RIP Gordon Jago MBE

Former Charlton defender and my great uncle has passed away aged 92

My great uncle, Gordon Jago MBE, passed away overnight. For the duration of my life he lived in the USA, so our meetings were few and far between, but I admired him immensely. Not only because it sounded quite cool to say “my great uncle played for Charlton and has an MBE”, but because he achieved so much in his life.

It is a great regret that our meetings could not have been more frequent. Something I’ve always felt, I’ve always wanted to spend more time talking to him, but something I feel particularly strongly today. I know that my dad grew up in awe of him, and I’m envious he was able to have that time with him.

I wanted to share the piece below that I wrote for Valley Review in March 2022, which highlights the incredible life he led.

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An Interview with Gordon Jago MBE (Valley Review, Charlton Athletic V Sunderland, 05/03/2022)

“You had Dallas boys, Israeli boys, and Palestinian boys in the same house. Only one of the Palestinians spoke English, but these kids just had a ball. They blended well, they enjoyed it, and it was a wonderful week.”

Gordon Jago represented Charlton more than 150 times between 1955 and 1962 as a centre-half, he challenged for the First Division title as manager of Queens Park Rangers, and led Millwall to promotion from the third tier. An undoubtedly excellent career in English football.

It is through his work in the USA, however, that Jago has the honour of being one of a handful of former Addicks who can call himself an MBE. The 89-year-old moved to America in the late 1970s, contributing heavily to the growth of both outdoor and indoor soccer in the States, earning iconic status during two highly successful spells as a coach of the Dallas Sidekicks indoor soccer team. But the royal honour would come for an extreme dedication to his work in what should have been a period post-retirement.

The Dallas Cup is an elite global youth tournament, attracting over 200 teams from U12 to U19 level. In its past, Michael Owen, David Beckham and Wayne Rooney have all played, with Liverpool, Manchester United and Everton among those who regularly send teams. For the tournament prior to the pandemic, 75 clubs form 40 different countries put forward teams for one or multiple age groups, with Bukayo Saka and Alphonso Davies among recent graduates.

The competition, however, was in a position where attracting the likes of Manchester United’s Beckham to compete against Real Madrid’s Raúl was proving challenging when Jago became Executive Director in 2002.

“I was just going to retire and go through life, but the Dallas Cup committee team came to me and said that their Executive Director had resigned and asked if I would like to go there,” explains Jago.

“I thought about it and said, ‘okay, but I don’t want to do 9-5 five days a week’, and they said, ‘oh no, don’t worry, you won’t’. And they were right, because I was doing 9-9 seven days a week! I really didn’t check it when I took the role. They were $100,000 in debt and they were having problems attracting top foreign teams, so it was quite a shock.”

Jago’s contact book, however, is something quite extraordinary. One that has grown to include representatives of nations and world leaders, in addition to those within football, since overseeing the Dallas Cup’s transformation into such an elite event. A few phone calls to friends back home got the ball rolling.

“I was able to call upon people like Bobby Robson while he was with Newcastle and got him to send his U18s, and he then got in touch with Porto who sent their U18s. I then called Wilf McGuiness, who I knew very well, and Sir Alex Ferguson let him send an U12 team from Manchester United. So everybody wants to be in the U12 group because they want to play Manchester United. So, all of a sudden, it took off.”

The pandemic has created challenges, with the 2021 edition being contested by American sides only. But Jago – still contributing to the competition’s organisation despite having officially retired for a second time in 2012 – is battling the logistical issues to return the Dallas Cup to a more global event in 2022. Representatives from El Salvador, the Bahamas, and Germany had been spoken to in the morning before taking the time to speak to Valley Review.

Attracting the most talented young footballers on the planet to play in a competition in Dallas is an achievement in itself, even more so in challenging times while at the age of 89, but bringing together those whose rivalries extend well beyond the pitch is unquestionably the biggest success of Jago’s time overseeing the competition.

In 2005, Jago was able to bring together an U12 team from Israel and an U12 team from Palestine to put aside their differences and contest a game of football.

“The Israeli Prime Minister at the time, Shimon Peres, was on a BBC Panorama interview and I was sent all the words from it,” explains Jago.

“He said that the only way he’s going to bring the Israelis and the Palestinians together was through education and sport, and he’d opened four schools in Israel and brought in a mixture to do that.

“They had an U12 team. I immediately called over, and eventually made contact with Shimon Peres’ office, and invited them to come across and play in the tournament. It was listed as the Peace Team. It was of tremendous interest. We had worldwide publicity, and that led to the Queen giving me an MBE which I was very fortunate to receive.”

I am very proud to think that it was recognised and to have the opportunity to meet the Queen and to receive the MBE was some day that I’ll never forget”

That is not to say his career in England, and his playing career with Charlton, is merely a footnote in his life. He recalls his spell in charge of QPR, in which the R’s were just a point away from being the 1975/76 First Division Champions, as the most enjoyable of his life, and he remains as fond of the memories created during his time wearing a Charlton shirt as ever. Although his route to wearing a Charlton shirt, and stepping out onto The Valley’s turf, for the first time wasn’t the smoothest.

“I had a very good schoolboy career, which culminated in me captaining England at youth level, but my father was always insistent that I went to college and got a trade because if you got an injury or you didn’t make the grade, you had something to fall back on,” explains Jago.

“Charlton signed me as a semi-professional, but I was then conscripted into the army for two years at 18. I didn’t go full-time until I was 20, having served the years in the military and playing reserves at the weekend while stationed at Portsmouth, but there were eight centre-halves on the books at Charlton, 52 pros! That delayed my entry.”

He made his debut for a Charlton at The Valley in March 1955 at the age of 22. A time when the Addicks were in the top flight, and led by legendary manager Jimmy Seed. Arsenal were the opponents, a momentous occasion, but one that evoked more anxiety than excitement.

“I was very nervous, but the one consolation was that I didn’t know until the Friday night that I would be playing on the Saturday. John Hewie was injured, they moved Derek Ufton to the right side at half-back, and put me in next to him. Not too long to get up to speed, but I was very nervous on the day.

“It was a massive game with Arsenal, with a massive crowd of 48,000 at The Valley. We drew 1-1 and fortunately I was able to play quite well and got selected for a second game. But I was, without a doubt, very nervous. After the game, I was physically sick with nervous tension that had been built during the game. But a great occasion to make your debut against such a strong team and in front of so many people.”

Jago would eventually become a regular, battling in a man-to-man marking system against some of the greats of the English game each week. One of those greats is featured in a rare photo, as the defender challenges Brian Clough for the ball. An image that reflects the battles Jago was drawn into, and the conditions he was forced to play in at the time, but conditions that didn’t necessarily suit a style of play that might well have been more appreciated in modern times.

“That was one of the criticisms that Jimmy Seed had of me, that I wasn’t one of those tough-tackling, whack ‘em defenders that was thought necessary in those days,” remembers Jago.

“There was a great player playing for England, Neil Franklin at Stoke City, who was my idol. He was a cultured player, good on the ball, made good passes, and that’s how I wanted to be.

“I wasn’t the rough, tough hard tackling player necessarily. I looked to intercept a lot through speed and quickness and reaction, and then I liked to play the passes, it wasn’t just a simple kick the ball down the field and say get on with it. I like to think that I was a little bit more cultured than many defenders of that time. So that was my style, it served me well and I enjoyed playing it.”

Nonetheless, it’s not as if Jago didn’t enjoy a challenge. The debut against Arsenal always remained the highlight of his career while with the Addicks, but the opportunity to play against international players was something he relished. Those he faced regularly in Division One, but also when a chance game to play against a national side.

“We were invited to play the Italian national team when they were preparing for the 1958 World Cup. They were going to play Northern Ireland and they wanted some experience against English sides. So they invited two teams, us and Luton Town, to go to Milan and play the full Italian team. It was incredible.

“To play against people like Giampiero Boniperti, these great Italian names, it was incredible, and we played quite well and drew 1-1. It was a midweek trip for us to Italy and it was such a wonderful occasion to play against such a great team, as the Italians were at that time.”

The excellent managerial career in England followed, but it is something of an oddity that someone who spent their entire playing career in SE7 never returned as manager. Not least given that the club, throughout the decades, has often appointed bosses with a strong association to the Addicks. It was an opportunity he would have taken, but it was never formally offered.

“There was one time where it may have happened. I remember talking with Michael Gliksten later in the years and he said they were considering me.

“It was an incredible period. I resigned from QPR, and then at the same time Benny Fenton lost his position at Millwall and Dave Sexton lost his position at Chelsea. Benny Fenton went from Millwall to Charlton, I went from QPR to Millwall, and Dave Sexton went from Chelsea to QPR.

“Later on in life, I met Michael and he said they were considering me at that time, but it was never made known to me so I never had an official invite to go back to Charlton as a manager.”

Nonetheless, and despite spending several decades in the USA, his affiliation to the Addicks remains strong. Their result is the first he looks out for in English football each week, and he feels the disappointment of defeat and the joy of victory when he sees how Charlton have got on. He hopes that, in due course, he will make a journey to England and may well take in a game at The Valley.

That, of course, will be dependent on how much time he needs to dedicate to the Dallas Cup. It is quite incredible that a man of 89 is still able to put so much effort into his work. He should long be retired, but he keeps going.

“When I went to the hospital recently for a yearly check-up, they were a little bit shocked when they looked at age! I’m very fortunate, but I’ve been very disciplined in my life. I’m in exceptionally good health for my age. I’m still active, both physically and mentally, and I’m very fortunate that I enjoy what I do immensely.”

There is no doubt that Jago is a quite extraordinary figure.

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