William Irwin (born 23 July 1951) is a Northern Irish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, currently working as director of soccer at the

University of Portland , mottoeng = The truth will set you free , established = 1901 , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Catholic (Congregation of Holy Cross) , endowment = $218 million , president = Robert D. Kelly , students = 3,731 (fall 20 ...

and head coach of the United States women's under-23 side.

Personal life

Irwin and his wife, Liz, live in Portland with their two sons Bryan, who played for the Portland university team, and Nicholas.

Playing career

An Irish amateur international, Irwin began his career at Bangor where he was managed by Charlie Tully. During his spell at the club, he helped win the clubs first honours when they won the

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Fo ...

and the

City Cup The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959. The inaugural city cup was contested ...

in successive seasons. Prior to his death Tully had recommended Irwin to his former club Celtic but the move never materialised and he eventually joined Welsh side Cardiff City in 1971. Brought in to replace Frank Parsons, Irwin was thrown straight into the Cardiff side and performed admirably, including winning the 1971–1972 BBC save of the season award for a spectacular save during a 2–0 defeat in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

in February 1972. He also became the first Cardiff goalkeeper to be sent off during a match after receiving his marching orders against Bangor City during the 1972–73

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the mos ...

final. Irwin held the position of first choice goalkeeper for four seasons, beating off competition from Parsons and Jim Eadie, until the arrival of

Ron Healey Ronald Healey (30 August 1952 – 18 June 2018) was an Irish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in England, Healey played for Cardiff City and Manchester City during his career and earned two caps for the Republic of Irel ...

in 1974 saw him lose his place. He eventually left the club in 1978 and went to play for the

Washington Diplomats The Washington Diplomats were an American soccer club representing Washington, D.C. Throughout their playing existence, the club played their home games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and indoor soccer, indoor home matches at the neigh ...

in the NASL. He went on to play at various teams in the NASL before finishing his career with two years playing indoor football in the Major Indoor Soccer League. In December 1984 he joined Irish League side

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

until the end of January 1985.

Coaching career

After his retirement Irwin took up an assistant manager role at the University of Portland alongside former Cardiff teammate

Clive Charles Clive Michael Charles (3 October 1951 – 26 August 2003) was an English football player, coach and television announcer. He was one of five National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) coaches to win more than 400 games. Born in Dagenham, E ...

. During his time at the University he has an impressive record of training goalkeepers. The five starting goalkeepers who have trained under Irwin, Greg Maas,

Kasey Keller Kasey C. Keller (born November 29, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played in Europe and the United States, as well as being the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. national team. He is a four-time FIFA World Cup partici ...

Stuart Dobson Stuart Dobson (born 10 February 1970) is an English retired footballer who played in various indoor soccer leagues in the United States. He currently serves as Goalkeepers Coach for the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the USL Championship. Playing caree ...

, Scott Hileman, Curtis Spiteri and most recently

Luis Robles Luis Angel Robles (born May 11, 1984) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. Robles holds the MLS record for most consecutive regular-season starts with 183, spanning September 2012 to May 2018. Early car ...

, have all gone on to play professional football. Following the sudden death of Charles in 2003 Irwin was promoted to head coach after serving as his assistant for sixteen years. Irwin has been involved with goalkeeper coaching throughout the US women's teams and various youth levels of the men's team and in 2007 he was appointed as head coach of the US under-23 women's team, winning the Nordic Cup in his first year.

Honours

Player

;Bangor *

Winner: 1 :: 1970–71 *

Winner: 1 :: 1969–70 ;Cardiff City *

Winner: 3 :: 1972–73, 1973–74, 1975–76 *

Finalist: 2 :: 1971–72, 1974–75 *

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...

Runner-up: 1 :: 1975–76

Manager

;United States women's under-23 *Nordic Cup Winner: 1 :: 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Bill 1951 births Living people American soccer coaches Association footballers from Northern Ireland Bangor F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Dallas Tornado players Association football goalkeepers Golden Bay Earthquakes (MISL) players English Football League players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Minnesota Strikers (MISL) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Portland Pilots men's soccer coaches Portland Timbers (1975–1982) players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players Washington Diplomats (NASL) players Wichita Wings (MISL) players Crusaders F.C. players