Builders Hall of Fame Eligibility List
This is the list of people already deemed eligible to be candidates in the election that will choose a builder be inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2010. This list is based on the criteria that were established by the Board of Directors in April 2007, and also includes several people suggested by members of the Builders review panel in October 2007. Because non-playing accomplishments are not subject to the sort of statistical recordkeeping that playing accomplishment 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 most of the people on this list have met the criteria. The exception applies to people who were on the Builders 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.
The criteria are that candidates must be at least 50 years old in 2010 or deceased and must have had a positive impact on American soccer at the national federation or first-division level lasting at least 10 years.
Eligible Builders
Nat Agar A leading team owner in the original ASL. Agar, who had been among the founders of the U.S. Football Association, was owner and coach of the Brooklyn Wanderers, and also coached the U.S. national team several times in the 1920s.
Arturo Angeles An MLS and international referee. Angeles was an MLS referee from 1996 to 1998 and a FIFA international referee from 1988 to 1998, including refereeing at the 1994 World Cup.
Bruce Arena A successful coach at several levels. Arena won a string of NCAA titles with the University of Virginia and two MLS titles in three seasons with D.C. United, coached the United States in the 1996 Olympics and was coach of the U.S. men’s national team from 1998 to 2006.
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 refereeing at the 1998 World Cup. He later became a USSF official.
Ed Bellion An NASL and international referee. Bellion was an NASL referee from 1981 to 1984 and a FIFA international referee from 1980 to 1989.
John Best Coach and administrator with several North American Soccer League teams. Best was coach of the Seattle Sounders from 1974 to 1976, and later general manager and president of the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Chuck Blazer An official of various soccer organizations. Blazer was an official of the USSF for several years in the 1980s, a co-founder of the third ASL in 1988 and became secretary of CONCACAF in 1991. In 1996, he was named to a place on the Executive Committee of FIFA.
Bob Bradley An MLS and national team coach. Bradley was coach of the Chicago Fire from 1998 to 2002, winning an MLS title and two U.S. Open Cup titles, the MetroStars from 2003 to 2005 and Chivas USA in 2006. He became coach of the U.S. men’s national team in 2007.
Angelo Bratsis An NASL and international referee. Bratsis was an NASL referee from 1981 to 1984 and a FIFA international referee from 1980 to 1990.
Gene Chyzowych U.S. national team coach and American Soccer League official. Chyzowych, later a legendary high school coach, served as president of the ASL for several years in the early 1970s and coached the U.S. national team in 1973.
Bob Contiguglia 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.
Charles Creighton A leading American referee in the decades before World War II. Creighton was one of the most prominent referees in the original American Soccer League and refereed the U.S. Open Cup final in 1914, 1918, 1927 and 1931.
Thomas Cunningham One of the most prominent referees of the original American Soccer League. Cunningham refereed the U.S. Open Cup final in 1926 and numerous games involving touring foreign teams.
Walter Daggett Founder of the Seattle Sounders of the NASL. Daggett was managing general partner of the Sounders from 1974 to 1979 and a director of the team in 1980 and 1981.
Jack Daley One of the longest-serving NASL team officials. Between 1971 and 1984, Daley was general manager of the Toronto Metros, president of the Seattle Sounders and president of the San Diego Sockers.
Tony DiCicco Women’s national team coach from 1994 to 1999. DiCicco coached the women's national team at the 1995 Women's World Cup, the 1996 Olympic Games and the 1999 Women's World Cup. He later was commissioner of the Women's United Soccer Association.
Pat Dinolfo One of the founders of the Rochester Lancers of the North American Soccer League. Dinolfo served as president of the Rochester team from 1970 to 1981.
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 an international referee from 1976 to 1985. He also refereed for many years in the MISL.
John Di Salvatore An NASL and international referee. DiSalvatore served as an NASL referee from 1973 to 1976 and a FIFA international referee from 1966 to 1973.
Raul Dominquez An MLS and international referee. Dominguez served as an MLS referee from 1996 to 1997 and a FIFA international referee from 1990 to 1997.
Robert Evans An NASL and international referee. Evans was an NASL referee from 1973 to 1984 and a FIFA international referee from 1980 to 1987.
Eddie Firmani A coach who won NASL titles with two teams. Firmani was coach of the Tampa Bay Rowdies from 1975 to 1977, the New York Cosmos from 1977 to 1979, the Philadelphia Fury in 1980 and the Montreal Manic in 1981 and 1982.
Sam Galin An American Soccer League and international referee. Galin refereed at the first North American Championships in 1947, and the U.S. Open Cup final in 1945, 1946, 1949, 1950 and 1953.
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.
Don Garber The commissioner of Major League Soccer. Garber, a former NFL official, was named MLS commissioner in the summer of 1999, and became one of the leading voices for American soccer.
Richard Geibner A FIFA international referee from 1962 to 1970.
Leo Goldstein An American Soccer League and international referee. Goldstein was one of the ASL's top referees in the 1950s and '60s. He was a FIFA international referee from 1961 to 1967 and served as a linesman at the 1962 World Cup.
Burton Haimes A leading youth soccer administrator. Haimes has served as president and chairman of the American Youth Soccer Organization, and also as a member of the boards of directors of the U.S. Soccer Federation and the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Sandra Hunt A pioneer women's referee. Hunt was the leading American female referee in the 1990s and was a FIFA international referee from 1999 (when FIFA began naming female referees) to 2004. She was an MLS referee from 1998 to 2000 and a WUSA referee from 2001 to 2003.
Gordon Jago The coach of two NASL teams. Jago coached the Baltimore Bays in 1968 and 1969, and the Tampa Bay Rowdies from 1978 to 1982. He was coach of the U.S. national team in 1969 and later a leading figure in professional indoor soccer.
Toros Kibritjian An NASL and international referee. Kibritjian was an NASL referee throughout the league's existence, from 1968 to 1984, and a FIFA international referee from 1968 to 1983.
Larry King An NASL and international referee. King was an NASL referee from 1974 to 1977 and a FIFA international referee from 1965 to 1977.
Robert Kraft One of the original MLS team “owners.” Kraft has been investor/operator of the New England Revolution for 14 MLS seasons, from 1996 to date.
Tom Kutis Owner of one of the most famous teams in American soccer history. Kutis owned the Kutis SC team of St. Louis, which won the U.S. Open Cup in 1957 and the National Amateur Cup in six consecutive seasons, 1956 to 1961.
Henry Landauer An NASL and international referee. Landauer was an NASL referee from 1968 to 1979 and a FIFA international referee from 1964 to 1979. In 1970, he became the first American ever to referee a game at the World Cup finals.
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.
Francisco Marcos Longtime leader of the United Soccer Leagues. Marcos, 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 has been commissioner of the A-League and a vice president of the USSF.
Sam Mark The owner of the Fall River Marksmen of the original American Soccer League, that league's outstanding team. Mark, who bought the team in 1922, built Mark's Stadium in Tiverton, R.I., the leading American soccer stadium of its day.
Fritz Marth Longtime executive director of the U.S. Amateur Soccer Association. Marth was leader of that organization from 1981 to 2002, including the years when it conducted the U.S. Open Cup along with its other tournaments.
Vince Mauro An NASL and international referee. Mauro was a NASL referee from 1982 to 1984. After serving as a FIFA international referee from 1985 to 1991, including refereeing at the 1990 World Cup, he later was the U.S. Soccer Federation's director of officials.
James McFarlane A leading pre-World War II referee. McFarlane was one of the top referees in the American Soccer League, and refereed the U.S. Open Cup final in 1929, 1932 and 1935.
Bill McNutt A co-founder of the Dallas Tornado. McNutt was a president of that team from 1968 to 1973 and a director from 1974 to 1981, and well as a director of the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1982 and 1983.
Thom Meredith An NASL, USSF and WUSA official. Meredith, 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 a vice president of the WUSA throughout its existence.
Lothar Osiander A U.S. national team, U.S. Olympic team and MLS coach. Osiander, coach of the national team from 1986 to 1989, coached the U.S. teams in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games, and the Los Angeles and Tampa Bay teams in MLS.
Duncan Othen An American Soccer League coach and team official. Othen was manager of the Brooklyn Hispano team from 1940 to 1951, including the team that won both the ASL title and the U.S. Open Cup in 1943.
Kevin Payne An MLS team official. Payne was general manager of D.C. United during its title years in the late 1990s. He later was 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.
Harry Rogers A longtime prominent American referee. Rogers, one of the leading referees of the American Soccer League and college soccer in the mid-20th century, continued refereeing for many years.
Charlie Schiano A founder of the Rochester Lancers. Schaino was chairman of the board of that team in the NASL from 1970 to 1981. Earlier, he had been president of the American Soccer League.
Sigi Schmid A college and MLS coach. Schmid coached the Los Angeles Galaxy from 1999 to 2004, the Columbus Crew from 2006 to 2008 and the Seattle Sounders in 2009. Earlier, he had been coach at UCLA for 19 years, winning three NCAA titles, and an assistant coach of the U.S team at the 1994 World Cup. MLS coach of the year in 1999 and 2008.
David Socha An NASL and international referee. Socha was an NASL referee from 1978 to 1984 and a FIFA international referee from 1977 to 1986, including refereeing in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups.
Peter Strasser Owner of one of the nation's best teams in the 1940s. Strasser, a jeweler, owned the Morgan Strasser team of Morgan, Pa., a leading team in the Keystone League of western Pennsylvania and winner of the U.S. Open Cup in 1949.
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.
Thomas Syme FIFA international referee from 1949 to 1968.
Kevin Terry A FIFA and MLS referee. Terry was a FIFA international referee from 1998 to 2004 and an MLS referee from 1996 to 2005.
Jim Trecker An NASL public relations official. Trecker was the New York Cosmos director of public relations in 1976 and 1977, and NASL director of public relations in 1978 and 1979. He later was an official of the USSF and the 1994 World Cup organization.
Keith Walker An administrator with both the North American Soccer League and the U.S. Soccer Federation. Walker was the NASL director of officials from 1979 to 1982 and secretary of the USSF from 1987 to 1990.
Mike Wuertz An NASL and international referee. Wuertz was an NASL referee from 1978 to 1984 and a FIFA international referee from 1967 to 1979.
|
