Al Miller (soccer)

Last updated

Al Miller
Al Miller, NASL 1975 media guide page 26.png
Miller circa 1975
Personal information
Full name Al Miller
Date of birth (1936-12-17) December 17, 1936 (age 87)
Place of birth Lebanon, Pennsylvania, United States
Position(s) Midfielder
College career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1956–1959 East Stroudsburg Warriors
Managerial career
1961–1966 New Paltz State
1967–1972 Hartwick College
1973–1975 Philadelphia Atoms
1975 United States
1976–1980 Dallas Tornado
1980–1981 Calgary Boomers
1983 Tampa Bay Rowdies

Al Miller (born December 17, 1936) is an American former collegiate and professional soccer coach. After leaving coaching, he then became a general manager for two indoor soccer clubs in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Contents

Youth

Miller was born in Lebanon, Pennsylvania and grew up in Ono, Pennsylvania. He attended East Stroudsburg State College where he played on both the soccer and basketball teams. He was a midfielder who earned second team All American recognition in 1958 and 1959.

Coaching

Collegiate

While he starred as a soccer and basketball player, his first job was as the Albright College golf coach. He gained his first soccer coaching position with New Paltz State. He spent five years with the New Paltz, winning three New York Conference Championships.

In 1967, Hartwick College hired Miller. In his six seasons at Hartwick, he took the team to a 64–12–3 record and a 1970 Final Four appearance.

NASL

Several events led to Miller moving from the collegiate to the professional coaching ranks. Tom McCloskey, a wealthy Philadelphia businessman was interested in owning a professional sports team. While attending the 1973 Super Bowl, Lamar Hunt broached the subject of McCloskey starting a North American Soccer League (NASL) franchise in Philly. The NASL awarded McCloskey a team to begin play in the 1973 season. With very little time to prepare, McCloskey, and his general manager Bob Ehlinger, hired Miller who was both a successful collegiate soccer coach and from the Philadelphia area, as the Philadelphia Atoms first coach.

Miller decided to build the Atoms around a core of native U.S. players. This was significant in that most NASL teams used U.S. players as goalkeepers or bench warmers. Miller took Bob Rigby with the first pick in the 1973 NASL college draft. Rigby went on to become one of the best goalkeepers in the NASL. In the second round, Miller selected Bobby Smith who was selected as a second team All Star his rookie year. Miller then took his team to England to train. While there noticed several players who he thought could help his team. He negotiated an on loan arrangement for Andy Provan, Jim Fryatt and Chris Dunleavy.

The selection of Miller proved to be a significant advantage for the Atoms. His decision to use U.S. players made the team immediately popular in Philadelphia. Miller was also personable became media darling. Besides creating a team popular with the fans, Miller also created a talented team which ran to a 9–2–8 record and a spot in the playoffs. In the semifinals, the Atoms crushed the Toronto Metros 3–0, then easily handled the Dallas Tornado 2–0, to take the 1973 NASL title. (Miller was named NASL Coach of the Year, the only US-born manager to win that award in the league's 17-year history.)

Miller continued his contributions to U.S. soccer when he brought Francisco Marcos into the Atoms. Marcos had played at Hartwick when Miller coached there and Miller now gave Marcos his first taste in soccer management, a skill he would develop over years in the NASL, then as the founder of the United Soccer Leagues.

In 1974, McCloskey promoted Miller to general manager, a position he held in addition to his coaching duties. In 1975, he drafted Chris Bahr who became the 1975 NASL Rookie of the Year and later became a standout National Football League placekicker.

Miller was unable to replicate his 1974 success and the team slowly became a drain on McCloskey's finances. In 1975, he sold the team to a Mexican group. With the change in ownership, Miller elected to move to the Dallas Tornado. He spent the 1976 through 1980 season with the Tornado, gaining the playoff semifinals in 1980. After Dallas lost that semifinal match with the New York Cosmos, Miller announced his resignation as coach in the locker room. While with Dallas, Miller had a hand in giving another significant individual his start when he drafted Glenn Myernick with the first pick of the 1976 College Draft.

He then moved to the Calgary Boomers, taking them into the playoffs in 1981. The Boomers folded at the end of the season and Miller found himself without a team until hired by the Tampa Bay Rowdies during the 1982 season. During the winter he guided the Rowdies to their third indoor title in 1983. [1] In doing so he joined Eddie Firmani and Ron Newman as the only coaches to win NASL titles in both the outdoor league and the indoor variant. His indoor success with the Rowdies did not translate outdoors however, as the team finished 7–23. He resigned on October 5, 1983, after disagreements with the team's management.

National team

When Dettmar Cramer, the first-ever full-time head coach of the U.S. national team, quit in 1975, he was replaced by Miller on an interim basis. Miller's tenure was brief, only two matches: in a home-and-home series of friendlies against Poland, the U.S. was crushed 7–0 in Poznan and 4–0 in Seattle. Manfred Schellscheidt, one of Miller's players on the Atoms, took over the job that summer.

General manager

After leaving the Tampa Bay Rowdies, Miller never again coached a professional team. Instead he entered team management with the Cleveland Force of Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). He oversaw the Force from 1984 until it folded at the end of the 1987–1988 season.

He then moved on to become the general manager of the United States Soccer Federation for a year. On February 22, 1989, Cleveland was awarded a new MISL franchise, the Cleveland Crunch.
The Crunch hired Miller as its general manager, a position he held for the next ten years. In July 1992, the MISL folded and the Crunch moved to the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). In Miller's ten years, the Crunch won three championships (1994 over St. Louis; 1996 over Kansas City; 1999 over Milwaukee) and lost another three title series (1991 to San Diego; 1993 and 1997, both to Kansas City).

Media

ESPN later signed Miller as a color commentator on ESPN's Mundial Sports. He also has narrated a series of films on soccer and wrote a chapter in the book Winning Soccer.

East Stroudsburg State College inducted Miller into its Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987. Hartwick college inducted Miller into its Hall of Fame in 1995. That same year, Miller was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

In 2008, Miller was inducted into the New Paltz Hall of Fame along with the 1965 Men's championship soccer team. [2]

Miller made news headlines again in 2012 at the age of 75, when he survived an alligator attack while playing golf with two friends at the Lake Ashton Golf Course in Lake Wales, Florida. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philadelphia Atoms</span> Defunct American soccer club

The Philadelphia Atoms were an American soccer team based out of Philadelphia that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL). They played from 1973 to 1976, at Veterans Stadium (1973–75) and Franklin Field (1976). The club's colors were blue and white. The club was succeeded by the Philadelphia Fury in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kai Haaskivi</span> Finnish footballer and coach (born 1955)

Kai Haaskivi is a retired Finnish soccer player. He starred in the North American Soccer League, playing outdoor as well as indoor soccer. He also played for the Finland national football team. He now coaches in the United States.

Kyle Rote Jr. is an American former professional soccer forward who played seven seasons in the North American Soccer League (NASL) and earned five caps with the United States men's national soccer team between 1973 and 1975. He led the NASL in scoring in 1973. He later coached the Memphis Americans of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Glenn "Mooch" Myernick was an American soccer player and coach. He won the 1976 Hermann Trophy as that year’s outstanding collegiate player. He then spent eight seasons in the North American Soccer League and one in Major Indoor Soccer League. Myernick also earned 10 caps with the U.S. national team. After retiring from playing professionally, Myernick spent over twenty years as a professional and national team coach.

Perry Van der Beck is an American former soccer player, former coach and technical director, and the former Vice President of Competition and Operations for the United Soccer League.

Billy Gazonas is a former U.S. soccer midfielder who won the 1977 Hermann Trophy as the top collegiate soccer player of the year. He played four seasons in the North American Soccer League and several in Major Indoor Soccer League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David D'Errico</span> American soccer player (born 1952)

David D'Errico is an American soccer player who played as a defender. He spent eight years in the North American Soccer League (NASL), five in Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) and one in the United Soccer League (USL). He won three MISL championships with the NY Arrows and earned 21 caps with the United States national team between 1974 and 1977, also captaining the team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pedro DeBrito</span> American soccer player (1959–2014)

Pedro Guilherme DeBrito was a soccer player who played as a midfielder. His career took him through multiple U.S. leagues including the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League, American Soccer League and the National Professional Soccer League. Born in Portuguese Cape Verde, he earned one cap with the United States national team in 1983.

Robert "Bobby" Smith is a retired U.S. soccer defender who spent nine years in the North American Soccer League and one in the League of Ireland and the Major Indoor Soccer League. He also earned eighteen caps with the United States men's national soccer team and is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Joey Fink is a retired American soccer forward who spent six seasons in the North American Soccer League, two in the American Soccer League and seven in Major Indoor Soccer League. He also earned six caps with the U.S. national team between 1973 and 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Best (soccer)</span> Soccer player (1940–2014)

John Best was a professional soccer player who played as a defender, spending six seasons in the North American Soccer League where he was a five-time first team All Star. He later coached the NASL Seattle Sounders and served as the general manager of the Sounders and the Vancouver Whitecaps. Born in England, he also earned one cap with the United States national team in 1973.

Doug Wark is a former Scottish-American soccer forward who spent five seasons in the North American Soccer League and three in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He earned one cap with the U.S. national team in 1975.

Roy Turner is a former soccer player who spent one season in the National Professional Soccer League, eleven in the North American Soccer League. He then went on to manage the Wichita Wings of Major Indoor Soccer League for eight seasons. Born in England, he earned two caps for the United States national team.

David Grimaldi is a retired American professional soccer defender who spent three seasons in the North American Soccer League, three in the Major Indoor Soccer League and at least one in the American Soccer League. He later served as Deputy Commissioner of MISL and the Commissioner of the National Indoor Soccer League which later became the Major Indoor Soccer League.

Keith Van Eron is a retired American soccer goalkeeper who played one season in the American Soccer League and three in the North American Soccer League. He also played the first eleven seasons of Major Indoor Soccer League, winning the 1984 championship with the Baltimore Blast. He was the 1986 MISL Goalkeeper of the Year.

Gary Allison is a retired German-born American soccer player. This outstanding goalkeeper played professionally, for 12 years, from 1973-1984, in the NASL, ASL(American Soccer League) and MISL( Major Indoor Soccer League) after attending Westmont College (1969-1972) in Santa Barbara, Ca.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Stankovic</span> Serbian-American soccer player

Mike Stankovic is a retired Serbian-American soccer defender who played professionally in the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timo Liekoski</span> Finnish footballer and manager (born 1942)

Timo Liekoski is a Finnish soccer coach who managed teams in the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League, American Indoor Soccer Association and Major League Soccer. He currently holds a variety of coaching positions with the Football Association of Finland.

Charlie Kadupski is a retired American soccer defender who played at Lyman Memorial High School in Lebanon, Connecticut and professionally in the North American Soccer League, American Soccer League and United Soccer League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Newman</span> English footballer (1936–2018)

Ronald Vernon Newman was an English professional association football player and coach. He was a member of the American National Soccer Hall of Fame.

References

  1. ↑ "The Evening Independent – Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  2. ↑ "2008 Class Inducted Into Hall of Fame". New Paltz University News. October 18, 2008. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Former Rowdies soccer coach survives alligator attack". tbo.com. May 1, 2012. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.