Michael Sweeney (born December 25, 1959) is a Canadian former

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. In 2012, as part of the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ( ...

's centennial celebration, he was named to the all-time Canada XI men's team.

Early years

Sweeney spent several years with the youth club, Squamish United, and graduated from

Howe Sound Secondary School Howe Sound Secondary is a public Secondary school in Squamish, British Columbia part of School District 48 Howe Sound. It is the largest school in the district, and is one of 2 schools in Squamish to offer grades 10–12. History A new building ...

. He then made the roster at

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

as a walk-on, later working his way onto the Canadian squad for the 1978 CONCACAF Youth Tournament.

Club career

NASL

In 1980, the Edmonton Drillers of 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 ...

signed Sweeney. He spent three seasons with the Drillers before moving to the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

for the 1983 season. While he began the 1984 season with the Whitecaps, he was traded to the

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 ...

. The NASL folded at the end of the 1984 season.

MISL

Sweeney was also a long-time Cleveland Force

MISL The Misls (derived from an Arabic word wikt:مثل#Etymology_3, مِثْل meaning 'equal') were the twelve sovereign states of the Sikh Confederacy, which rose during the 18th century in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian ...

player. He then moved to the

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 ...

for the 1987–1988 season.
/sup> He then moved to the Baltimore Blast (1980–1992), Baltimore Blast. In 1989, the

Cleveland Crunch The Cleveland Crunch are an American professional indoor soccer club located in Cleveland, Ohio competing in as a charter member of the Major League Indoor Soccer (MLIS). The rebranded Crunch returned to indoor play as a member of the MASL 2 i ...

selected Sweeney in the Expansion Draft. On June 30, 1989, he signed with the Crunch and remained with the team through at least the 1991–1992 season.
/sup>

Toronto Blizzard

In 1988, Sweeney spent time with the Toronto Blizzard (1986-1993), Toronto Blizzard of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

(CSL).

Boston Bolts

In 1988, he signed with the Boston Bolts of the American Soccer League (ASL). In 1990, the ASL merged with the

Western Soccer League 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 ...

to form the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

(APSL). The Bolts spent one season, 1990, in the APSL before folding. The Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame inducted Sweeney in 2002.
/sup>

International career

A defender or midfielder, Sweeney made his senior debut on 17 September 1980 for Canada men's national soccer team, Canada in a 3–0 victory against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in a friendly match in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. In total, he earned 61 caps, scoring one goal. He represented Canada in 24

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

matches and played two of Canada's games at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

finals, the country's first appearance at a World Cup finals. Sweeney was sent off in the second game against

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

, the only Canadian player ever to be dismissed at a World Cup Finals tournament. He also played for Canada at the 1984 Olympics and was a squad member at the

1979 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship, the second staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship, was held in Japan from 26 August to 7 September 1979. It was the first FIFA tournament played in Asia. The tournament took place in four cities — K ...

Japan 1979 Teams Canada
- FIFA but did not play. His final international game was a 15 August 1993 World Cup qualification match against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.''

References

External links

* /

Canada Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2019, the Canada Soccer Hal ...

*
NASL/MISL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Mike 1959 births Living people People from Duncan, British Columbia Soccer people from British Columbia Association football defenders Association football midfielders Canadian soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Canadian expatriate soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Olympic soccer players of Canada Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics 1986 FIFA World Cup players Edmonton Drillers (1979–1982) players Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players American Professional Soccer League players American Soccer League (1988–89) players Baltimore Blast (1980–1992) players Boston Bolts players Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees Cleveland Crunch (original MISL) players Cleveland Force (original MISL) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Minnesota Strikers (MISL) players Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993) players Canada men's youth international soccer players Simon Fraser Clan men's soccer players Simon Fraser University alumni People from Squamish, British Columbia CONCACAF Championship-winning players