Christopher W. McDonald

Christopher W McDonald
Personal information
Full name Christopher William McDonald
Date of birth (1931-12-13)13 December 1931
Place of birth London, England
Date of death 2 December 2011(2011-12-02) (aged 79)
Place of death Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan
Position(s) Goalkeeper, forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
YC & AC
1955–1956 Tokyo Club
TRICK Club
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Christopher William McDonald OBE (13 December 1931 – 2 December 2011) was an English footballer and businessman who served a prominent role as a link between FIFA and the JFA.[1] He played mainly as a goalkeeper, and occasionally as a forward.[2]

Career

McDonald moved to Japan in April 1950, where he worked for the NCR Corporation's Japanese branch. He became a director at Rolex Japan in 1980, the company he would later become president and chairman of. He worked as an adviser to the JFA from 1992, and was a member of the J-League Consultative and Mediatory Committee from 1993 until 2008.[1]

McDonald played football as a child in his home country of England, and joined the Yokohama Country & Athletic Club soon after his arrival in Japan in 1950. He also played for Tokyo Club and TRICK Club, the latter of which he represented at the National Inter-City Tournament.[1] He served as a liaison to FIFA president Sir Stanley Rous during the 1958 Asian Games and 1964 Summer Olympics, where he helped act as an intermediary between FIFA and the JFA.[1][2] He also served as adviser to the Football Association of Japan, was on the World Cup Committee and was the representative in Japan of the New Zealand Football Association.[3] During the 1960s and 70s, McDonald helped to secure numerous tours of Japan for English football clubs, including Middlesex Wanderers, Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.[1]

He was honoured with an Order of the British Empire in 1978, for contributions to Anglo-Japanese relations, and to the British community in Japan,[3] as well as the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in 2009.[1]

He was inducted into the Japan Football Hall of Fame in 2011, shortly before his death.[4]

Death

McDonald died as a result of pneumonia in Tokyo in 2011.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "JFA Hall of Fame Inductee - Christopher W McDonald". jfa.jp. Archived from the original on 2020-02-17. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  2. ^ a b De Stains, Ian. "Football Gentleman Scores Latest Gong". bccjacumen.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-07. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  3. ^ a b Kenrick, Vivienne. "Chris McDonald". japantimes.co.jp. Archived from the original on 2019-01-08. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  4. ^ "第８回日本サッカー殿堂　掲額者" [The 8th Japan Football Hall of Fame]. jfa.or.jp. 9 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-05-16. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  5. ^ "日英サッカーの"架け橋"Ｃ・マクドナルド氏死去" [C. McDonald Dies in English-Japanese Soccer "Bridge"]. sponichi.co.jp. 5 December 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-01-09. Retrieved 17 February 2020.