 Roy circa 1984 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Willy Roy | ||
| Date of birth | (1943-02-08)February 8, 1943 (age 83) | ||
| Place of birth | Treuberg,Nazi Germany | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1964–1966 | Hansa | ||
| 1967–1968 | Chicago Spurs | 27 | (17) |
| 1968 | Kansas City Spurs | 15 | (6) |
| 1971–1974 | Saint Louis Stars | 43 | (18) |
| 1975 | Ukrainian Lions | ||
| 1975 | Chicago Sting | 14 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 1965–1973 | United States | 20 | (9) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1977–1986 | Chicago Sting | ||
| 1987–2002 | Northern Illinois Huskies | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of May 31, 2006 ‡ National team caps and goals as of June 22, 2006 | |||
Willy Roy (born February 8, 1943) is an American retired soccerforward and coach. He played for several teams in theNational Professional Soccer League and theNorth American Soccer League in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as theUnited States national team from 1965 to 1973. He is a member of theNational Soccer Hall of Fame.
When Roy was six, his family moved to the United States fromGermany, settling in Chicago. After attendingReavis High School and winning the 1961 IHSA Wrestling Team State Championship and individual 145 lb State Championship in what is nowBurbank, Illinois, he began playing semi-pro soccer in the Chicago area. In 1964, he joined Hansa of theNational Soccer League of Chicago. In 1966, Hansa won thePeter J. Peel Challenge Cup as the Illinois State Champion. The year prior, the team lost to the New York Ukrainians in theNational Challenge Cup.
The year 1966 saw a series of events that had a major impact on Roy's future career. Three separate groups decided to form a professional league in the U.S. Through various negotiations, two of the groups merged to form theNational Professional Soccer League (NPSL). While theUSSF andFIFA refused to recognize the NPSL, it gained a television contract withCBS, thereby guaranteeing some element of financial stability.
Up to this point, Roy played almost exclusively with local Chicago minor league teams and the U.S. national team.
Once again, external soccer events impacted Roy's career. The NPSL merged with theUnited Soccer Association in December 1967 to form theNorth American Soccer League. That year, the Spurs also moved to Kansas City. Roy moved with the team and spent one season there. Roy experienced a sophomore slump in1968, playing 15 games, scoring 6 goals and assisting on 4 others. However, the team played well, losing to theAtlanta Chiefs in the playoff semifinals.
Roy moved on to theSaint Louis Stars (NASL) in 1971. In his three seasons with the Stars, he scored 18 goals and assisted on 16 others. In 1972, the team made it to theNASL final, losing to theNew York Cosmos 2–1.
After retiring from the national team, Roy continued to play professionally for a few more years. In 1975, he moved to his last team, the expansionChicago Sting. He would play a single season with the Sting, statistically the worst of his career. He scored no goals and made 3 assists in 14 games. He retired from playing at the end of the season.
In 1965, Roy made his debut with theUnited States national team in a1966 FIFA World Cup qualification match againstMexico in Mexico City, a 2-0 loss. He earned his secondcap nine days later in a tie withHonduras which ended the U.S. attempt to qualify for the1966 World Cup.
Roy enjoyed relative success with the national team in 1968. He played eight games, scoring six goals. In those eight games, the national team went 4–3–1. More significantly, four of those games were qualifying matches for the1970 FIFA World Cup. In those three games, the U.S. went 3–1 with Roy scoring 3 goals. The next year, he played only a single game with the national team, a 2–0 loss toHaiti. That game, combined with a second loss to Haiti a month later spelled the end to yet another U.S. attempt to qualify for a World Cup. Roy would not play for the national team again until it began playing qualification games for the1974 World Cup.
In 1972, Roy played four games with the national team, all1974 World Cup qualifying matches. The U.S. went 0–3–1, failing to reach yet another World Cup. Despite the team's dismal showing, Roy scored in three consecutive games, giving him a record six goals in World Cup qualifying matches. The next player to score in three consecutive matches did not come untilCobi Jones did it in 2000.[1]Roy's record of six goals in world cup qualifying matches lasted untilEarnie Stewart scored his seventh qualifying goal in 2001.[2]
Roy played five more games with the national team, all in 1973. That year, he scored once, ending his national team career with 20 games and 10 goals, one of the best scoring rates by any national team member over a sustained career.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 15, 1968 | New York, New York |  Israel | 1–2 | 3–3 | Friendly |
| 2 | October 13, 1968 | Toronto,Canada |  Canada | 1–0 | 2–4 | 1970 World Cup Qualifying |
| 3 | October 20, 1968 | Port-au-Prince, Haiti |  Haiti | ? | 6–3 | Friendly |
| 4 | November 2, 1968 | Kansas City, Missouri |  Bermuda | 4–2 | 6–2 | 1970 World Cup Qualifying |
| 5 | November 10, 1968 | Hamilton, Bermuda | Bermuda | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1970 World Cup Qualifying |
| 6 | August 20, 1972 | St. John's, Canada | Canada | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1974 World Cup Qualifying |
| 7 | August 29, 1972 | Baltimore, Maryland | Canada | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1974 World Cup Qualifying |
| 8 | September 3, 1972 | Mexico City, Mexico |  Mexico | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1974 World Cup Qualifying |
| 9 | November 13, 1973 | Tel-Aviv, Israel | Israel | 1–1 | 1–3 | Friendly |
In 1976, upon retiring from playing, Roy became an assistant coach forChicago Sting. He spent two seasons in this position, before moving up to head coach in 1979. In 1981, Roy coached the Sting to a 23–9 record and a victory in theSoccer Bowl (the NASL championship game) and earned himselfNASL Coach of the Year honors. The summer of 1984 saw Roy coach the Sting to itssecond NASL outdoor title. This would also be the last NASL championship as the league folded the following Spring.
TheMajor Indoor Soccer League had commenced operations in 1978, and it proved its success in its first two years of operation as it gained teams and the NASL lost teams to financial failure. The NASL attempted to piggyback on the MISL success, by playing an indoor season beginning in the winter of1979–1980, following its 1979 outdoor season. Roy's Sting did not do well in that first season indoors, but things improved drastically during the1980–1981 indoor season. He guided them to a division title, the league's best regular-season record, and into the finals, where they lost to theEdmonton Drillers, two games to none. The following season (1981–82) saw another division title, but this time they made an early exit from the playoffs. The NASL did not hold a full indoor season in 1982–83, so the Sting played that winter in theMISL where it finished third in the Eastern Division. Roy got the Sting on track during the1983–84 indoor season, back again in the NASL. They finished second in the standings and lost to theNew York Cosmos (1971–1985) in the playoff semifinals. With the demise of the NASL, the Sting became a full-time member of the MISL.
Roy coached the Sting for two more seasons. The team lost to the Cleveland Force in the 1985 quarterfinals but missed the playoffs in 1986, finishing with a 23–25 record. A 2–8 start the following campaign led to Roy being replaced byErich Geyer on December 23, 1986.[3]
During his time with the Sting, Roy did more than win two championships. He had an impact that went beyond the team when he coached the formerDutch National Team Head CoachDick Advocaat andUnited States women's national soccer teamGreg Ryan. Ryan later credited Roy with being a strong influence on his development as a player and coach. Ryan said, "The thing that defined Willy was, he was one of the most intense competitors as a player and that carried over to his coaching. He was so intense and so determined that he brought that quality out in his players. If he mentioned people who went on to bigger and better things, it was because they learned to work so hard and give so much."
Roy was named the men's soccer head coach atNorthern Illinois University on August 12, 1987.[4] In 1990, the Huskies had theMid-Continent Conference's best record and Roy was selected as the Mid-Con's Coach of the Year.
The school announced on February 18, 2003, that it was not renewing Roy's contract after the Huskies had three consecutive losing seasons. He finished with a 142–131–22 coaching record and two conference championships.[5] During his time with the team, it was known for the high academic standards Roy set for his players. Although his last season with the team saw a dismal 4–13–1, the Huskies ranked in the Division-I Academic top 20.
In 1989, Roy was elected to theNational Soccer Hall of Fame.[6]
He currently owns and helps his family run the Willy Roy Soccer Dome, an indoor soccer arena in Chicago, Now in his eighties, he continues to support the many players and leagues at the Soccer Dome.
In 1979, he wrote the bookCoaching Winning Soccer.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
