Man Utd veteran Whelan talks England, NASL and MLS

A veteran of both the English league and the NASL, Tony Whelan is now a coach at Manchester United's Youth Academy. Courtesy of Tony Whelan

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Recently, we've focused on David Beckham's arrival in Major League Soccer, next season's English Premier League race and Alexi Lalas' controversial comments on the quality in both leagues. We thought the time was ripe to interview a man who could offer expertise on all three subjects.

Tony Whelan turned professional for Manchester United in the 1970s and played briefly for Manchester City before moving to the NASL, making 111 appearances for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and 64 for the Atlanta Chiefs. In the process, he played alongside and against some of the greatest players of all time, such as Pelé, George Best, Gordon Banks, Carlos Alberto, Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller.

Now a youth coach at Manchester United, Whelan is also perfectly placed to offer a fascinating insight into the world's most famous club and the development of players within it.

SI.com: You first crossed the Pond to play for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in 1977. How did the NASL compare to English soccer?

Whelan: The biggest difference was that it was a real melting pot of cultures, with players from all over Europe, South America and the States -- in England, players still tended to be from the U.K. and Ireland. While the standard of football wasn't as high as the English First Division, it was still very good and is often underestimated.

Suggestions that the star players were there for an end-of-career pay packet or holiday simply aren't true -- the vast majority took it very seriously and many arrived in the U.S. still in their prime. It was a very demanding league to play in, very competitive, with long distances to travel and a wide range of climatic conditions and playing surfaces to adapt to.

SI.com: You played alongside some legends there. Tell us about them and the experience.

Whelan: I played alongside many fantastic players, but three stand out: Best, Müller and Banks. Best's problems with alcohol are well documented, but in 1979 at the Strikers, he was very much focused on his football and was playing some tremendous stuff. He was a very kind man, who was totally unaffected by fame.

Müller [Golden Boot winner at the 1970 World Cup] spoke very little English, but communicated incredibly on the pitch -- he had the most incredible balance and played the best one-twos I've ever seen. He once scored four goals in the first 20 minutes once against the California Surf. Banks had lost his sight in one eye before joining the Strikers, but such was his quality and dedication that he was named as the goalkeeper in the NASL 1978 All-Star team.

SI.com: How do you think the NASL compares with MLS?

Whelan: Overall I think that the quality of the foreign players in MLS is lower than in the NASL, but conversely, the home-grown talent is now better. MLS also looks more financially secure -- while there was huge investment in the NASL, such as Warner Bros.' funding of the New York Cosmos, the revenue streams did not match up, largely due to limited TV contracts.

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