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 Len
Oliver found success early as a soccer
player. He won National Junior Titles with the Lighthouse Boys
Club (1947-48) and a Philadelphia Amateur League title with the
Kensington Blue Bells, and citywide high school titles with
Northeast High School.
While in college, Oliver won two NCAA
titles in 1951 and 1953 with Temple University, and captained
Temple in its 1952 Soccer Bowl victory over USFA. As a member of
the military, Oliver acted as a "soccer ambassador" or sorts,
making All-Star teams in San Francisco and Southern Germany, and
played with CISM in Portugal, Belgium, and Germany (1958-59).
His history with the National Team is one of fortitude. At 17,
he was the youngest player ever in the Olympic tryouts in 1952,
but he broke his leg in an ASL pro game and missed the 1956
games. Then, he caught mononucleosis before the 1959 Pan
American Games. However, he finally made the 1963 U.S. Pan
American Team and played in Brazil, then made the 1964 U.S.
Olympic Team that went to Mexico. Returning to soccer through
coaching in the 1980s, Oliver attained his USSF’A’ Coaching
License and USSF Referee Certification, and became the Director
of Coaching for D.C. Stoddert Soccer with 5,200 players. He won
the NSCAA "Youth Long-Term Achievement Award" in 2000. He
continues to coach, train coaches, write, and lecture about the
game. Oliver now serves as a member on the National Soccer Hall
of Fame Board.
You were a
three-time collegiate All-American. Can you talk about the
set-up of college soccer back in the early 1950’s? Were the
rules different, and if so, how?
 Well, for one, they used a
kick-in instead of a throw-in, which was like giving a team a
free kick every time there was a throw-in. They had a
semi-circle instead of a penalty box. Also, they did an
experiment with two referees that is still is around today,
going to the two-ref system so they wouldn’t have to run as
much. The finesse wasn’t as good back then; we had a lot of
ex-football players. The finesse came from players who grew up
with the game, had soccer-playing fathers and had played in club
soccer in urban areas. Soccer back then was focused in urban
ethnic areas, New England prep schools, and colleges. There was
no NCAA championship, just a designation as top team. Temple was
invited to the Soccer Bowl in January 1952 in San Francisco, and
we were national champions. It was a little more haphazard than
today. Temple was an urban institution that gave scholarships.
There were only 12 games, now 25 games. We were a recognized
varsity team. We competed with all the other schools on the East
Coast. Most of the urban universities had soccer teams, staffed
by kids from urban ethnic areas. Occasionally, you took a player
from the basketball team for your goalkeeper. We once had a
gymnast on the team, and a track guy. We knew he could run, at
least.
Because of your
military career, you were able to play for teams across the
country and even across the world. Can you talk about some of
those experiences?
I was drafted, like we all were.
The recruiting sergeant, to get me in for three years instead of
two, said he’d send me anywhere I wanted to play pro soccer. I
played half a season in Ludlow, Massachusetts, in the old
American Soccer League. A funny story from that time; I was
stationed in Lynn, Massachusetts, and I took the train to play
in Ludlow. Now, this area is a hotbed of Portuguese players. I
was a left halfback. I was under the stands, ready to go on the
field, and I heard “Leonardo Olivier.” But this was me, the
announcer giving my name a Portuguese twist. The announcer came
to me at
 halftime and said, If they think your name is Leonardo
Olivier, they’ll accept you. Then, a guy came up to me after the
game and said, I know you, you’re Len Oliver. But we laughed
about it. So, then, I wound up in language school in Monterrey,
California, where I learned Romanian. Every weekend, I played in
San Francisco, for the Mercury. It was a Russian team; they gave
me 15 bucks a game. This was the ethnic league in San Fran, in
1956 and 1957. It was very good soccer. We played in Balboa
stadium at 8 AM, at 9 the Italians would come in, and at 10, the
Greeks. I played against Glasgow Celtic as a part of the
all-star team. What a wonderful experience that was. There were
10,000 people in the stadium. They had two guys who were
tough—Bobby Collins and Bobby Evans. Collins says to Evans,
after halftime, ‘Should we turn it up, laddie?” and then they
scored four times in 10 minutes. But they didn’t want to destroy
the hometown team. Then, I was assigned to a small town in
southern Germany, in the Bavarian Alps. I arrived in my uniform
to the local soccer game. The team played all over Bavaria. It
was top amateur soccer; I played for 2 ½ years, a wonderful
cultural experience. They accepted me, wanted me to marry their
daughters. I could hold my own playing. When I make trips there
now, they organize an old timers game just for me, it’s
wonderful. When I made the Hall of Fame, one teammate took it
upon himself to write a wonderful letter to the HOF committee,
calling me the US’s best soccer ambassador. So few Americans
played soccer at that time. I was one of the first, and I
learned the language, got into the culture. I still have fond
memories of that place. Then, I came out of the army and joined
the pros.
Can you now
discuss your National Team experience?
The first time I made the team, I
was young. Then, I broke a leg and missed the ’56 Olympics.
Then, I caught mono in Germany, while playing with the all-star
team. I would have played with George Brown, actually. I had two
choices: I could quit and say that my dream of making the
Olympics was over, or I could keep playing. I came to DC, worked
for the CIA, kept playing, and made the team in ‘63. In ‘64 we
went to Mexico for regional qualifiers for the Olympics. There’s
a photo of that team in the Hall because four players from the
team are also in the Hall.
You have also
spent much time coaching soccer in your day. Can you talk about
the transition from playing to coaching, and also discuss your
coaching influences?
I got into coaching because of my
daughters. They were seven and they wanted to play. One turned
out to be a fine player. Both are good kids, we’re close still.
I got back into coaching, and started giving clinics after I got
my A and my B license. Since 1989, I’ve trained 3,100 coaches
from 55 countries. I have the names of every person I’ve ever
taught on file. When I’m 90 or 95 I’ll send them a postcard.
Back in the 40’s and 50’s, we just had people putting us on the
field. They weren’t what you’d call coaches. They kind of knew
the game intuitively, but there was no terminology. Now we have
the terminology, so this is how we teach the technical and
practical side of the game. I feel an obligation to encourage
more coaches to think more deeply about the game. What makes it
worthwhile is when someone comes up to me and says they see the
game differently. It’s not made up of random kicks, it’s looking
at all of the different techniques, how they dribble and shoot,
the tactical side. It’s how the players work together. By
training coaches, I’m giving back to the game, and it keeps me
young, as I’m out there running. It’s a lot of fun. I’m a state
staff coach, and I’ll occasionally do a national course. I
direct coaching for our league as well, with 5,000 kids. I run
training courses, clinics, and I’m always communicating the
game. Last night, I was teaching 15-year old girls to do bicycle
kicks. I’m on the ground, 70 years old, and I’m teaching 15-
year old girls how to do bicycle kicks. We have all two books we
could have written about our lives. One: the life we thought
we’d lead. Two: the life that we did lead.
- September 2004 -
Where
Are They Now
Jill Beauchesne of the the U.S.
National Soccer Team Player Association and the on-line journal
Round Not Oval reports her conversation with Hall of Famers in
our newest feature.
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