Aaran Franklyn Lines (born 21 December 1976) is a New Zealand retired

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and former head coach of the

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American soccer club based in Elma, New York that competed in the United Women's Soccer league. They have won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-League in 2010, Women's Pro ...

. He represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

at international level.

Club career

Born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, Lines moved to Germany at the age of 16 to join SV Werder Bremen's youth team of the German Bundesliga, following his appearance playing in an U-17 tournament in Japan. Lines played 80 games with the Werder Bremen youth team and 60 games with the reserve team. In 1997, Lines moved to

VfL Osnabrück VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis but is by far best known for its football section. History Foundation to WW2 The c ...

where he appeared in over 80 matches in the first and second Bundesliga. At the start of the new century, the New Zealand native headed back home to play in the newly launched A-League for the Auckland Football Kingz (now the Wellington Phoenix). Following his stint in the A-League, Lines returned to Europe where he played for

Dresdner SC Dresdner Sportclub 1898 e.V., known simply as Dresdner SC, is a German multisport club playing in Dresden, Saxony. Founded on 30 April 1898, the club was a founding member of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball Bund) in 1900. Th ...

of the 2. Bundesliga, and Ruch Chorzów and

Arka Gdynia Morski Związkowy Klub Sportowy Arka Gdynia () is a Polish professional football club, based in Gdynia, Poland, that plays in the Polish I liga. The club was founded as Klub Sportowy Gdynia in 1929. History The history of Arka dates back to ...

of the Polish first division. Lines then headed to America to play for the Portland Timbers of the USL, and in 2006 made the move to Rochester, NY to play for the

Rochester Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos t ...

. Lines appeared in over 40 matches for the Rhinos in the last two years of his career, including the 2006 USL Championship match.

International career

Lines played representative age group football for New Zealand, making ten New Zealand U17, eight New Zealand U20 and nine New Zealand U23 appearances before making his full

debut in a 1–0 win over

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

on 25 September 1998. He was included in the New Zealand side for the 1999 Confederations Cup finals tournament in Mexico where he featured in all three group games, and again for the

2003 Confederations Cup The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vi ...

finals tournament in France where he made a single appearance against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Lines ended his international playing career with 31 official full international caps and four goals to his credit, his final cap an appearance in a 2–0 win over

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

on 6 June 2004.

Coaching career

After his two seasons with the Rochester Rhinos, Lines retired and accepted a coaching position with the semi-professional expansion W-League franchise Buffalo Flash. Lines led the Buffalo Flash to an impressive 10–3–3 record in their inaugural season and a trip to the second round of the playoffs. In only his second year of coaching, he led the squad to an undefeated season and a W-League Championship defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps 3–1 in Santa Clarita, CA. Lines was named the Fieldturf 2010 Coach of the Year. The WNY Flash joined Women's Professional Soccer as an expansion club in September 2010. Lines led a squad featuring five-time FIFA World Player of the Year Marta, Christine Sinclair and

Alex Morgan Alexandra Morgan Carrasco (born Alexandra Patricia Morgan; July 2, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker and captains for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division o ...

to the 2011 WPS title. In 2013 the WNY Flash was announced as one of eight franchises selected by US Soccer to compete in the NWSL. Lines led the Flash, with a roster including Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd to the regular-season title with a record of 9-4-8. In the semi-final playoff game, the Flash beat Sky Blue 2–0 at Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, NY. The Flash lost the championship 2–0 to the

Portland Thorns FC The Portland Thorns FC is an American professional women's soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which receives support from the Uni ...

in front of over 8,000 fans. Lines focuses on the development of the WNY Flash Youth Academy. He continues to manage Sahlen's Sports Park indoor facility and oversee the direction of the Euros and Champions Soccer series based in Elma, NY.

Career statistics

2004 MATCHES OCEANIA
/ref> :''Scores and results list New Zealand's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lines goal.''

Managerial statistics

All competitive league games (league and domestic cup) and international matches (including friendlies) are included.

References

External links

Aaran Lines Interview
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lines, Aaran 1976 births Living people Sportspeople from Lower Hutt New Zealand association footballers Association football midfielders New Zealand international footballers 1998 OFC Nations Cup players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 OFC Nations Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2004 OFC Nations Cup players USL First Division players National Soccer League (Australia) players Ekstraklasa players SV Werder Bremen II players Kickers Emden players VfL Osnabrück players Football Kingz F.C. players Dresdner SC players Ruch Chorzów players Arka Gdynia players Portland Timbers (2001–2010) players Rochester New York FC players National Women's Soccer League coaches Western New York Flash coaches New Zealand association football coaches New Zealand expatriate association footballers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate footballers in Poland Women's Professional Soccer coaches