- Bill Irwin (footballer)
Football player infobox
playername = Bill Irwin
fullname = William Irwin
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1951|07|23
cityofbirth =Newtownards
countryofbirth =Northern Ireland
height = height|ft=6|in=3
position =Goalkeeper
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = ?-1971
1971-1978
1978-1980
1981
1982
1982-1983
1985-1986
1986-1987
clubs = Bangor
Cardiff CityWashington Diplomats Dallas Tornado
Portland Timbers
Golden Bay EarthquakesMinnesota Strikers (indoor)Wichita Wings (indoor)
caps(goals) = 00? (?)
180 (0)
073 (0)
028 (0)
025 (0)
050 (0)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears = 1987-2003
2003-
managerclubs =University of Portland (assistant)University of Portland
pcupdate =
ntupdate =William "Bill" Irwin (born
23 July ,1951 inNewtownards ) is a former Northern Irish professional footballer currently working as director of soccer at theUniversity of Portland Career
An Irish amateur international, Irwin began his career at Bangor before moving to Welsh side Cardiff City in 1971. Brought in to replace Frank Parsons, Irwin was thrown straight into the Cardiff side and performed admirably, including winning the 1971-1972 BBC save of the season award for a spectacular save during a 2-0 defeat in the
FA Cup against Leeds United in February 1992. During theWelsh Cup final match during the 1972-73 season Irwin became the first Cardiff goalkeeper to be sent off during a match after receiving his marching orders against Bangor City. Irwin held the position of first choice goalkeeper for four seasons until the arrival ofRon Healey . He eventually left the club in 1978 and went to play for theWashington Diplomats in theNASL .He went on to play at various teams in the NASL before finishing his career with two years playing indoor football in the Major Indoor Soccer League. After his retirement Irwin took up an assistant manager role at the University of Portland alongside former Cardiff teammate
Clive Charles . During his time at the University he has an impressive record of training goalkeepers. The five starting goalkeepers who have trained under Irwin,Greg Maas ,Kasey Keller ,Stuart Dobson ,Scott Hileman and most recentlyCurtis Spiteri , have all gone on to play professional football. Following the sudden death of Charles in 2003 Irwin was promoted to headcoach after serving as his assistant for sixteen years.Irwin has been involved with goalkeeper coaching throughout the US women's teams and various youth levels of the men's team. [ [https://www.portlandpilots.com/sports/msoccer/coach/bio.asp?COACH_ID=63 "Bill Irwin"] Portlandilots.com Retrieved on
11 March ,2008 ]Personal life
Irwin and his wife, Liz, live in Portland with their two sons Bryan, who plays for the university team, and Nicholas.
References
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