Christopher George Dangerfield (born 9 August 1955) is an English former

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 le ...

who spent most of his career in the United States. He began his career in England before playing ten seasons in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

and at least one in the

Western Soccer Alliance Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer Alli ...

. A former England under-20 international, he played for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

Las Vegas Quicksilvers The Las Vegas Quicksilvers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) during the 1977 season. The team was based in Las Vegas, Nevada and played their home games at Las Vegas Stadium. After the 19 ...

Team Hawaii Team Hawaii was a soccer team based out of Honolulu that played in the NASL for one season, 1977. Their home field was Aloha Stadium. After two unsuccessful years as the San Antonio Thunder, the franchise moved to Hawai'i in time for the 1977 ...

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

California Surf The California Surf were an American Association football, soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 North American Soccer League season, 1978 to 1981 North American ...

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs was an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 to 1981 as well as the 1975 NASL Indoor tour ...

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

Golden Bay Earthquakes Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...

Minnesota Strikers The Minnesota Strikers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1984 season and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. The team was based in Minneapolis/St. Paul metropoli ...

, and San Jose Oaks.

Playing career

Dangerfield grew up in

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...

and attended

John Willmott School John Willmott School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England. There are 1,186 students on roll, of whom 230 are in the sixth form. Students from a White British background repr ...

. Preferring rugby as a youth, he began playing football around fourteen. In 1972, he began his career with

, but made no first-team appearances. In 1975, he went on loan with the expansion

of the

, and scored four goals in 14 games in the 1975 season. Timbers reached

Soccer Bowl '75 Soccer Bowl '75 was the championship final of the 1975 NASL season, played between the Tampa Bay Rowdies and the Portland Timbers. The match took place on August 24, 1975 at Spartan Stadium, in San Jose, California. It was the first North Ameri ...

, losing 2–0 to the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Champions ...

at the Spartan Stadium. He was kept on by manager

Vic Crowe Victor Herbert Crowe (31 January 1932 – 21 January 2009) was a Wales international football player and later football manager. Career Crowe was born in Abercynon, South Wales but moved to Handsworth, Birmingham with his family when he was t ...

for the 1976 season, scoring another two goals in 22 appearances. He was then released from his contract at Molineux by Wolves boss

Bill McGarry William Harry McGarry (10 June 1927 – 15 March 2005) was an England international association footballer and manager who spent 40 years in the professional game. He had a reputation for toughness, both as a player and as a manager. A right- ...

. He returned to England to have a trial with

in August 1976, but only made two substitute appearances at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

in the Third Division for

Roy Sproson Roy Sproson (23 September 1930 – 24 January 1997) was an English footballer and football manager for Port Vale. A one-club man, he holds the all-time appearance record for Vale, making 837 starts (and 5 substitute appearances) for Vale ...

's "Valiants". He then signed with

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

, where he spent the entire 1976–77 season with the team's reserves in

The Central League The Central League is a football league for reserve teams, primarily from the English Football League. For sponsorship purposes, it was branded as the Final Third Development League until the 2015/16 season. The league was formed in 1911 and ...

and then turned down a new contract offer from manager

Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including player, trade union leader, coach, manager, director ...

to search for first team football elsewhere. In 1977, he moved permanently to the United States, and signed with

Derek Trevis Derek Alan Trevis (9 September 1942 – 21 December 2000) was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Active in both England and the United States, Trevis made nearly 500 career league appearances. Career Born in Birming ...

, who boasted the legendary

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the greatest players of ...

on their playing staff. Dangerfield scored two goals in 16 games in the 1977 season. He was traded to

, playing six games. At the end of the season both Quicksilvers and Team Hawaii were disbanded. In

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

, he began the season with the

, but saw time in only one game before being sent to the

, where he made 22 appearances. In

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, he signed with the

, scoring nine goals in 22 games in his first season at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...

. He then scored 15 goals in 12 games in the 1979–80 Indoor season. He scored two goals in 19 games in the 1980 season, before hitting 35 goals in 16 matches in the 1980–81 Indoor season. He scored eight goals in 30 appearances in the 1981 season. Dangerfield moved to the

in 1982, and scored 16 goals in 15 games in the 1981–82 Indoor season and then nine goals in 30 appearances in the 1982 season. At the end of the 1982 season, the Earthquakes were renamed the Golden Bay Earthquakes. They entered the Major Indoor Soccer League for the winter indoor season. Dangerfield was the 15th leading scorer with 48 games, 52 goals, 20 assists, and 72 points. The Earthquakes returned to the NASL for the

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

outdoor seasons. Dangerfield injured his knee during the 1983–84 NASL indoor season and lost the entire

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

outdoor season. In February 1985, the Kansas City Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League made an offer to purchase Dangerfield's contract from the Earthquakes, but the deal fell through when Dangerfield was unable to pass a physical. In March 1985, he signed as a free agent with the

of the MISL. He scored four goals in seven games in 1984–85, 24 goals in 47 games in 1985–86, 20 goals in 49 appearances in 1986–87, and hit 12 goals in 52 matches in the 1987–88 season. In June 1985, he returned to the renamed San Jose Earthquakes for the

. He played one more season,

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, for the Earthquakes in the Western Soccer Alliance after which he retired from playing professionally. However, he continued to play for the San Jose Oaks, eventually also becoming the team's coach.

Coaching career

In 1992, he became the coach of the amateur San Jose Oaks, taking them to the 1992 U.S. Open Cup title. He remained in that position until 1996. He holds a USSF "National-A" coaching licence and has coached for the De Anza Soccer Club of Cupertino, Saratoga, West San Jose, area of California, and has worked as the head coach of teams in the US Soccer Development Academy League until the end of the 2011 season. After coaching for De Anza Force's club and Academy teams, Chris went on to work with Comcast SportsNet Bay Area as a color commentator for the San Jose Earthquakes, working in that role from 1996 to 1999 and returning to the role in 2014. He was inducted into the San Jose Earthquakers Hall of Fame in March 2018.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

Hall of Fame inductee: March 2018 Portland Timbers *

Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League, which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's founding ...

runner-up:

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

San Jose Oaks *

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

References

External links

Dangerfield7 Staffing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dangerfield, Chris 1955 births Living people People from Coleshill, Warwickshire Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards English footballers England men's youth international footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Portland Timbers (1975–1982) players Port Vale F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Las Vegas Quicksilvers players Team Hawaii players Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players California Surf players Los Angeles Aztecs players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players Golden Bay Earthquakes (MISL) players Minnesota Strikers (MISL) players San Jose Oaks players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players English Football League players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Western Soccer Alliance players English football managers Association football coaches English association football commentators