Daryl Doran (born March 29, 1963) is a U.S. indoor soccer player. His 827 games are the most of any player in American professional indoor soccer history. Doran previously coached the St. Louis Ambush in the

Major Arena Soccer League The Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) is a North American professional indoor soccer league. The MASL features teams playing coast-to-coast in the United States and Mexico. MASL is the highest level of arena soccer in North America. MASL players ...

from 2013–2015.

High school and college

Doran grew up in Saint Louis, Missouri, where he attended

Christian Brothers College High School Christian Brothers College High School (CBC High School) is a Lasallian Catholic college preparatory school for young men in Town and Country, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis and ...

from 1977 to 1980. He was a four-year starter with the school's Varsity soccer team, finishing his career with 35 goals and 31 assists. He was named All-State three times and named Parade All-American twice. The local St. Louis Steamers of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) drafted Doran when he was in high school, but he declined the offer, and instead graduated and matriculated at St. Louis University. In December 1980, he was also selected by the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional 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 Championship in the second tie ...

in the second round of the North American Soccer League draft. The Steamers again drafted Doran during his freshman year of college. This time, he left college and turned professional.
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Playing career

Club

Doran played as a

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 ...

with the St. Louis Steamers until the team folded at the end of the 1987–1988 season. With no professional team in St. Louis, Doran moved to the

Los Angeles Lazers The Los Angeles Lazers were an indoor soccer team that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1982 to 1989. History Jerry Buss, the owner of California Sports, the parent company of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kings and Strings of ...

(MISL) for the 1988–1989 season. However, the Lazers closed down at the end of the season and Doran moved back to St. Louis to sign with the expansion St. Louis Storm. When the Storm shut down at the end of the 1991–1992 season, Doran jumped to the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL), and signed with the St. Louis Ambush. He spent the next seven seasons with the Ambush as a midfielder, defender, and

Player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

. He was a six-time All-Star, twice a first-team All-NPSL player, and 1997's Defender of the Year. In 1999, Doran surprised St. Louis soccer fans when he left the Ambush for the resurrected St. Louis Steamers, now playing in the

World Indoor Soccer League The World Indoor Soccer League (WISL) was a United States-based indoor soccer league that existed from 1998 to 2001 and consisted of nine teams. History After the demise of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, four of its teams decided to crea ...

(WISL). The Ambush folded at the end of the season while the Steamers spent the 2000 and 2001 seasons in the WISL, followed by two more seasons in the new Major Indoor Soccer League. In 2008 Doran signed with the St. Louis Illusion of the

Professional Arena Soccer League A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

(PASL). Doran was the only player to play for every professional indoor soccer team in St. Louis until the Ambush were resurrected as a

team (though he did coach them). Known for his incredible strength, Doran's personal best in the bench press was 385 pounds.

International

During his single season with the SLU Billikens, Doran was a

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team h ...

member but made no "A" international appearances. In 1999, Doran played two games with the U.S. national

futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and indoor football. Futsal is played between two teams of five players each, one of whom is ...

team.

Coaching career

In 1992, Doran began coaching the St. Louis Ambush. The 1994–95 Ambush won the NPSL championship and Doran was named league Coach of the Year. In 1999, Doran left the Ambush, replaced as head coach by Jamie Swanner. Doran is in second place, behind

Keith Tozer Keith Tozer is a retired American soccer player who played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, American Soccer League and American Indoor Soccer Association. He is currently the commissioner of the Major Arena Soccer League. Play ...

, on the NPSL list of coaching wins with 166. Doran left coaching after the 2004–2005 season with the Steamers. In April 2006, the Steamers retired his jersey number, the second to be retired after that of

Slobo Ilijevski Slobodan "Slobo" Ilijevski ( Cyrillic: Слободан Илијевски Слобо) (October 24, 1949 in Skopje, Yugoslavia – July 14, 2008 in Bellingham, Washington) was a Yugoslav and Macedonian football (soccer) goalkeeper who played in t ...

. He is the Steamers' Vice President of Corporate Sales and Alumni Relations as well as owner and Athletic Trainer of Doran Fitness Center in O'Fallon, Missouri. In 2013, Doran returned to coach the St. Louis Ambush of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) as they were resurrected in St. Louis. Under Doran's direction, the Ambush play their home games at the

Family Arena The Family Arena is a multi-purpose arena in St. Charles, Missouri, built in 1999. The arena seats 9,643 for hockey, 9,755 for football, 10,467 for basketball, 6,339 for half-house concerts and up to 11,522 for end-stage concerts. In addition t ...

in St. Charles, Missouri. After several failings and a 12-34 record from 2013 until 2015 Doran and assistant coach Joe Smugala were waived by the St. Louis Ambush. His was replaced by Tony Glavin.TONY GLAVIN NAMED NEW HEAD COACH OF ST. LOUIS AMBUSH
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Honors

*NPSL Defender of the Year: 1997 *NPSL First Team All Star: 1997, 1998 *All Star Game MVP: 1997 *NPSL Coach of the Year: 1994 *St.Louis Sports Hall of Fame: 2015 DoranHOF

References

External links

1981 NASL draft

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doran, Daryl Soccer players from St. Louis American men's futsal players American soccer players Association football defenders Los Angeles Lazers players Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer players St. Louis Ambush (1992–2000) players St. Louis Steamers (WISL) players St. Louis Steamers (2003–2006 MISL) players St. Louis Storm players Tampa Bay Rowdies draft picks National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players World Indoor Soccer League players American soccer coaches National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) coaches Professional Arena Soccer League players Living people 1963 births St. Louis Illusion players St. Louis Ambush (1992–2000) coaches St. Louis Ambush (2013–) coaches Major Arena Soccer League coaches Player-coaches