Wildwood Catholic, local soccer community mourn loss of iconic coach Gerry MacFarlane

Posted: May 28th 2025

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com 

Twenty-three years after he last coached a game, Gerry MacFarlane remains an icon at Wildwood Catholic Academy after an extraordinary 18-season career leading the school’s boys soccer program 

It comes as no surprise, then, that MacFarlane’s death earlier this week after battling illness for the past few years has shaken both the school and the local soccer community.

MacFarlane, a longtime resident of Avalon, was 87.

An immigrant from Scotland who was himself a fine player in his day, MacFarlane helped establish the boys soccer program at Wildwood Catholic High School, coaching what was then a club program for three seasons from 1977 through 1979.

He then returned to coach the school’s varsity program in 1985 and led the program to extraordinary success before stepping down after the 2002 season.

MacFarlane posted a career record of 230-82-41 and led the Crusaders to 10 division or conference titles within the Cape-Atlantic League, including the overall championship in 1996. He also guided Wildwood Catholic to eight South Jersey title games, winning four (1994, 1996, 1997, 1998), and to the program’s lone state championship in 1998.

GERRY MACFARLANE

MacFarlane was the South Jersey Soccer Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 1997 and was later inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame in 2000. He also entered the South Jersey Coaches Hall of Fame in 2003 and was inducted into the inaugural class of the Wildwood Catholic Academy Hall of Fame last year.

More than the wins, losses, championships and coaching accolades, though, MacFarlane was well known, well liked and well respected for his everlasting smile and infectious personality that shone through a thick Scottish brogue. While coaching, he’d often be heard yelling, “Mr. Referee!” when he questioned an official’s decision on the field. He also had his quirky phrases, such as “Three-Pointer!” when he wanted one of his players to shoot at goal when the Crusaders were awarded a free kick in the final third, or “This is Armageddon” whenever things weren’t going his team’s way.

Once, following a Friday afternoon home victory in the late 1990s, MacFarlane winked at one of his players leaving the field and said, “Enjoy the weekend, lad, but no dancin’ and no bumpin’ and grindin’.”

Above all, MacFarlane was dearly loved by his players, who showed him incredible loyalty over the years. For years, the after party following the annual Wildwood Catholic boys soccer alumni game on Thanksgiving weekend eventually turned into a celebration dedicated to their coach, who would bring his guitar and sing songs in between sips of Drambuie. 

Once anyone stepped onto the field for a boys soccer game in a Wildwood Catholic uniform, he immediately became a member of a tight-knit group known as “Gerry’s Lads.”

In addition to his impact on the growth of soccer at Wildwood Catholic, MacFarlane helped establish and was one of the movers and shakers in a local fan club of Celtic FC, a Glasgow-based soccer club that has won 55 Scottish League championships, 42 Scottish Cup titles and the 1967 UEFA Champions League crown since its inception in the late 1800s. The club still regularly meets at the Anglesea Pub in North Wildwood to watch Celtic matches. There’s no doubt the members will be toasting to MacFarlane’s memory when the club next meets there when Celtic is next in action for pre-season friendlies in July.

MacFarlane is survived by sons Jerry, Patrick and Michael, and predeceased by his wife, Anna, and another son, Kevin. Patrick and Kevin were standout soccer players in their own right who went on to successful college careers. Patrick’s uniform number is retired at Wildwood Catholic.

MacFarlane is also survived by three grandchildren. 

A visitation for MacFarlane will be held Monday, June 2, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Radzieta Funeral Home in Cape May Court House. Another visitation is set for Tuesday, June 3, from 10 to 11 a.m. at St. Brendan The Navigator Parish, Maris Stella Church, in Avalon. A mass will follow at 11 a.m.