Bruce
Arena A successful coach at several levels. Arena
won a string of NCAA championships with the University
of Virginia, won two MLS titles in three seasons
with D.C. United, coached the United States in the
1996 Olympic Games and had a run of success as coach
of the U.S. men’s national team beginning in
1998.
Esse
Baharmast One of the leading
American referees in the 1990s. Baharmast was MLS'
top referee from 1996
to 1998 and a FIFA international referee from 1993
to 1998, including referrring at the 1998 World Cup.
He later became a USSF official.
Chuck
Blazer An official of the USSF,
the third ASL, CONCACAF and FIFA. Blazer was an official
of
the USSF
for several years in the 1980s, a co-founder of
the third ASL in 1988 and became General Secretary
of
CONCACAF in 1991. In 1996, he was named to a place
on the Executive
Committee of FIFA.
Bob
Contiguglia Former President
of the U.S. Soccer Federation. Contiguglia, who had
served from 1990
to 1996 as chairman of the U.S. Youth Soccer
Association, was elected to the USSF presidency in
1998 and
re-elected to a second four-year term in 2002.
William
Cox A professional league
and team official. Cox was founder and president
of the International
Soccer League, which brought leading foreign
teams to New York for six years in the 1960s,
and president
of the NASL's San Diego Toros.
Gino
D'Ippolito A referee in the North
American Soccer League and international games. D'Ippolito
was an
NASL referee from 1973 to 1984 and a FIFA international
referee from 1976 to 1985. He also refereed for
many years in the MISL.
Anson
Dorrance The most prominent
coach of women's soccer. Dorrance was coach of the
U.S. women's
national team from 1986 to 1994, including its
victory in
the first Women's World Cup, and coach of the
University of North Carolina women's team from
1979 to date,
winning
15 of the first 18 NCAA Division I women's soccer
titles.
Bob
Gansler U.S. national team coach
and a prominent club coach. Gansler was coach of
the U.S. men's
national team from 1989 to 1991, including the
1990 World
Cup, and coached Kansas City of MLS and Milwaukee
of the
A-League to league titles.
Robert
Kraft One of the original MLS
team “owners.” Kraft
has been investor/operator of the New England
Revolution for 12 MLS seasons, from 1996 to date.
Frank
Longo An official of the U.S.
Soccer Federation. Longo, a former college soccer
coach, was chief
of staff of the USSF headquarters for several
years in the 1990s, and was chairman of the Hall
of Fame's
Veterans
Committee.
Joe
Machnik An MLS official, including serving
as a league vice president, since the league’s inception.
Machink had also held various coaching positions in
earlier years, including goalkeeper coach of the men’s
national team at the 1990 World Cup.
Francisco
Marcos Longtime leader of
the United Soccer Leagues organization. Marcos, who
had
been an official
of several NASL teams, founded the USL in 1987
as the Southwest Indoor Soccer League and led
its growth
through
a series of phases. He also served as commissioner
of the A-League and a vice president of the USSF.
Fritz
Marth Longtime executive
director of the U.S. Amateur (now Adult) Soccer
Association.
Marth was
leader of that organization from 1981 to 2002,
including the
years when it conducted the U.S. Open Cup competition
along with its other tournaments.
Thom
Meredith An NASL, USSF and WUSA
official. Meredith, who was publicity director for
several
NASL teams,
became the USSF director of communications in
the 1980s. He was the USSF director of events
for most
of the
1990s and was a vice president of the WUSA during
that league’s three-year existence.
Kevin
Payne An MLS team official.
Payne was general manager of the D.C. United team
during its championship
years in the late 1990s, and then became an
executive of Anshutz Entertainment Group, owner of
several
MLS franchises, and a leader of the group that
bought D.C.
United from AEG in 2005. Currently serves as
President and Chief Executive Officer of D.C.
United.
George
Strawbridge The founder of
the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer
League.
Strawbridge was owner and president of one
of
the NASL's leading
teams
from 1975 to 1983.
Information
This is a list of people who are eligible and have been selected by vote
of the Builder Screening Committee to be candidates in the election
that will choose a builder to be inducted into the National Soccer
Hall of Fame in 2008. This list is based on the criteria that were
established by the Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors in April
2007. Because non-playing accomplishments are not subject to the sort
of statistical recordkeeping that playing accomplishments are, it is
sometimes difficult to determine who has and who has not met those
criteria. However, the Hall of Fame’s historians have examined
all the available materials and made determinations that the people
on this list have met the criteria. An exception may apply to people
who were on the Builder eligibility list before those definite criteria
were established and who are over 50. Those people have been “grandfathered” onto
this list whether they have met those criteria or not.
Click
here to see the eligibility criteria. |
