English ambassador for the beautiful game in America

Gordon Bradley, who died on 29 April, 2008, was a British-American footballer who was one of the most influential figures in spreading the game's popularity in the states during the 1970s.

He was best known for being player-coach at the New York Cosmos, the North American Soccer League team who became famous around the world when they signed Pele and Franz Beckenbauer. He briefly coached and played for the national side but was also noted for his grass-roots promotion of the game.

After leaving the Cosmos in 1977, he coached a college football side and commentated on televised games. In 1996 his contribution to the sport in America earned him a place in the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Gordon Bradley was born on 23 November, 1934, in Sunderland and it was with the local team he began his career in 1950. However, shortly after turning professional he suffered a career-threatening injury to his right knee and was out of action for two years.

After leaving Sunderland without playing a game, he worked in local coal mines for several years before finally resuming his football career in 1955. He signed with Bradford Park Avenue then moved to Carlisle United two years later.

He had started out as a centre forward but his injury had ruined his pace, so he now played in defence or midfield. In three seasons for Carlisle he played 130 times, scoring three goals. But in 1960 he was released from the club and his career once again seemed over.

In 1963 a friend suggested that he move to Canada where the new Professional Soccer League was crying out for players. He and his wife Vera duly emigrated to Toronto where Mr Bradley represented Toronto Roma then Toronto City.

He got his first coaching experience in 1964, taking charge of the New York Ukrainians who played in the German-American Soccer League (which later became New York's Cosmopolitan Soccer League). Mr Bradley played for several North American sides over the coming years and was also assistant coach with the New York Generals.

In 1971 he became one of the first players signed by the newly-founded New York Cosmos, taking on the role of player-coach. With financial backing from Warner Communications, the Cosmos quickly became one of the leading forces in the North American Soccer League, taking the title in 1972.

But as well as bringing success to the Cosmos, a key part of his job was acting as an ambassador for the fledgling sport. Clive Toye, general manager of the team at the time, later said: "Gordon Bradley, and indeed everyone else in the club, spent more time propagating the gospel of soccer than in simply being coach of a pro team. If you could take the soccer DNA of many of today's outstanding US players, you could trace it back to the Cosmos and Gordon Bradley."

In 1973 Mr Bradley also coached the USA national side, despite not having yet received his US citizenship (this came the following year). At the age of 39 he got his only international cap when he selected himself for a game against Israel. Unfortunately the match was one of five straight defeats and Mr Bradley was sacked before the year was out.

He lost his job with the Cosmos in 1975 but returned in 1977 at the start of what would be a period of glory for the team. Unfortunately, despite a side featuring the stellar talent of Pele, Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto and several other big names, Bradley could not deliver the kind of performances the team bosses and 40,000-strong crowds demanded and he was once again dismissed midway through the championship-winning season of 1977.

He coached the Washington Diplomats to second place in the NASL's Eastern Division for two seasons running, then moved to Virginia in 1985 to be head coach of George Mason University's soccer team, the Patriots. He held the job for 16 years and had the most successful management record in the side's history.

During this time he was also a key figure in the development of the sport, helping plan and promote the launch of Major League Soccer in 1993 and the 1994 World Cup. He commentated on DC United games and also opened up Mason’s training facilities to international teams visiting the States to play the USA.

He retired in 2000 and spent the rest of his life in Virginia. In recent years he had been suffering from Alzheimer's and spent the last month of his life in a care home. A few days before his death at the age of 73 he was honoured by supporters of DC United who displayed a banner during a game. He was survived by Vera, two sons and five grandchildren.

Goalkeeper Shep Messing, one of the stars of Mr Bradley's Cosmos team, paid tribute to him shortly before he passed away: "The greatest thing about Gordon is that whether he was talking to five or six girls on a field in Massapequa, NY, 10 boys at a clinic in New Jersey, 20 college players, or Pelé or Franz Beckenbauer, he was always the same inspirational leader."