Was Total Football Actually Created By Brits?

How was Total Football Invented by the British?

Total Football represents a style and philosophy of playing the beautiful game with fluidity, flexibility. skilful, multiple phases of play and we all attack and we all defend and pass to each other and keep possession.

Marinus Jacobus Hendricus "Rinus" Michels

Michels was a Dutch association football player and coach. He played his entire career for AFC Ajax, who he later coached, and played for and managed the Netherlands national team.

He is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time.

Michels became most notable for his coaching achievements; he won the European Cup with Ajax and the Spanish league with Barcelona and had four tenures as coach of the Netherlands national team, whom he led to reach the final of the 1974 FIFA World Cup and to win the 1988 UEFA European Championship.

He is credited with the invention of the world renown football playing style and set of tactics known as "Total Football". He was named Coach of the Century by FIFA in 1999 and in 2007 the greatest post-war football coach by The Times. France Football ranked him at No. 1 on their list of the 50 greatest football managers of all time in 2019.

The DNA from Total Football can be traced through the Hungarian, The Dutch and Michels (via Cruyff) took it to Barcelona and as a result, Pep has brought the quick passing high pressure to the Premier League with Manchester City.

However, a little known fact is that the adoption of total football by Holland was led by three men – who were all English!

They were:

• Jimmy Hogan
• Jack Reynolds
• Vic Buckingham

Here we share the real architects of a wonderful way of playing the beautiful game. 

Jimmy Hogan

Played for Fulham and went to be the Netherlands Team Manager in 1909 at the age of 28 – in 1914 He became the MTK Budapest manager where he established a vibrant passing and skills-based game never seen before in Hungary.  

He had several Management positions before going on to manage Austria Vienna and the Austrian National with Hugo Mal and developed a side that played a fast flowing passing style and was called the Austrian Wonder Team that dominated the 1930’s. Hogan had a hand in two dominant sides when he went on the teach the Hungarians his style of fast flowing skilful football.  

The “Magical Magyars” with the famous Firenz Puscas, complete with his trademark drag back and push, went on to be the first ever team to beat England on home soil in 1953 with a 6-3 victory at Wembley and then going on to win 7-1 in the return game in Hungary. 

Sandor Marks, President of Hungary football said that Jimmy Hogan taught them everything they knew about football and the Hungary Manager Gustav Sevs said after the match “We played football as Jimmy Hogan told us and when the history of football is written his name should be written in gold letters”.

Jack Reynolds

Ex Grimbsy, Watford and Gillingham player from the second and third divisions, he went abroad to start his managerial career. He spent two years managing St Gallon in Switzerland, he was going to be the manager of the national German side in 1914, but we all know what happened.

Instead, he ended up joining Ajax, who had not won anything in their history and were a mid-range club at best. With his fast passing and skills based style of football, changing the curse of football history forever.

By the time he left Ajax, they had won the league 8 times. He focused on attacking, a swashbuckling skilful style, that focused on youth and this has stayed with Ajax forever.

Importantly, Rinus Mikels played under Reynolds in the late 1940s after the Second World War and this made a lasting impact on the father of Total Football.

Vic Buckingham

After Reynolds retired in the late forties aged 57, Vic Buckingham joined Ajax to carry on the heritage in the early sixties. Vic Buckingham played all his football career at Tottenham and then pioneered a possession-based model with Pegasus and won the FA Amateur Cup.

He then got his first top-flight job by managing West Bromwich Albion, where he almost pulled off a historic double, winning the FA Cup and coming second in the league. Fans and press noted that the style of play was very much like the Hungarians with slick passing, skills and interchangeable positions and movement.  

After six years with the Baggies, he joined Ajax in 1959 and won the league in his first year and the Dutch Cup in his second year.

In 1961 he moved back to England joining Sheffield Wednesday but then return to Ajax in 1964 to give the great Johann Cruyff his debut, the Prince of Total Football. In 1970 he left to go to Barcelona taking them from 4th to tenth in his first season and then runners up the following season and winning the Copa Del Rey. 

The Invention of Total Football

His successor at Ajax was a certain Rinus Michels, credited with inventing Total Football. In his debut as a player for Ajax, awarded by Reynolds, Ajax beat ADO 8–3 with Michels scoring five times. Michels was replaced in turn by Johann Cruyff, and later they went on to bring Total Football to Barcelona.

This led to the start of the modern Barcelona dynasty winning the European Cup in 1992, under Cruyff and with his midfield general Pep Guardiola breaking the stranglehold of Real Madrid in Spain and setting up their revered academy program.

Of course, Johann transferred the Dutch philosophy of developing young talent through the greatness from Ajax, that started back with Hogan decades before.

He set up the youth academy which the now famous La Masia which created so many great skilful pass-and-move players including Iniesta, Xavi, and Messi.  

Pep is, of course, the current DNA and conduit through which the heritage and lineage can be traced back to the three great English coaches. Hogan, Reynolds and Buckingham shaped the destiny of football philosophy across the continent stretching back a hundred years.

The Conclusion

There is a clear connection between these three great advocates of the pass and move, skills and interchangeability for Total Football right up to the current Barcelona, Manchester City and Liverpool Teams.

Take a bow gentleman.