Australia national coach who was the first manager born outside Britain and Ireland to take charge of a top-tier club in England, has died. He was 84.
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Slovakia's soccer association said Venglos died on Tuesday surrounded by his family. No details about the cause of death were given.
The association described him as "the greatest personality of Slovak soccer."
Venglos was appointed as Australia's second-ever manager in 1967 but relinquished the role in the same year after three losses to Scotland.
Nevertheless, Venglos was a respected, experienced coach when he arrived in Birmingham in 1990 to take charge of Aston Villa in the first division for what was the toughest job of his illustrious career.
"You have to have a joy from football, even as manager," Venglos told The Associated Press in a 2016 interview at his house in the Slovak capital of Bratislava.
"There's a specific feature of English football, that it's inspirational in all aspects: for the managers, players and of course fans."
Venglos, who was not a household name in Britain when he arrived, became the "First One".
When Venglos was introduced as the Villa manager, the media at the news conference remained silent when they were asked: "Hands up those of you who know this man."
Before his job at Villa, Venglos' biggest successes came in international football.
He was an assistant coach to Vaclav Jezek when Czechoslovakia won the European Championship in 1976.
Four years later, he was in sole charge as he led his national team to third place at Euro 1980.
At the 1990 World Cup, he led the team to the quarter-finals.
After his spell in England, Venglos moved to Fenerbahce in Turkey and later to Celtic in Scotland.
The coach with a degree in physical education and known as Dr Jo - or the Doctor - also led the national teams of Malaysia, Oman and Slovakia.
Australian Associated Press
