Billy Walsh (born October 7, 1972) is a former American

soccer 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 coach. Walsh played high school soccer at Chatham High School. In 1999, he was named by ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...

'' as one of the top ten New Jersey high school soccer players of the 1990s. Walsh played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

and

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

. In 1996, he was the only collegian on the U.S. team that competed in the

Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. Walsh was drafted by the MetroStars of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

in the second round of the

1998 MLS College Draft The 1998 Major League Soccer College Draft was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 31 and February 1, 1998. The College Draft was followed by the 1998 MLS Supplemental Draft. Format On Saturday, January 31, 1998, Major League Soccer held ...

. He played four years for the club, mostly at

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, and was named the team MVP in 1999. After the 2001 season, he was waived and spent 2002 with the Chicago Fire. Walsh did receive his lone cap for the senior U.S. national team as a last-minute sub against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

on September 8, 1999. After ending his career as a player, Walsh coached his alma mater Chatham High School in

Chatham Township, New Jersey Chatham Township is a suburban Township (New Jersey), township located in Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 10,452, reflecting an increase of ...

, as well as

Manhattan College Manhattan College is a private, Catholic, liberal arts university in the Bronx, New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Christian Brothers) as an academy for day students, it was la ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, Billy 1975 births American men's soccer players Chatham High School (New Jersey) alumni Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer players Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's soccer players Major League Soccer players New York Red Bulls players Chicago Fire FC players United States men's international soccer players Olympic soccer players for the United States Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics American soccer coaches People from Chatham Township, New Jersey Soccer players from Morris County, New Jersey Living people MLS Pro-40 players A-League (1995–2004) players New York Red Bulls draft picks Men's association football midfielders High school soccer coaches in the United States Manhattan Jaspers men's soccer coaches College men's soccer coaches in the United States