[Tony Field passed away in Memphis, TN on Wednesday, 7 December 2026. This interview was originally published on nycosmos.com in 2014.]
Tony Field in
Conversation
Tony Field spent two
seasons with the New York Cosmos in 1976 and 1977, playing a crucial role on
the star-studded roster that enjoyed a storybook run to the NASL title during Pelé’s
final season. The 5’7” English forward
left New York a champion, joining the expansion Rogues for their three-year run
in Memphis, where he still lives. Field
recently caught up with Cosmos Club Historian Dr. David Kilpatrick to discuss
his career.
Could
you tell me a little about coming up from Halifax Town, making your way up to
Barrow, Southport and the Blades?
I was born in Halifax and
I went and signed on when I was 17 with Halifax Town but I signed on as a full
professional. At that time they had apprenticeships up until you’re 17, but I
was 17. I was a full-time professional when I signed. I stayed there a couple
of years and I suppose it didn’t work out as well as I thought it would.
Although I did score plenty of goals in the reserves and I did play a few games
with the first-team in the end. But anyway, I was released.
And then I went to
Barrow. The coach who signed me originally with Halifax Town, Don McEvoy, said
“Come to Barrow and we’ll give you a trial.” He said, “I’ve really got the team
fixed but we’ll see what we can do.” And I had preseason with them and this,
that and the other and they offered me a part-time contract. I was going to
work for Vickers-Armstrongs (they build submarines), as a draftsman, because
that’s what I was trained to do at school, before I turned pro. What happened
was the team was not doing very well, so I signed as a part-time professional
with them and I was supposed to start at Vickers-Armstrongs in about two weeks
after I signed and McEvoy said “You’re gonna be with the first team” but I
didn’t know I was gonna play.
We played at Southend
United and I started and I scored and we won, 3-1. It was funny because one of
their star players was the centre-forward, Eddie Firmani. Eddie Firmani was on
that team, so it’s funny how things work out. So I got my chance and I stayed
in the first team because I kept scoring and I did well and never looked back.
I was scoring goals.
McEvoy left Barrow and
went to Southport and after that I went to Southport. And I was playing in the
first-team and scoring a fair amount of goals and stuff and there was a lot of
scouts. At Southport, we used to play our home games on Friday night, and that
meant there were a lot of nearby clubs who would come and watch the games, and
there were lots of teams interested in me, lots of rumours and that sort of
thing. And Blackburn Rovers came in for
me and Ken Furphy was the manager of Blackburn Rovers there at the time.
Blackburn Rovers bought me from Southport.
And then I was with
Blackburn Rovers, playing really well, scoring a lot of goals. Same sort of
thing, lots of rumours of me being transferred to a First-Division team, but
then Ken Furphy left and went to Sheffield United. Not too long after,
Sheffield United bought me from Blackburn Rovers. And I went to play with
Sheffield United in what was the First-Division at the time, now it’s the
Premiership.
What
was the atmosphere like with the Blades?
I was there a couple of
years and then Ken Furphy left and went to the Cosmos.
And
he brought you along.
Yes. It all depends on
the managers. They want you or they don’t want you. The new manager who came to
Sheffield United, he didn’t like me – between you and me, okay. I got a call
from Ken Furphy and he told me that Gordon Jago called him up, and he wanted me
to go to Millwall. What happened was, he’d paid an awful lot of money for a
striker and he wasn’t scoring, so Jago wanted me to come down to Millwall on
loan. And I said, “I’m a proven goalscorer. I’m not coming down on loan.” He
was saying, “You can train at home and then you can come down.” And I said,
“That’s not going to work. They’re not asking all that much money, just pay it
and I’ll score you the goals.” But anyway, he wouldn’t, he said he couldn’t,
and I said, “Okay, I’ll just stay and wait for somebody else.”
So I went into training
one morning and he said, “Ken Furphy’s made an offer for you, and we’ve
accepted it, so it’s up to you.” Because at that time players could refuse to
go. They couldn’t just sell you. But I already knew a lot about what was going
on in the United States.
When I was at Southport I
was a member of a coaching group and lots of colleges and college coaches that came
over to England during the summers. They’d come with teams, we’d be coaching
the players and you’d have the college coach with you so they’d be picking up
tips about coaching. It was a new experience for them, as well as the players.
And there was several people you may have heard of – Timo Liekoski, Terry
Fisher and Al Miller – so I already knew about the NASL and what was going on,
so I thought, well, at some point, maybe later on that would be a good place to
go.
So when this opportunity
came up, when Ken Furphy said he had agreed terms with Sheffield United and
would I like to come over, I was more inclined to go because my thinking at the
time was that I believed soccer was going to be a big success in the United
States. Thing is, I was still relatively young because I was only 29 and I
hadn’t had any serious injuries, so I was really coming into my prime. I had
all the experience, I could play anywhere, and I could score goals.
But then this opportunity
came along where I could play with Pelé! Do you know what I mean? Pelé’s one of
the greatest players that’s ever played the game, and I’m going to be playing
on the same team with him, so I said, “That’s going to be great.” So I said,
“yeah.” And he brought several players over, did Ken Furphy, as well as me.
There was David Clements, Keith Eddy, Terry Garbett. And Charlie Aitken, who
used to play for Aston Villa. There were a few more English players, so that’s
how it came to be that I played with the Cosmos and played with Pelé.
So
what was the transition like? You’re with the Blades in the English
First-Division and suddenly you’re with the Cosmos, playing at Yankee Stadium
in the Bronx. How did it compare in terms of training grounds, stadia, the
atmosphere…? Was it a culture shock?
Well it was slightly
different. Playing in the First-Division, at the time in England, was a bit of
a big deal. At the same time, there were several teams in the NASL who
commanded good attendances. The only problem was that, in my opinion, the
stadiums were just too big. If you got say 15,000 playing in San Diego or
something like that – 80,000 seat stadiums – it’s just not the same. It kind of took away from the
atmosphere. But like in Ft. Lauderdale,
they were on the right track, because they had a stadium. And then it was great
when you went to play against Ft. Lauderdale because it was like playing in
England. I think that now the Cosmos…we did great because we developed a
fanbase. I always remember one game driving to Giants Stadium in East
Rutherford. This was like two or two-and-a-half hours before the game as I was
going to the stadium, and all the people, the signs said “If you do not have
tickets to this event, turn around now,” and I thought, “Oh my God, we sold out
– 77,000 people, we sold it out.” I
think it was against Ft. Lauderdale. 77,000 people, sold out, I thought, “Gosh,
it’s arrived, has soccer.”
Where
were you living in New York?
When I first came there
in lived on Long Island, in Babylon, because our training was at Hofstra, when
we were playing at Yankee Stadium. Bobby Smith was the reason I went to live in
Babylon. Because he had rented a place out there. When we were looking for
houses, places to live, I went with him one afternoon, and he showed me where
he was. There was a house just around the corner from where he was. One of his
mates from Trenton was with him. Several of the players came and lived in that
area. Charlie Mitchell, Terry Garbett, Brian Tinnion.
That’s
where a lot of the players live now.
Really? Oh, it was great. Babylon, Islip, the beaches
so close. And Babylon is lovely, a little fishing village, it’s lovely. We had
a great time.
And then we moved to
Giants Stadium and so I moved from Long Island and lived in Valley
Cottage. I liked Rockland County – all
the trees in the autumn up the Palisades Parkway. Oh goodness! That’s where I stayed until I went to
Memphis.
What
do you remember about any of the games at Yankee Stadium? You were involved in
Pelé’s famous bicycle kick goal that last game there against the Miami Toros.
There’s a funny story
about that because one of the players on the roster was Charlie Mitchell and
Charlie and I were roommates and good friends. I remember he took the corner
where Pelé did it, and he said, “Listen, I’m going to go down in history! I
took the corner and they’ll see me taking the corner.” When they show the goal all you see is
Charlie’s legs taking the corner, so he never got his fame! He was so miffed!
I had a great time at the
Cosmos. It was great. I think for most of the people that played, it was a
special time. Chinaglia came, then Carlos Alberto and Beckenbauer. It was just
great.
When
Chinaglia arrived in ’76, how did that affect you as a striker? How did that
affect your role in the side tactically.
It didn’t really affect
me because I was playing as a winger-forward, so it didn’t make any difference
to me if I was playing the ball in to Chinaglia or to Pelé. What was good about
it was that if they tried to mark Pelé and Chinaglia, tried to mark them out of
the game, then that left it open for me. Me or Stevie Hunt, because both of us
could take players on and both of us could score. I scored a lot of goals,
crucial goals that were game-winning goals for the Cosmos and it was because if
they were going to double-team Chinaglia or double-team Pelé, well, that made
it so that I could do my stuff and I could score. It was just that I was there to set them up.
I could score as well. I’m going to make sure that I set them up and they’re
going to be scoring but at the same time, I’m going to make sure that I’m a
threat, that I’m going to score as well.
Do
you have any goals you scored for the Cosmos that stand out as most memorable
to you?
There was a tough game in
Toronto where I scored the winner at the end. That was great to score that
goal. And also when there was a penalty shootout against Minnesota at Giants
Stadium. The shootout was different from penalty kicks. When it came to be my
turn I went through and I took it around the keeper he took me down and I got
the penalty. I scored the penalty and that won the game so I was happy about
that.
Having
been brought in by Ken Furphy, when Gordon Bradley returned as Head Coach, was
that an awkward transition for you?
Gordon had been there all
the time so it didn’t really make any difference, as it was. Everything was
set. Ken leaving…obviously, I’ll always be grateful to Ken Furphy because he
gave me the opportunity. But at the same time, as a professional, these things
happen all the time, so you kind of get used to it. I’d already made the
decision that I was here for the long haul, I wasn’t just going to be here for
a short time. My idea was that I was going to extend my playing career and then
get into coaching, because I thought the league was going to flourish, and I
thought there would be opportunities down the line. I’d already taken my
preliminary coaching badge in England, I’d already got that, so I was kind of
on my way already anyway. So when it got to that point when Gordon took back
over again, nothing really changed. And then Eddie Firmani…
What
was that like when he came to the club mid-season ‘77? Did he remember you from
playing against each other in England?
He probably didn’t, no.
Because, I mean, he was a big star. I was just somebody young coming up, but I
knew who he was! But then I said, “When you played for Southend United, I was
the one that beat you. We was second from the bottom and you were top of the
league or something like that. All I know is we beat you.” But I got along
alright with him. I got along with everybody.
What
was the turning point for the team, gelling in 1977, making that championship
run?
The players themselves
just got familiar with each other. We were all as one. At the beginning, it’s
very difficult to blend the English, the German, the Italian, the South
American, it’s very difficult to get it all to blend. It wasn’t as if all of a
sudden there was a brand new team there, there wasn’t. it was just that, I
said, “Hey, look, if we’re going to do anything, and do what we should do, we
all have to be on the same page, we all have to be for one another. And of
course, in New York, I don’t care which team it is in New York, you’re going to
have different fanbases. Some like soccer to be played this way, and some
others like it to be played another way. Even amongst the supporters now of the
Cosmos, you’re not going to please everybody with the way you play. That’s just
what it was at the time then as well. But the thing is, if everybody’s on the
same page, you can do a little bit of everything, as long as it works for the
team. And that’s what we did. And we started to gel. And that’s what it takes
to be a team.
Were
there any single leaders that emerged to help create that chemistry during the
course of that season?
Everybody has a say.
Everybody has input. Obviously, Chinaglia had an input. Pelé had an input.
Beckenbauer had an input. So did Carlos Alberto. And some of the English
players. Even I had an input. And that’s how you make it work. So yeah, lots of
people had a say in how it went and were part of it.
How
about the whole social scene that’s become so legendary – Studio 54 or the rock
stars and other celebrities being brought to the locker room by the Ertegün
brothers and all that?
It was great. My wife was
all made up because she got to meet Andy Warhol. He was at one party. It was
just great, the high life and all this and that. It was good to a certain
extent. But everything has to be taken in the right proportion. We had good
times but we also trained exceptionally hard as well. And that’s one of the
things about nowadays, they can’t be doing what we used to be doing because
it’s all different now. Everybody is kind of under wraps, it’s a totally
different way of doing things. That’s not to say they can’t go out and have a
good time. But they can’t do the wild shit stuff like we used to do.
I’d
love to hear stories about the wild stuff…
I’ll tell you when you’re
not going to say anything about them, when it won’t get into print!
That’s another thing,
these sports people can’t do anything nowadays because the next day it’s in the
papers. It’s kind of a shame but that’s the way it is now. It doesn’t matter
what field of entertainment, whether it is sport or music, there’s always
somebody there with a camera, they can get you anywhere, it is unbelievable.
What
do you remember about winning the championship in Portland against Seattle? Do
you remember that game well?
Yes. It was meant to be. Obviously,
they were in the game. It wasn’t like we outplayed them. It was a see-saw kind
of battle. One of the things ... I think he doesn’t get enough credit for it…
Shep Messing made one save that was absolutely unbelievable. All in know is he
just got it with his fingertip, and that was enough for it.
Was
that the play when Stevie Hunt was dribbling back in your box and lost the
ball, that finger-tip save on the shot by Dave Butler from six yards out?
Yes. I was right there,
and it was going in, but that one touch from Shep and it stayed out. And we
went on and thankfully we won.
Allowed
for the fairytale ending.
Yes, it was just great.
And
then the postseason Asia tour, China, Japan and India?
Everywhere we went,
everyone was nice and appreciative. It was just great, I really enjoyed it.
So
then Pelé’s farewell match was your last with the Cosmos.
I thought the whole thing
went well. More or less everybody got to play. It was just great. He did a lot
for the Cosmos and soccer in general in the States. A lot of people don’t
appreciate how much off the field work he had to put in. He did an awful lot
for soccer.
I
was a transplanted New Yorker living in Memphis when you joined the Rogues in
1978, so immediately you became my hero. Of course, you scored that very famous
goal at the Liberty Bowl to defeat the Cosmos 1-0. You must remember that game.
Yes. We had got off to a
terrible start but when the Cosmos came I said, “All we can do is do our best.”
The one thing we had in our favor was the field was so small. That kind of
evened things up a bit. It was good, I enjoyed it.
You
had just beaten the Dallas Tornado, with Kyle Rote Jr., the week before for the
Rogues’ first win, right? That was a
great game. The first professional game I ever saw. How did you find out you
would leave the Cosmos and head to Memphis?
I didn’t have to leave.
It was my decision to leave. Because when we came back, I knew they were going
to sign new players, and they were going to sign Dennis Tueart and I didn’t
come here to just sit on the bench. A lot of people they’re not bothered as
long as they’re on the team, then they’re prepared to just sit on the bench and
play when they can and they’re happy with that, but I wasn’t and I wasn’t going
to take the chance where I was just going to be sitting on the bench.
So I said, “I’d like to
leave, I want to go somewhere I’m going to play every game. I want to play. I’m
still in my prime. I didn’t come over here like a lot of the players to just
get my money and disappear. I want to stay here in the United States and live
here. And while I’m still in my prime, I want to play. I can contribute a lot
to the league.”
I had several teams I
could have gone to but I chose Memphis because Eddie McCreadie was coming and
so I said, “Well okay, then, I’ll go there to Memphis to join the brand new
franchise.”
Did
you know McCreadie when he was at Chelsea?
I knew of him. I met him
before, but only just playing against Chelsea when he was there.
So
how did the scene compare at Memphis to the Cosmos?
Totally different. We
didn’t have a training facility or anything when I first arrived here in
Memphis. We were training here, there and everywhere at all kinds of different
places. The fields we were playing on were worse than the fields in England.
And at that time, the English soccer fields were terrible compared to what they
are now, bumps, no grass. It was a laugh.
The
Rambling Rogues had quite the reputation for swashbuckling adventures. Was it
comparable to being with the Cosmos or was it a different social scene in
Memphis?
With the Cosmos, people
were so far apart from each other, so not the whole team could be doing it at
one time. They might have been doing it at different places. But here,
everybody could go together. We all used to go out together. We all used to go
out after the games. It was certainly a lot different than the Cosmos team.
In
1980 I moved back to New York, a few weeks before Avron Fogelman sold the
Rogues and they moved to Calgary. That seemed to me a real betrayal of the fanbase
after just three seasons, but you’ve stayed on in Memphis. Why didn’t you join
the Boomers and decide to stay in Memphis?
At that particular time,
I’d done a lot of coaching in the area, and I was in the final stages of
getting my green card.
You
coached me.
Well yes, I coached extensively
in and around Memphis. The main reason I wouldn’t go to Canada was I couldn’t
leave the country until it was finalized, until I got my green card, so I said
I wouldn’t go. Al Miller was coach up there, and I gold Al I wasn’t leaving the
States, I wasn’t going. I got a call from Dennis Viollet at the New England Tea
Men. They were going to be indoor, but the team was moving to Jacksonville from
New England. He talked to Calgary and they were going to release me, I don’t
know if they had to pay any money, I don’t remember the details, and he asked,
“Would you come join us?” and that meant I could stay in the States and that’s
what I did and played the indoor season in Jacksonville.
You
had a great indoor season the year prior with the Rogues.
We were very
successful. I was a coach as well. The
head coach, Noel Cantwell, had gone back home to England and Dennis was in
charge for the indoor season. He was letting me help coach. They way that we
played in Memphis, we knew how to play indoor. The problem in Memphis with the
team was that outdoor, several of the players couldn’t do the running, but
indoor, they could do it. Obviously, you come on and off, with the
substitutions you could do it. The players we had in Memphis were reasonably
good players, it’s just that some of them had lost their legs, they couldn’t do
the running that was required. But I went to the Tea Men and I enjoyed that so
much, because as a young boy, Dennis Viollet used to play with Busby’s Babes,
Manchester United, and for me to get to be with Dennis, ooof, it sends chills
down my spine. He was one of my heroes. I couldn’t believe that I was so lucky
to be involved with Dennis. And he was such a nice guy. He liked me as well. It
was like a dream come true to me.
Was
he the favorite manager you ever played for?
No, not about that, I
just mean on a personal level. For me to even be with him was just unbelievable
because he was one of my heroes.
When we won the NASL
championship [in 1977] I was with him in the hotel. He was with the Washington
Diplomats before he became the assistant coach at New England. But that night,
after we won the NASL championship, for whatever reason he came over and he was
at our table.
So
at the party in Portland after the Soccer Bowl, Dennis Viollet was there?
Yes, we had played
against the Diplomats and I met him. I don’t know how it happened. He came over
to our table and we had a great time, and I was telling him how he was my hero.
It was just great.
That
must have been some party. Do you remember the crowd at JFK when you flew back
to New York?
There were a lot of
people.
One of the things that
used to get me, the start that we had here at Memphis was terrible, but the
crowd that used to be at the airport to see us off and see us back. And we had not won a game! I couldn’t believe
it – 2,000 people waiting for us when we were 0-8. I remember [Rogues’ VP for
Public Relations] Rudi Shiffer, he said to me, “Lead them out,” and I said,
“Are you kidding? In England, if there were 500 people waiting and we’d just
lost, I’d be the first one killed.” But the Memphis Rogues fans were great.
They were absolutely out of this world. They didn’t care. They had a team. They
were great.
And
so you decided to stay there in Memphis?
The league started to
look like it was going to fold. I probably could have gone somewhere else to
play after I got my green card but the kids were in high school and we were
kind of settled and for me to then be separated from them, on the road, playing
wherever, I just said, “maybe it’s just time to hang it up and just retire.”
The way the NASL was at the time, there were the big boys and there were the
ones that were struggling. It was just getting worse, so I decided it was time
to forget about it and then I went out and worked for a living. But I had a
good run. Seventeen years as a pro.
So
do you ever get up to Cosmos Country?
No. Most of the people
that I was friends with up there have moved from New York. Everybody kind of
moved away. That was almost forty years ago.
We
still remember you here in Cosmos Country and appreciate so much you taking the
time to chat and recall those memories.
I saw the first game this
year against Tampa Bay when you won 3-0.
That
must have brought back some memories for you, seeing Cosmos v Rowdies.
Oh yeah, and there’s some
good players on the team now. I wish you all the luck. We had some fun. A lot
of good fun. I wish you all the best and
I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
