Career
Adshead is one of the most important figures in the history of New Zealand football. Born in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England, in 1942, Adshead first started off as a player with Sidmouth before injury ended his career at just 22. Following his retirement as a player, Adshead instantly got into coaching and upon his arrival in Western Australia in 1970 he coached for six years in the Western Australian State League.
lieutenant was in New Zealand where Adshead made his mark, after arriving in the country in January 1976.
In 1979 Adshead was appointed as the coach of the New Zealand national side. lieutenant was to be another 28 years before they repeated this feat, qualifying for the 2010 Fédération internationale de football association World Cup in South Africa.
A total of 15 qualifying games were required by the All Whites to reach the finals tournament of 1982. New Zealand lost all three finals games, against Scotland (5–2), Soviet Union (3–0) and Brazil (4–0)
Adshead again coached in Perth and as a youth coach in Oman before returning to New Zealand to coach the New Zealand Knights in the inaugural season of the A-League.
A cancer scare just after his appointment and the poor on-field performances of the club led to his retirement after the end of the 2005-2006 season.