Clive Toye was inducted to the National Soccer Hall of Fame

National Soccer Hall of Fame

The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 that honors soccer achievements in the United States.-History:...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 2003.

Toye was born in Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. He was a sports writer for the Express and Echo newspaper in Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

, and later Chief Sports Writer for the Daily Express

Daily Express

The Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...

.

In 1967 he went to the United States to become General Manager of the Baltimore Bays

Baltimore Bays

The first Baltimore Bays were a professional soccer team based out of Baltimore, Maryland. It was one of ten charter members of the National Professional Soccer League in 1967. The team would become a part of the North American Soccer League , which was the result of a merger between the NPSL and...

 and later was first General Manager of the New York Cosmos

New York Cosmos

The New York Cosmos were an American soccer club based in New York City, New York and its suburbs. The team played home games in three stadiums around New York before moving in 1977 to Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, where it remained for the rest of its history...

 of the North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...

, bringing the Brazilian star Pelé

Pelé

However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...

 to the U.S. and helping to popularize soccer in America. Regarding the use of the word "soccer", Toye noted that even English people called the game "soccer" interchangeably with "football" until the second half of the 20th century. "A quirk of British culture is the permanent need to familiarize names by shortening them. ... Toye [said] 'They took the third, fourth and fifth letters of Association and called it SOCcer.'”

He became a senior consultant for CONCACAF

CONCACAF

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football is the continental governing body for association football in North America, Central America and the Caribbean...

, and in 2009 was inducted into that organisation's Hall of Fame.