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Christopher William McDonald OBE (13 December 1931 – 2 December 2011) was an English footballer and businessman who served a prominent role as a link between FIFA and the JFA.[1] He played mainly as a goalkeeper, and occasionally as a forward.[2]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Christopher William McDonald | ||
| Date of birth | 13 December 1931 | ||
| Place of birth | London, England | ||
| Date of death | 2 December 2011 (aged 79) | ||
| Place of death | Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper, forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| YC & AC | |||
| 1955–1956 | Tokyo Club | ||
| TRICK Club | |||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
McDonald moved to Japan in April 1950, where he worked for the NCR Corporation's Japanese branch. He became a director at Rolex Japan in 1980, the company he would later become president and chairman of. He worked as an adviser to the JFA from 1992, and was a member of the J-League Consultative and Mediatory Committee from 1993 until 2008.[1]
McDonald played football as a child in his home country of England, and joined the Yokohama Country & Athletic Club soon after his arrival in Japan in 1950. He also played for Tokyo Club and TRICK Club, the latter of which he represented at the National Inter-City Tournament.[1] He served as a liaison to FIFA president Sir Stanley Rous during the 1958 Asian Games and 1964 Summer Olympics, where he helped act as an intermediary between FIFA and the JFA.[1][2] He also served as adviser to the Football Association of Japan, was on the World Cup Committee and was the representative in Japan of the New Zealand Football Association.[3] During the 1960s and 70s, McDonald helped to secure numerous tours of Japan for English football clubs, including Middlesex Wanderers, Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.[1]
He was honoured with an Order of the British Empire in 1978, for contributions to Anglo-Japanese relations, and to the British community in Japan,[3] as well as the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette in 2009.[1]
He was inducted into the Japan Football Hall of Fame in 2011, shortly before his death.[4]
McDonald died as a result of pneumonia in Tokyo in 2011.[5]
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