Near Signal Mountain on the banks of the Tennessee River, Bill Nuttall watches over a new generation of football stars. The 78-year-old former goalkeeper is currently hosting Spain’s national team at his training facility outside Chattanooga as the World Cup favourites prepare for the tournament in the United States.
It is a fitting location for a man whose career bridges American soccer’s past and present. Nuttall, who stands 6ft 3in and describes himself as having “nothing else to do” but tend to his facility, possesses a sporting CV that ranges from denying Pelé from the penalty spot to constructing the 1994 World Cup host nation’s squad from scratch.
The Pelé incident
Nuttall’s playing days in the North American Soccer League (NASL) brought him face-to-face with football royalty. During the 1976 season opener between his Miami Toros and the New York Cosmos, the goalkeeper confronted the sport’s most famous figure.
Recalling the moment, Nuttall said he “flattened” the Brazilian after finding himself exposed, conceding a penalty but diving to push Pelé’s spot-kick wide. “There was no footage then but some guy got a couple of stills,” he noted.
The NASL era saw Nuttall transition from player to coach. After Ron Newman released him from the Fort Lauderdale Strikers to sign England international Gordon Banks—then semi-retired following a car accident that left him with sight in only one eye—Nuttall stayed on as an assistant. Under Dutch coach Cor van der Hart, he worked with stars including Peru’s Nene Cubillas, Jan van Beveren, Ricardo Villa and West Germany’s Gerd Müller.
Nuttall remembers Müller as “the nicest man you could ever meet,” recalling how the Bayern Munich legend distributed gifts to staff despite later struggles with alcohol that the German club helped him overcome.
Building from nothing
When FIFA awarded the 1994 World Cup to the United States in 1988, the nation possessed neither a professional league nor a competitive national team—just what Nuttall terms “a college all-star team.” Tasked with building a credible side as general manager, he established a residency programme at Mission Viejo, California, where players lived and trained full-time under coach Bora Milutinovic.
He explained that his responsibilities included signing players, organising logistics and securing the facility. With no qualification matches to play as hosts and minimal funding, he assembled a squad of mostly college players employed directly by the federation, offering a pathway to the sport’s biggest stage.
The project succeeded in avoiding predicted humiliation, with the Americans reaching the knockout rounds. Nearly three decades later, Nuttall’s contribution continues at his Chattanooga base, where Spain’s current generation—including Lamine Yamal and Rodri—now benefit from the facilities that helped transform the US programme.