Peter Withe

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Peter Withe
Withe in 1982
Personal information
Date of birth (1951-08-30) 30 August 1951 (age 72)
Place of birth Liverpool, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1971 Southport 3 (0)
1971–1972 Barrow 1 (0)
1972–1973 Port Elizabeth City
1973 Arcadia Shepherds 26 (16)
1973–1975 Wolverhampton Wanderers 17 (3)
1975
Portland Timbers
22 (16)
1975–1976 Birmingham City 35 (9)
1976–1978 Nottingham Forest 75 (28)
1978–1980 Newcastle United 76 (25)
1980–1985 Aston Villa 182 (74)
1985–1989 Sheffield United 74 (18)
1987Birmingham City (loan) 8 (2)
1989–1990 Huddersfield Town 38 (1)
1991 Aston Villa 0 (0)
Total 539 (177)
International career
1981–1984 England 11 (1)
Managerial career
1991–1992 Wimbledon
1998–2003 Thailand
2004–2007 Indonesia
2012 Stockport Sports
2013–2014 PTT Rayong
2014–2016 Nakhon Pathom United
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Thailand (as manager)
AFF Championship
Winner 2000
Winner 2002
Representing  Indonesia (as manager)
Runner-up 2004
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Peter Withe (/ˈwɪð/; born 30 August 1951) is an English former football manager and striker who played between 1971 and 1990. At Nottingham Forest he won the Anglo-Scottish Cup and Second Division promotion in 1976–77, First Division and the Football League Cup in 1977–78, and the 1978 FA Charity Shield. After a spell at Newcastle it was back to more success at Aston Villa with whom he won the First Division 1980–81, going on to score the only goal in the 1982 European Cup final and also win the 1982 European Super Cup. He played for England 11 times, scoring once, and was a squad member at the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

After his playing career he worked as a manager, predominantly in Southeast Asia.

Playing career

Style of play

Withe was a big, tall, strong, powerful and imposing centre-forward. Dangerous in the air, his ability to shield the ball was also an asset to teammates.[2][3][4][5] His biggest successes were when paired with a sharp, quick strike partner.[6][7][8]

Club career

Early career

He began his career at Southport but left in 1971 after a handful of appearances. Late that year he made an appearance for the reserve team of Preston North End[9] but soon moved on to Barrow for whom he made one appearance (against his former club Southport on 1 January 1972).[10] After this he played in South Africa.

Withe played for

Wolverhampton Wanderers in two seasons from 1973. In 17 league games he scored three goals.[11]

During the summer of 1975, Withe spent one season in the United States as a member of the expansion

Portland Timbers of the North American Soccer League (NASL).[12] He scored 17 goals and added 7 assists in 22 games, leading the Timbers to first place in their division, and tied for the best record in the league at 16–6. Withe's goals that summer made him a Timbers fan favourite, who nicknamed him "The Mad Header" and "The Wizard of Nod".[13] In August the Timbers played two home play-off games in front of more than 30,000 fans each, numbers unheard of for US soccer at the time. They advanced to Soccer Bowl '75, the League Championship final, in San Jose, California on 24 August, where they lost to the Tampa Bay Rowdies 2–0.[14][self-published source?
]

Withe returned to the West Midlands to join

Birmingham City
in 1975. He scored nine goals in 35 league games in just over a season before departing early in the 1976/77 season.

Nottingham Forest

Ayr United. Tony Woodcock was recalled to the first team, bringing speed and anticipation to the front two to complement Withe's height, strength and power.[6] Withe and Woodcock both scored at Ayr. Withe ended the season as the club top scorer with 19 goals and Woodcock second with 17 and Forest's Player of the Year despite his November seasonal debut. Forest's first trophy of the Clough and Taylor regime was in December that season beating Orient over two legs in the Anglo-Scottish Cup final. Withe played in the 1–1 first leg away draw on 13 December 1976 but then spent two weeks out the side missing the 4–0 second leg win. Forest won promotion at the end of the season to the top tier from finishing third in Division Two.[17][18][16]

Withe and Woodcock won the

European Cup with Forest in this season and the following one.[20]

Newcastle United

Withe joined

Luton Town[5] In just under two seasons he scored 25 goals in 76 league games.[11]

Aston Villa

Aston Villa won the Football League title. Withe and Spurs' Mark Falco both scored twice sharing the 1981 FA Charity Shield from a 2–2 draw.[23]

Withe scored the only goal in the

Bayern Munich.[14] The season after Withe played in the 1982 European Super Cup 3–1 aggregate win against FC Barcelona
.

He scored 90 goals in over 200 games for Villa.[22] After five years he eventually moved on in what he later described as "the biggest wrench of my career."

Later career

He joined

Huddersfield Town between 1988 and 1990.[11]

International

His England debut was in a 1–0 home friendly defeat by Brazil on 12 May 1981. His first four England caps were all without victory with a draw with Wales and defeats by Scotland and Norway.[24] Capped by England 11 times, Withe scored once, and was the first Aston Villa player to be selected in an England World Cup Finals squad (in España 82). His goal was against Hungary on 27 April 1983 in his 7th cap. His last cap was on 14 November 1984 when Turkey were beaten 8–0. Withe ended his international career with 5 wins, 3 draws and 3 defeats.[24]

Managerial career

Withe returned to Aston Villa in a coaching capacity in January 1991. During this time, he also made one playing appearance for Villa's reserve team.[25]

Withe had a brief spell as manager of Wimbledon, being brought in from the position of reserve team coach at Aston Villa in October 1991 following Ray Harford's resignation. Withe's time in charge was not at all successful, winning only one game out of thirteen in the league,[26] and after many players expressed their dislike of his methods, he was dismissed after just 105 days at the helm and replaced by the club's youth team coach Joe Kinnear.[27]

Withe went into

ASEAN Football Championship, the tournament which he previously won with Thailand in 2000 and 2002, then finished as the runner-up with Indonesia in 2004. He was given a brief touchline ban as manager of Thailand for wearing shorts during an international match against the United Arab Emirates
. The head of the Thai Football Association said he should be wearing a suit.

He managed English non-league club Stockport Sports from April to November 2012.[28][29]

Family

His brother, Chris, played for Bradford City. Withe's son, Jason, also became a footballer, coach and manager.[30]

Honours

As a player

Portland Timbers

  • North American Soccer League: 1975

Nottingham Forest

Aston Villa

Individual

As a manager

Thailand

  • 2002
  • 1999

Indonesia

  • 2004

References

  1. .
  2. ^ ""The Peter Withe Autobiography – All for the Love of the Game" goodyearpublications.com". Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Peter Withe" The Observer, 6 February 2005
  4. ^ ""Blue-eyed boys – Peter Withe" bcfc.com". Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Player Details Peter Withe" toon1892
  6. ^ a b "Arsenal's original 'Fox-in-the-box" – Highbury Hero Tony Woodcock"
  7. ^ a b "Gary Shaw: A true Aston Villa legend" Express and Star, 27 February 2017
  8. ^ a b "We are the Champions: 1980-81- Aston Villa" gameofthepeople.com 25 November 2016
  9. ^ Preston North End v Bristol City football programme, 27 December 1971, p. 12 – this confirms Withe had appeared for the reserves
  10. ^ Rothmans Football Yearbook 1972–1973 (published 1972), p. 87, Queen Anne Press
  11. ^ a b c d Peter Withe on Neil Brown's player website
  12. ]
  13. ]
  14. ^ ]
  15. ^ dcfc.co.uk "Derby County Club History"
  16. ^ a b nffc.co.uk "History of NFFC – Nottingham Forest"
  17. ^ a b "The City Ground – Peter Withe"
  18. ^ "The City Ground – Tony Woodcock"
  19. ^ "SEASON: 1978–79" The City Ground
  20. ^ "GARRY BIRTLES"
  21. ]
  22. ^ a b "Peter Withe" Aston Villa Football Club
  23. ^ footballsite.co.uk 1981–82 Charity Shield
  24. ^ a b "Peter Withe" Sporting Heroes
  25. ^ "Aston Villa Player Database".
  26. .
  27. ^ Culley, Jon (20 January 1977). "Football: ...Old boys...". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  28. ^ "Peter Withe appointed Woodley boss". NonLeagueDaily.com. 25 April 2012. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  29. ^ "Club Statement". Stockport Sports F.C. 19 November 2012. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  30. ^ Thompson, Steve (18 March 2012). "Son of a gun, Jason Withe: Title-winning coach eyes 'unfinished business'". Goal. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  31. ^ Rory Mitchinson (16 May 2022). "Joelinton scoops Newcastle United Player of the Year award". Newcastle United F.C. Retrieved 19 October 2023.

External links