O'Neil has seen it all in soccer careerr

Quick -- which Penn coach can claim to have played his sport professionally in front of 80,000 screaming fans? Al Bagnoli? Nope. Fran Dunphy? Sorry. Bob Seddon? Afraid not. The answer is George O'Neill, the Penn men's soccer coach and living proof of the international flavor that only one sport can boast. O'Neill's story starts in Port Glasgow, Scotland. Like many other boys, O'Neill dreamed of playing for his favorite club -- in his case, Glasgow Celtic. However, at an age when most youngsters give up their dreams of athletic glory, O'Neill had a revelation. "I remember I was 14, and I was standing in the terraces," O'Neill said, naming the line-up easily after 40 years. "Celtic had exceptionally good players? and I just felt I could play at that level. I just knew -- I couldn't explain it to you." Professional sports clubs overseas acquire their players very differently than their American counterparts. At age 18 or 19, there was no question of college for a promising young player. Scouts from as far away as London and Liverpool visited O'Neill's home, but he waited for Celtic to come knocking. Eventually, they did, and the young midfielder entered the intense competition of one of the world's most famous club's youth system. O'Neill progressed, but by the time he was ready to start fighting for a place in the first team, he suffered the first of several major injuries, cartilage damage in his knee. He persevered and was knocking on the door of significant playing time when major injury No. 2 came along. On Jan. 25, 1964, O'Neill's ankle was fractured so badly that he had to spend five weeks in the hospital and have part of the bone removed. That left a large scar that O'Neill happily shows to anyone interested. While lying in the hospital, O'Neill was told he would never play again. What would a man who had spent his entire life playing soccer have done if forced to retire? "I don't know -- I honest to God don't know," he said. "Obviously I was devastated, but I didn't believe the man. I guess I'm just stubborn." Once again O'Neill recovered, but his future was not with Celtic. Next stop was another Glasgow club, Partick Thistle, a club that lived in the shadows of more successful neighbors Rangers and Celtic. There, O'Neill thrived for about four seasons, becoming both team captain and a fan favorite. Gordon Peden, an old Partick fan, remembered the man nicknamed Tiger. "If you had ever found yourself on the wrong end of one of his more 'enthusiastic' tackles, then you'd know that when he hit you, you stayed hit!" O'Neill stayed in Scotland, with Partick and other small clubs, until the late 1960s. Looking for new challenges and motivated by his wife Nora's family being in the United States, he decided to move across the Atlantic. Hearing that a pro team, the Atoms, was forming for the 1973 season in Philadelphia, O'Neill sent his qualifications, via a local sportscaster, to coach Al Miller. He had a tryout in England and signed on as an original member of the team. Like all the teams in the North American Soccer League, the Atoms roster was composed of experienced, often aging, pros from Europe and recent college products. It made an interesting mix. "It was a big adjustment for everybody," O'Neill said. "The British guys who came over were seasoned professionals who trained very hard. These guys [collegians] couldn't keep up with us at the beginning." O'Neill's time was with the Atoms was a personal and team success. Anchoring midfield, he earned all-star recognition as Philadelphia, which also boasted current Penn goalkeepers coach and former U.S. national team keeper Bob Rigby, won the Soccer Bowl (the NASL title) in its inaugural season. That performance prompted Gordon Bradley, interim U.S. national team coach and now head man at George Mason, to call O'Neill into his squad for a European tour that fall. One of the places on the itinerary was Israel. However, the ravages and safety threats resulting from the recently completed Yom Kippur War threatened to cancel the excursion. Bradley recalled the feelings as the players held a vote whether to go: "We told our players -- 'This is the situation. Israel's just finished the war,' but we wanted to get their feelings. The players all said, 'Let's go.'" In addition to playing a pair of games against Israel, the Americans also visited some of the wounded at a war hospital in Beersheba. The visit was scheduled for a half-hour, but lingered for 2 1/2 hours. Upon their return home, the Philadelphia-based players were given a gala dinner by the local B'nai Brith organization. By 1976, the time had come for O'Neill to move out of the playing side of the game. The Atoms had gone belly up, and he did not want to move to another city. Thus, a 20-year coaching career began. Over the years, he has touched nearly every level of the game in the local area. O'Neill coached indoors, semi-pro and amateur teams before stepping into the Penn job, on an interim basis, just weeks before the 1993 season. After the season, he was given the full-time position and the task of rebuilding a program that had challenged for the national title and drawn five-figure crowds 25 years earlier, only to fade. Last year, Penn finished 5-11-1 overall and 1-6 in the Ivy League. "I think it's a big task, a really big task," O'Neill said. "But no one said anything would be easy, and we're getting players with the right attitude who are prepared to work hard." A key to any resurgence, according to O'Neill, is getting lights installed at Rhodes Field, as well as putting up more bleachers. Fan accommodations, even for a crowd of 150, are woefully inadequate. But in any case, the coach knows the task of competing in the Ivy League awaits him. "I am hungry for success -- I haven't lost that passion for winning."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.