Cliff Brown (born May 23, 1956 in Valdosta, Georgia) 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 ...

goalkeeper who is the former head coach of the Newman University soccer team. Brown played 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 ...

, Major Indoor Soccer League, National Professional Soccer League,

Lone Star Soccer Alliance Lone Star Soccer Alliance was a soccer league that existed from 1987 to 1992. While most of the teams came from Texas, some also came from Oklahoma and Kansas. History First proposed by the Houston Dynamos, on April 18, 1987, the Lone Star So ...

and

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. He also coached professionally as well as collegiately.

Player

While born in Georgia, Brown grew up in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

. He attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

where he played on the men's soccer team from 1974 to 1977. In 1978, the Seattle Sounders of the

selected Brown in the third round of the College Draft. He spent most of his two seasons in Seattle with the reserve team, but saw time in six games. In 1979, he signed with the Cleveland Force in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He played 28 games during the 1979–1980 season and another 33 games during the 1980–1981 season. In 1981, he moved to the

Wichita Wings The Wichita Wings were a professional indoor soccer franchise based in Wichita, Kansas. The Wings were admitted to the Major Indoor Soccer League as an expansion team on August 21, 1979.

. In 1983, he returned to the Pacific Northwest to play for the Tacoma Stars. He was then traded to the Kansas City Comets during the season. In 1986, he signed as a player-coach with the expansion

Toledo Pride The Toledo Pride were an American indoor soccer team based in Toledo, Ohio. They played only one season ( 1986–1987) in the American Indoor Soccer Association. They qualified for the playoffs but lost in the first round. The Pride's average home ...

in the American Indoor Soccer Association after being fired by the

Fort Wayne Fever Fort Wayne Fever was an American soccer team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States. Founded in 2003, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2009, after which the f ...

in December 1986. The Pride lasted only until the end of the season before folding. In 1988, was hired as the head coach of Newman University, a position he still holds. Consequently, over the next six years, he tended to play intermittently during the collegiate offseason. In 1989, Brown moved to the

Wichita Blue Wichita Blue, known in 1994 as Wichita Blue Angels, was an American soccer club based in Wichita, Kansas. The Blue played in several leagues including the Heartland Soccer League, Lone Star Soccer Alliance and the USISL. History In 1988, the Blue ...

which played in the amateur Heartland Soccer League. In 1990, the team moved to the

and remained in that league until it collapsed following the 1992 season. In February 1991, Brown signed a 15-day contract with

after all of the team's goalkeepers were injured. He played four games for a 2-2 record. In February 1992, he signed a one-game contract with the Tulsa Ambush of the National Professional Soccer League, but ended up playing twelve games. During the 1992–1993 NPSL season, he played two games as a fill-in goalkeeper with the

Denver Thunder Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United S ...

. In April 1993, he played for the

Oklahoma City Slickers The Oklahoma City Slickers was the name given to two different American soccer clubs based in Oklahoma City. The first team competed in the second American Soccer League in 1982 and 1983, and as the Oklahoma City Stampede in the United Soccer Le ...

in the

then returned to the Wichita Blues for the 1994 USISL season. He continued to fill in with NPSL teams during the 1996–1997 season when he played five games for the

Tampa Bay Terror The Tampa Bay Terror is the name of an indoor soccer team based in the Tampa Bay, Florida area that competed in the defunct National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). The team existed for two seasons before folding: 1995–1996 and 1996–1997. ...

. In 2001, he joined the Wichita Warriors, a semi-pro indoor team.

Coach

Brown gained his first coaching experience while still a player at the University of Washington. In 1978 and 1979, he was an assistant with the team. In 1986, Brown was hired by the

Fort Wayne Flames The Fort Wayne Flames were an indoor soccer club based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, that competed in the American Indoor Soccer Association, playing home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum from 1986–1989. History The team was foun ...

of the American Indoor Soccer Association. The team fired him in December 1986 after he compiled a 2-3 record to start the season. He was then hired as a player-coach by the

where he finished the 1986–1987 season. In 1998, he coached the Shreveport/Bossier Lions in the

. He entered his coaching position at Newman University in 1988 when he became the fourth head coach for the men's soccer team. In 1989, he established the school's women's soccer team. Brown earned his bachelor of science degree in business from Newman in 1991. He was released from his position as head coach of Newman soccer in February 2023.

References

External links

NASL/MISL Statistics

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Cliff 1956 births Living people National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) coaches American soccer coaches American men's soccer players Cleveland Force (original MISL) players Denver Thunder players Lone Star Soccer Alliance players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Newman University, Wichita North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Oklahoma City Slickers (USISL) players Seattle Sounders (1974–1983) players Tampa Bay Terror players Toledo Pride players Tulsa Ambush players USISL coaches USISL players Washington Huskies men's soccer players Wichita Blue players Wichita Wings (MISL) players Men's association football goalkeepers