Jozef Venglos made history as the first manager from outside the UK and Ireland to take charge of a club in the English First Division when he was appointed Aston Villa manager in 1990.
The Slovakian, who had a further managerial spell at Celtic as well as coaching teams in Australia, Czechoslovakia, Malaysia and his home country of Slovakia, died in Bratislava on Tuesday at the age of 84.
Venglos held a doctorate degree in physical education and was affectionately known as “Dr Jo” to fans.
His managerial career began at club level in Australia, where he graduated to the national side and took charge of three Socceroos games – all against Scotland on their 1967 tour.
He also had spells in charge of the Czechoslovakia, Malaysia and Slovakia national teams, as well as roles on the Fifa and Uefa technical committees.
He took over Aston Villa in 1990 and, though the club struggled in the precursor to the Premier League, it enjoyed a more promising Uefa Cup run highlighted by a 2-0 win over Inter Milan.
He spent just one season in charge of Villa Park club, before moving on to Fenerbache, Slovakia and Oman before returning to the UK after getting the top job at Celtic Park in 1998.
The highlight of his time in Glasgow was a 5-1 win against Rangers and though he was only in charge of club for just one season, he was held in high regard at Celtic for bringing in fans’ favourite Ľubomir Moravcík to the club for a bargain price of just £350,000.
A statement on the Celtic website said: “Everyone at Celtic is extremely saddened to hear of the passing of our former manager, Dr Jozef Venglos, who has died at the age of 84.
“The thoughts and prayers of everyone at Celtic are with Dr Jozef Venglos’ family and the whole of football in Slovakia at this very sad time.”
