Derek moved on to Bellefield in the Liverpool Business House League in the early 1980s, where he switched from left wing to striker. In their second season, the team went on to win the league and the L.C.F.A. Sunday Junior Cup. Derek scored the winning goal in a 1-0 victory, for a total of 24 goals in that season. He also played in Yorkshire for a couple of seasons with LDS, playing as a central midfielder. Due to work and travel, Derek was unable to play for a team for a few years.
Coming out of retirement to play for Liverpool International Supporters Club in the Formers League in 1998, Derek switched to center back and went on to receive the "Player of the Season" award in his second season at 38 years of age.
Derek's footballing highlight came by playing in America in a one-off match at Pelé Soccer Camp at age 17 - the background of which he relates in the following series of e-mails:Hi Josmar,
I just wanted to say thank you for a very interesting and worthy piece of literature I found online about Professor Julio Mazzei that you wrote.
I am from Liverpool in England and I had my most memorable time in football (soccer as it is known in America), thanks to the Professor.
I had visited America on holiday as a 17 year old with my family in 1979. My Uncle was a soccer coach at the Pelé Soccer Camp in New Jersey at the time. We visited for the day and my Uncle asked if I wanted to play in one of the matches. I never turned down a game of soccer.
Each coach was assigned a group of about 16 players to coach for the week and they played matches against each other through the week. My Uncle asked all the coaches did they want an extra player for their match on the day I visited. They all said no, so my Uncle played me in his team with the agreement of the opposition coach.
I scored one and made the second goal as we led 2-0 at half time. The opposition coach then asked my Uncle could I play for his team in the second half as it was unfair!
I switched sides at half time and managed to set up the goal that earned me a win of both halves and my Uncle's team a 2-1 win. The lads in my Uncle's squad asked if I could stay for the week but unfortunately I had to say no.
I was totally unaware but sitting in the little stand for friends and families was Professor Julio Mazzei. I never knew of him at the time and I never saw him that day.
I returned to America on holiday again three years later in 1992. By this time the Professor was manager of the New York Cosmos. My Uncle took me down to the Meadowlands Stadium and we went into the Manager's office and there was the Professor, still unknown to me. [Mazzei] said, "So, Derek, you have grown a bit since I last saw you, are you still scoring the goals?"
I was confused as to how he knew me. He then went on to explain how he had watched me play in one match, at Pelé Soccer Camp three years ago, and did I want to train with the New York Cosmos on Friday of this week?
I could not believe what I was hearing. "Of course, I would love the opportunity." Was this really happening to me?!?
Well, I did train with the New York Cosmos. I was next to Johan Neeskens as we did six sprints of the length of the pitch in the Meadowlands Stadium. I beat him in the first one, I later realized he was running at the same speed each time, whereas I had got slower with each sprint!!
I jogged around the pitch doing stretches in the close proximity of Carlos Alberto. I have never tired of telling this story to people who come into my life at different stages, it [was] all down to Professor Julio Mazzei. I can never thank him enough.
As I was only 20 at the time (and I was young and naïve), I never used the opportunity to see if the Professor could help launch a career in soccer for me in either America or back in England. I never asked if he was just being nice by letting me train or did he think I was a talented footballer?
Sadly he has gone, but I recently made contact with his daughter on Facebook and told her my story. Marjorie Mazzei told me that her Father would never have allowed me to train with New York Cosmos if I was not good enough. She said that around that time she had a boyfriend who was a very good goalkeeper and she had tried to get him the same opportunity but he said no chance. She was adamant that I was obviously good enough in her Dad's eyes.
That was good enough for me, it has really made me happy, but very grateful to the man you have written such a great article about.
I have attached a couple of photographs of me training with these legends and the Professor also allowed me to keep the Cosmos shirt I trained in, I still have it along with a coaching manual by Pelé, which is signed by both Pelé and the Professor to myself. Great treasures!
Thank you for your great insight into the man and what a vital role he played in not just looking after Pelé but also growing the game of Soccer in America. Thank you for your great piece of work and I hope you enjoy reading about my greatest memory in Soccer.
Kind Regards,
Derek McLean
September 24, 2017Dear Derek,
Good morning. I've known Marjorie for quite some time. We corresponded for several years before I finally got to meet her in person. Our respective fathers had met, too, over 35 years ago, for lunch. I have often wondered how that encounter came about, but since both my father and the Professor never knew each other personally and, sadly, have passed on, we may never know for certain.
In any case, I appreciate your detailed description of having played with the Great Ones during the heyday of the Cosmos. I saw an exhibition game at the decrepit Downing Stadium Field on Randall's Island (it really was dilapidated, a veritable nightmare!). I saw many Cosmos home games at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. I was even privy to Pelé's final game there on October 1, 1977, against his old team Santos.
According to the Professor's account, Carlos Alberto had quite a temper! In one of their games, Carlos Alberto spat at the referee, which got him suspended from the playoffs. That was the main reason for their having lost the championship that year (it must have been around the early 1980s or so - Pelé had already retired). It was the game that Nelsi Morais (another Brazilian) had scored in the infamous shootout phase, but the ball went inside the net just seconds after the whistle blew. A real heartbreaker!
In any case, I appreciate the photographs. What a treasure trove of memories! I would like your permission, if you can, to use your e-mail and photos on my blog. I'm sure the many Cosmos and soccer fans out there would be thrilled to read your personal account of these events.
Thank you again for writing, Derek. Stay well and keep in touch. I'm curious to know your thoughts regarding the upcoming World Cup in Moscow. That should be an entertaining event, more so now because of the politics!
September 24, 2017Hi Joe,
It was great to get a reply from you and I am glad you liked my greatest time in football (soccer). I would have no problem with you telling my story in a future blog. I would be honored to have you write about me.
I am currently in the process of writing the whole story myself and that was how I came across your articles, through my research on the Professor. My son had said I should get my memories down in writing, as I had said how many stories from my parents and grandparents have now been lost, since they have all passed away.
My Uncle went to the final game for Pelé against Santos. He gave me the match program. I love soccer memorabilia and I have lots of items from my trips following Liverpool FC during their great years of the 1970s and 1980s. I also have some match programs from Cosmos games, which have a number of the players' autographs on [them]. Great keepsakes!
I was really fascinated about your stories about Pelé v Eusebio, Carlos Alberto and Nelsi Morais. I love to know more insight into these players and their personalities.
The World Cup in Russia is a political hot potato and FIFA have not done themselves any favors with the way they have been behaving in recent years. Clearly money is talking when it comes to deciding on the countries hosting the next two World Cups.
It also worries me how the Russian fans behaved in the last European Championships in France; they had a clear plan to attack the British fans from Wales, England and Ireland. It will be interesting to see if they don't want it to happen in their own backyard or if it gets even worse.
As far as who is going to win it, I can definitely say it will not be England [Note: Derek was spot-on with that one]. Possibly Germany, if I had to make a guess at this stage [Note: No, not really]. Who do you think will win it at this stage?
Well, thanks again for replying. Let me know if you want any more photographs and hopefully keep in touch. It is interesting to get an insight from someone from another part of the world.
As we say at Anfield,
"You'll Never Walk Alone"
Derek
October 7, 2017Hi Derek,
In answer to your question: Yes, Derek, please send me some more photographs - something along the lines of "then and now" photos, i.e., what you looked like when you were a young soccer player vs. what you look like now.
I would be using your e-mail recollections below, if that's OK, which I have done with several people I have corresponded with over the years (including Marjorie herself).
Professor Mazzei was a fascinating individual to write and learn about, and an incredibly cosmopolitan gentleman. He had the foresight to encourage Pelé (who was unwilling to leave Brazil and his family) for stardom in the U.S. I firmly believe that Professor, Pelé, Chinaglia, Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto, Steve Hunt, Shep Messing, and the other players on the Cosmos roster and other NASL teams in the 70s and 80s paved the way for soccer (football, futebol, calcio) in America. Although the league eventually failed, soccer itself was a success. It is now a permanent fixture on the North American sports frontier. That's a huge difference from where it was four decades ago!
And again, Derek, thank you so much for writing!
Enjoy the weekend,
Joe
