Former Plymouth Argyle manager Tony Waiters has passed away at the age of 83.
Southport-born Waiters, who made his name as a goalkeeper with Blackpool and Burnley and also won five caps for England, managed the Pilgrims between 1972 and 1977. He had also been part of Sir Alf Ramsey's provisional 40-man squad for the 1966 World Cup.
He enjoyed great success during his time in charge at Home Park. During the 1973-74 season, he led Argyle to the semi-finals of the League Cup where they were beaten by Manchester City over two legs. In the following 1974-75 campaign, he guided the Pilgrims to promotion from the 'old' Third Division - now League One - with a side that were spearheaded by the strike partnership of Billy Rafferty and future England international Paul Mariner.
He departed Home Park in April 1977 as the Pilgrims' fourth longest-serving manager, having been at the helm for 1,653 days and he also had a win percentage of 51.7%.
Argyle were the only professional side who Waiters managed in England, he had previously served as the manager of the England youth side and won the European Youth Championship in 1973.
His next port of call on leaving the Pilgrims was in Canada, when he was appointed manager of the Vancouver Whitecaps in the NASL (North American Soccer League) and he steered them to victory in the Soccer Bowl in 1979 by defeating the highly fancied Tampa Bay Rowdies.
This attracted the attentions of the Canadian FA, who appointed him as manager of the national side - a role which would see him enjoy more success. He led Canada to the quarter finals of the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and two years later he oversaw their qualification for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, where they would lose all three group games. It has so far proved to be their one and only qualification for a World Cup finals.
Waiters would also have a second spell in charge in 1990, which proved to be a brief one.
In 2001, he was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame, and his influence on the game in North America remained strong right up until his passing.
