Jack Greenwell, of Crook Town, County Durham, is arguably the most successful English football coach to have ever plied his trade overseas.
He won 13 awards in Spain with Barcelona, Espanyol and Valencia, was Peruvian champion with Universitario of Lima and triumphed in the Copa America with Peru before arriving in Colombia and coaching Independiente de Santa Fe in Bogotá.
A forgotten footnote
This begs the question, why does he remain an almost forgotten footnote in the archives of international football, despite being inducted into the Football Hall of Fame in 2025. There is so little recorded about Jack Greenwell’s time in Bogotá, a mere two months, which perhaps makes the story even more enticing.
For me, a British journalist based in Colombia, the search into the latter years of Jack Greenwell’s life began with an innocuous mention on a UK radio football phone-in where it was suggested that Greenwell was killed during the infamous “Bogotazo” riots of 1948 when much of the Colombian capital was razed to the ground. In fact, Jack passed away on 22nd November 1942.
Further reading: Find out more about the life of Jack Greenwell
A journeyman like no other
Perhaps known only to a handful of die-hard Santa Fe hinchas (fans) in Colombia, John Richard Greenwell known to everyone as “Jack” was the very definition of a journeyman football coach. It would be doing this native of County Durham a disservice to try and liken him to any contemporary figures since in reality no one comes close. Who can claim to have played in England and Spain and coached in Spain, Turkey, Peru and Colombia? Who else has a record with Barcelona bettered only by Johan Cruyff?
A coal miner’s son, he began his playing career in his hometown of Crook and then moved on to the Auckland Wanderers before making the amazing step of establishing himself with Barcelona where he made 88 appearances between 1912 and 1916 and scored 10 goals.
The search for Greenwell
Several years after I began this investigation, one which led me to the Bogotá Archives in Las Cruces, to the British Cemetery in Mártires, to a meeting with Greenwell’s granddaughter Doris in a shopping mall in Toronto, Canada and an interview with Harold Stephenson, a Greenwell-enthusiast and resident in the very house where Jack was born in Crook Town, there has now been some closure in that this journeyman footballer has finally been recognised in his home town.
The quest to ensure that this football legacy is protected and remembered still has some way to go but due to the tireless efforts of Stephenson, Crook Town now has a centrally located commemorative plaque and a bench to honour Greenwell.
Greenwell’s is a story which needs to be shared and considered as there must be more just like it, incredible lives which have effected change and remain unknown due to having taken place in an era prior to the global communication revolution.
What would be made of Greenwell had he lived to see 76 years of age and 1960? His story would be widely known and his legacy intact, barring any bizarre career implosion, and we would be celebrating a global figure.
The gravestone ceremony
As it is, the unfortunate truth is that he represents a footnote in the expansion of the beautiful game. This first step, the recognition of Greenwell in his place of birth, is the first step and a major one at that, towards pushing this phenomenal football brain, by all accounts, to where he belongs.
And so, on 18th November, there will be a small ceremony in homage to Jack and an unveiling of his gravestone in the British Cemetery in Bogotá.