John Doyle (soccer)

Infobox Football biography
playername= John Doyle
fullname = John Doyle
nickname =


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1966|4|16
cityofbirth =
countryofbirth = United States
height = height|ft=6|in=3
currentclub = San Jose Earthquakes (General Manager)
clubnumber =
position = Defender (Retired)
youthyears = 1986-1990
youthclubs = University of San Francisco
years = 1989-1990
1990-1994
1994-1995
1995 1996-2000
clubs = San Francisco Bay Blackhawks
Örgryte IS
VfB Leipzig
→ Atlanta Ruckus "(loan)"
San Jose Earthquakes
caps(goals) =
007 0(0)
025 0(1)
135 (11)
nationalyears = 1987–1994
nationalteam = United States
nationalcaps(goals) = 053 0(3)
manageryears = 2004-2005
2008-
managerclubs = San Jose Earthquakes "(Assistant Coach)"
San Jose Earthquakes "(General Manager)"
pcupdate = 31 May 2006
ntupdate = 22 June 2006

John Doyle (born April 16, 1966) is a retired U.S. soccer defender who played professionally in both the U.S. and Europe. He earned fifty-three caps with the U.S. national team between 1987 and 1994 including three games with the U.S. team at the 1988 Summer Olympics. He is currently the general manager of the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer [http://www.mlsnet.com//news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20071003&content_id=121203&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp] [ [http://web.mlsnet.com/t110/news/article.jsp?content_id=10032007_jd The Official Site of Earthquakes Soccer, LLC] ] .

Youth

Doyle attended Washington High School in Fremont, California where he played on the boy's soccer team. The team won the league championship Doyle's senior year. At the end of his senior year, he held the school's scoring record and had been named All League each year he played. Doyle also played soccer with the Fremont City youth soccer club where he was a four-time state champion. After high school, he attended the University of San Francisco where he played college soccer. He earned All American honors as a defender.

National team

In 1987, the U.S. Olympic team called in Doyle for a May 30, 1987 qualification match against Canada. The U.S. had lost 2-0 to Canada a week earlier and needed to win by that margin or greater to continue qualification. The team rose to the challenge and defeated Canada 3-0. Doyle continued to play with the Olympic team, including its three games at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. In those games, he scored a goal in the 4-2 loss to the Soviet Union. He would continue to play for the national team in 1989, when the U.S. began qualifaction for the 1990 FIFA World Cup

Western Soccer League

In 1989 and 1990, Doyle also played with the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks of the Western Soccer League (WSL) during the college soccer off-season. In 1989, he was named to the WSL All Star team. [ [http://a-leaguearchive.tripod.com/1989/1989wsl.htm 1989 WSA Stats] ]

Europe

In 1990, he moved to Europe where he signed with Swedish club Örgryte IS.

In 1994, he played for German First Division club VfB Leipzig. [ [http://www.pawlitta.de/fussball/bundesliga/teams/vfb_leipzig/spieler.htm Bundesliga Stats] ] Leipzig had won promotion to the First Division in 1993, but lasted only one year there, finishing last in 1994 and being demoted to the Second Division for the next season.

Return to the U.S.

With the demotion of Leipzig, Doyle signed with Major League Soccer (MLS). However, when the league delayed its first season to 1996, Doyle joined the Atlanta Ruckus of the A-League on loan from MLS for their inaugural season. The Ruckus developed their team around the team captain-Doyle led defense, which it rode to the league's championship game where the Ruckus lost to the Seattle Sounders. Doyle was selected to the league All Star team and was named the league Defender of the Year. [ [http://goalseattle.com/gallery/1996SeattleSoundersMediaGuide/1996media_11 1996 Seattle Sounders Media Guide] ]

In order to ensure an initial equitable distribution of talent to each of the league's new teams, MLS allocated well known players. Doyle was allocated to the San Jose Clash. At the end of the A-League season, Doyle moved back to the Bay Area, becoming the first player, and first team captain, in the Clash's history in 1996. He was then named MLS's first Defender of the Year. John scored 11 goals and 15 assists in his time in the league.

Post playing career

After his retirement from the Earthquakes, John worked as TV and radio color commentator for the Earthquakes. In 2004 he was hired as assistant coach for the Quakes, replacing Dominic Kinnear who was promoted as head coach after Frank Yallop's departure to coach the Canadian national team. He stayed on with the Quakes until the franchise was relocated to Houston for the 2006 season.

John has also served as the director of a very successful youth club in Danville, California, called Mustang Soccer. From ages 5 to 19, all levels and teams in Mustang Soccer excel in all tournaments and games.

On October 3, 2007, he was named the new general manager of the San Jose Earthquakes, the first coach for the club after two seasons of inactivity.

He was inducted into the University of San Francisco Hall of Fame in 1999.

External links

* [http://www.lgusl.org/Coaching/coach_clinic1.htm Excellent career overview. Includes interview]
* [http://www.mustangsoccer.com/CoachingDirectorProfile.htm Year by year bio]
* [http://web.mlsnet.com/players/bio.jsp?team=sje&player=doyle_j Earthquakes team profile]
* [http://www.soccerhall.org/2004/Player_Bios.htm National Hall of Fame eligibility bio]

References