MLS Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Bob Lenarduzzi: A Canadian Soccer Story Set to Hit the Shelves of Lower Mainland Bookstores

Published on October 5, 2011 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Vancouver Whitecaps FC News Release


"So why the book' Good question.

Maybe because I will talk soccer with anyone, anywhere. Always have, always will, partially to promote the sport, partially because when two soccer fans get together the topic kicks in almost instantly. In the process, old memories bob to the surface: the fun times, the sad times, the laughter, the madcap, unbelievable North American Soccer League (NASL) days when the original Vancouver Whitecaps took the city by storm and by the heart."

Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Harbour Publishing are pleased to announce that Bob Lenarduzzi: A Canadian Soccer Story will soon be arriving at a bookstore near you. The book will be available in all major bookstores in the Lower Mainland, including: Black Bond Books, Book Warehouse, Coles, Chapters, Hager Books, Indigo, People's Co-op Bookstore, Smithbooks, UBC Bookstore and BC Ferries gift shops, as well as at additional bookstores outside the Lower Mainland.

Few Canadians love soccer as much or have done more for the sport than Bob Lenarduzzi. He's been a player, coach, general manager and is now president of the most ambitious project in BC soccer history. In Bob Lenarduzzi: A Canadian Soccer Story, co-authors Bob Lenarduzzi and veteran sports journalist Jim Taylor reflect on his lifelong passion.

"Jim has been a journalist since the beginning of my playing days and I've always greatly enjoyed his writing," said Lenarduzzi. "It was such a pleasure to sit down and chronicle my journey with him. My hope is that people will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed sharing it."

The book includes full details of Lenarduzzi's soccer career--from his beginnings playing pick-up games with his brothers at Callister Park in East Vancouver, to playing professional soccer with Reading FC in England, to his early career with the Vancouver Whitecaps and the team's heady 1979 victory when they won the North American Soccer League championship. He talks about what it was like to play on the first Canadian team to make it to a FIFA World Cup final and describes his experiences as a coach and player for the Vancouver 86ers.

"Writing this book took longer than we figured because we kept needing giggle breaks as each remembered tale of the original Whitecaps triggered a dozen more," said Taylor. "As the new 'Caps write bold new chapters, it's been a joy to recall and record the legends who sank the roots that made it possible."

Not to be missed are Lenarduzzi's reflections on the future of the sport in Canada and the stories about the players, coaches and managers that have made a life in soccer so remarkable. We meet founding owner Herb Capozzi, who enjoyed the limelight and liked to dream up outrageous, attention-grabbing stunts; coach Eckhard Krautzun, who would randomly visit players' residences and check the fridge to see if they were eating properly; and players like John "Cravo" Craven-- who was so tough he once played part of a game with a broken leg--and Alan Hinton, who was less than fit but took free kicks so accurately that the Vancouver Sun reported "When Alan Hinton put a corner kick on your head, he'd give you your choice of eyebrows."

Lenarduzzi, now president of Vancouver Whitecaps FC, the seventeenth club in Major League Soccer, is set on rekindling the fires that warmed the old Whitecaps, their fans, and the city. His story is one of complete focus and dedication and a testament that perseverance and drive can help you realize your dream.

BIOS

Bob Lenarduzzi has been a Vancouver sports icon for over two decades, involved in the sport of soccer as a player, coach, and general manager and representative of Canada at World Cup and Olympic levels. Lenarduzzi has been inducted into the Soccer Hall of Fame, United Soccer League's Hall of Fame, the North American Soccer Hall of Fame and the BC Sports Hall of Fame. He is also a recipient of the Order of British Columbia.

Veteran sports writer Jim Taylor met the young Lenarduzzi when he was just nineteen years old and witnessed much of his soccer career. Taylor even accompanied Canada's National soccer team during their World Cup bids. Over a career that stretches more than five decades, Taylor has produced some 7,500 sports columns, three times as many radio shows and fifteen books. His passionate sports writing has earned him membership in the CFL and BC Sports Hall of Fame, and a lifetime achievement award from Sports Media Canada. He is also the recipient of the 2010 Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement award for journalism. His recent books include And to Think I got in Free: Highlights from Fifty Years on the Sports Beat, Hello, Sweetheart' Gimmie Rewrite! and One More Time!: The Dal Richards Story (with Dal Richards). As well, Jim has co-authored many sports memoirs including Man in Motion (with Rick Hansen), Wayne Gretzky: The Authorized Pictorial Biography, Greg Moore: A Legacy of Spirit (with Dan Proudfoot and Gordon Kirby), and Goin' Deep: The Life and Times of a CFL Quarterback (with Matt Dunigan).

FULL BIO

Bob Lenarduzzi, the son of Italian immigrants, grew up in East Vancouver. He benefited from living next to Callister Park where a pick-up game was always in progress and from the coaching of his two older brothers, Vanni and Sam.

He started playing minor soccer with the Grandview Legion in Vancouver and not long after, in 1969, he was invited to join a men's team, the Vancouver Spartans. After catching the eye of Jack Mansel, coach of the Reading FC in the English third division, the young Lendarduzzi was invited to move to England to apprentice with the Reading team at the age of 14. It was never easy for young players to crack the lineup, but Reading thought he had potential, and for five years Elm Park was both home and school for Lenarduzzi. He started off playing on the youth and reserve teams in regional competition, but he also had occasional games with the first team in the fourth division, increasingly more as his career progressed.

In 1974, Lenarduzzi returned to Canada, on loan from Reading. He was recruited to play for the newly created Whitecaps, which were launching a franchise in the North American Soccer League (NASL). Although it took a couple years for the Whitecaps to get on their feet, they gained momentum every year. By the end of the 1978 season, Lenarduzzi had won the award for the league's North American player of the year and in 1979, the Whitecaps became the Soccer Bowl champions.

It is hard to believe, but four years after winning the championship, the Whitecaps folded, along with the League. Lenarduzzi found himself without a job, and went to Tacoma for a brief stint playing indoor soccer. In 1985, the Canadian Soccer Association launched its bid to get to the 1986 World Cup final, and Lenarduzzi was recruited to join the team. After some spectacular wins, the Canadian team progressed to its first-ever World Cup final, only to be eventually eliminated in a loss to Russia

It was during the World Cup final that Lenarduzzi was approached about playing for and coaching a new Vancouver team. The Canadian Soccer Association was forming a new league to open in the summer of 1987, and the Vancouver the '86ers were born. In his new position, Lenarduzzi had to find his way as a coach even as he balanced his own playing time with critiquing and motivating the team. He found his way, obviously, as the '86ers had a stellar first season, a 46-game unbeaten streak (37 wins, 9 draws) that would stretch into the following season, and set a record for any professional team in North American sport. This was Lenarduzzi's final playing season, but before he retired from the soccer pitch he played in the game that saw his team win the '88 championship game against the Hamilton Steelers. After he retired from playing, Lenarduzzi was the general manager for the '86ers from 1988-1993.

Lenarduzzi became the Head Coach of the men's national team from 1993-1997. In 1998, he returned to the '86ers as general manager and in 2001, when the '86ers were renamed Whitecaps FC, he became the Director of Soccer Operations. In 2011, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC joined the Major League Soccer franchise.

Bob Lenarduzzi is married to Deanne Lenarduzzi, and has two children, Sunny and Ryan. He is the president of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

QUOTES

On naming the Vancouver Whitecaps

"The [Whitecaps] name got unexpected attention, sparked by a media type studying [Herb Capozzi's] gleaming smile and scoffing that we were the only team in history named after the owner's teeth. The truth of the matter was that Denny Veitch, Herb's pal and successor as GM of the Lions and now GM of the NASL franchise, was driving over the Lions Gate Bridge one day when he noticed the white caps on the mountains and on the waves in the rough water, and came up with the ideal name for a BC franchise. Herb, though, took great delight in the media version...."

After winning the Soccer Bowl in 1979

"On the parade route the cheers were deafening. Crowd estimates varied but most figured about 100,000 lined the streets and you couldn't have crammed another fan into Robson Square, where it concluded, without a shoehorn. All I know is that there were people hanging from lampposts trying to get a better view of the players as the open convertibles wove slowly through the streets, and that if everyone who's claimed over the years that they attended the parade actually did, the total would have been doubled."

When the Whitecaps and the NASL folded in 1984

"So what went wrong' How could a championship team that pulled 100,000 cheering fans into the streets for a victory parade after the 1979 season be out of business four years later -

On becoming the "face of the franchise" as well as a player and coach for the Vancouver 86ers.

"I was thirty-one years old and out of work. From age fourteen, the only paying job I'd ever had involved kicking a ball or stopping other people from kicking it. Now I'd found work trying to convince people they should buy season tickets for a team that didn't yet exist."

On coaching and playing for the 86ers

"Coaching always was a learning experience, as management is now and ever will be. Starting out as a player-coach made it even more difficult, because there were times when one got in the way of the other. My answer, and not a wise one, was to become a real live "Roy of the Rovers." He was a cartoon character in England who does everything-scores, passes, dribbles through the whole team, everything, so when English fans saw a guy trying to be the whole show, they'd dub him Roy of the Rovers.

That first season, that was me. As a player I took every throw-in, every free kick, while simultaneously trying to coach everyone else, hammering my guys for not doing what they were supposed to be doing. Result: I wasn't totally focused on either side of what had become a soccer split personality."

On the Canadian Soccer Association

"As I left the men's national program in November of 1997, the Canadian men's team stood sixty-third in the FIFA world rankings. Fourteen years and six head coaches later it stood, as of January 2011, at eighty-fourth. The highest it ever got was fortieth, in December 1996 after our World Cup run. The lowest ever was in March 2007, when it sank to 107th. There's a message there somewhere, and I believe it is this: The system is broken-not beyond repair, but seriously wounded. Band-aids aren't the answer. What's required is major surgery, which should start by cutting off the head."

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Major League Soccer Stories from October 5, 2011


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