Ian Russell (born August 30, 1975) is an 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 ...

coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach of

MLS 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 ...

club

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 ...

Career

Russell 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 ...

on a soccer scholarship and was a three-time (1994, 1996–97) All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation first team selection. He then played for the

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club w ...

of the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

in 1998 and 1999. He won the offensive MVP award in 1999.

Professional playing

After being drafted by the Seattle Sounders in 1998, Russell played for two seasons in the USL First Division. In 2000, Russell moved to Polish side

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation' ...

, and played only one game in a league cup. He then moved back to the United States to play for

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 ...

, and he joined the

; Russell appeared in 131 games. A pacy

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 ...

, he scored five goals and 20 assists, helping the Quakes win two

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

s, in 2001 and 2003. He is tied for first in club history in playoff appearances with 14. His best season with San Jose came in 2001, when he scored three goals and nine assists, while starting all 26 regular season games and all six playoffs games. Russell was selected to the 2001 MLS All Star Game, but was later replaced due to injury. Russell also played three games in 2007 with the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

, under the management of

Frank Yallop Frank Walter Yallop (born 4 April 1964) is a British-Canadian professional soccer coach. Yallop is currently the head coach and sporting director of USL Championship side Monterey Bay FC. He played 13 years in England for Ipswich, including the ...

Coaching

Russell began coaching while playing for the Seattle Sounders and continued coaching while playing for the San Jose Earthquakes. Russell returned to the San Jose Earthquakes in 2008, as assistant coach. During his first year with the club, Russell helped the team make a very successful return to MLS. This included the team's posting the best record for any expansion team since 1998 with eight wins, 33 points and 32 goals scored. The Quakes also posted a nine-game unbeaten streak from July 12 – Sep 27, which was the longest unbeaten streak in the league in 2008 and the second longest ever by an expansion team. In the offseason, Russell successfully completed the

U.S. Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

"A" coaching license course. For the last two games of the 2014 regular season, Russell became interim head coach.

Dominic Kinnear Dominic Kinnear (born July 26, 1967) is an American soccer coach and former player. On January 18, 2022, he was named an assistant coach by FC Cincinnati, his first coaching role since serving as the interim head coach of the LA Galaxy. As a ...

eventually took over after the season. On November 22, 2016, Russell was named the first Head Coach of 2017 USL Expansion Team: Reno 1868 FC. In his first year under the helm; Russell has guided Reno 1868 FC to a playoff berth, as well as setting some new Records in the USL: Single Season Goals (69*), largest margin of victory in USL history (9). Russell's Reno 1868 team scored more goals over a 4 year period than any team in USL. Russell guided Reno 1868 to the playoffs all 4 years and was named Coach Of The Year in 2020 and Coach Of The Year Finalist in 2017 and 2019 On February 17, 2021,

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

announced that Russell would be joining the team as an assistant coach. On January 3, 2023, San Jose announced that Russell would return as an assistant coach under the new technical staff of head coach

Luchi Gonzalez Luis Aquilino Gonzalez (born July 14, 1980) is an American soccer coach and former player who is currently the assistant coach of the United States national team. He is set to join the San Jose Earthquakes as head coach following the 2022 FIFA W ...

Record

Player

Coaching

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Ian 1975 births Living people American soccer coaches American soccer players San Jose Earthquakes players LA Galaxy players Seattle Sounders (1994–2008) players A-League (1995–2004) players Major League Soccer players Washington Huskies men's soccer players Soccer players from Washington (state) San Jose Earthquakes draft picks San Jose Earthquakes non-playing staff San Jose Earthquakes coaches Men's association football midfielders Reno 1868 FC coaches USL Championship coaches