Richard "Richie" Williams (born June 3, 1970) is an American former professional

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 and coach. Known for his diminutive height and his dogged tackling, Williams spent the vast majority of his playing career in the United States, playing one season in the National Professional Soccer League, two in

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 ...

, two in the

USL A-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

, and eight in

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 ...

, most notably for MetroStars and

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

. He also earned 20 caps for the

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 ha ...

. Since the end of his playing career, Williams has been involved in coaching, and spent time as the interim

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

and coaching various United States national youth teams. He is now assistant coach of the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

Playing career

Early career

Williams was born in

Middletown Township, New Jersey Middletown Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township had a total population of 67,106, making it the most-populous municipality in the county and the state's 16th ...

and attended Mater Dei High School. Williams' career has been closely tied to

Bruce Arena Bruce Arena (born September 21, 1951) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach and sporting director of the New England Revolution. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and the NJCAA Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Arena has had ...

, former coach of the United States men's national team. Arena first coached Williams at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

. The two parted ways after Williams graduated. In 1992, Williams signed with

Buffalo Blizzard The Buffalo Blizzard was a soccer club that existed from 1992 to 2001 in Buffalo, New York. History The team was originally owned by the Knox brothers who owned the Buffalo Sabres at the time, and additionally by the Riches who owned the minor l ...

in the National Professional Soccer League. He played thirty games for the Blizzard during the 1992-1993 winter indoor season. In the spring of 1993, he signed with the

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

of the

. That fall, he moved to

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

but then came back to the United States, signing with the

of the

in 1994. Williams played two seasons with the Kickers, helping them to the

1995 U.S. Open Cup The 1995 United States Open Cup is often considered the start of the modern era of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, although Lamar Hunt's name was not added until the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, 1999 edition. It was the 82nd edition of the soccer tournament t ...

and USISL titles.

Major League Soccer

In February 1996, Williams was drafted by

head coach Bruce Arena in the fourth round of the

1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft The MLS Inaugural Player Draft, held before 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 State ...

. Making up for his height with his ferocious shadowing of the opponent's top playmaker, he became an integral member of the early DC teams, helping them to three

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 ...

titles. Williams was traded to MetroStars for

Mike Ammann Mike Ammann (born February 8, 1971) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper in England and Major League Soccer. Youth Ammann was born in Orange, California. The younger brother of Bob Ammann, he played for t ...

in 2001, spent a year there and was sent back to D.C. for Brian Kamler. His MLS career ended with the Metros in a trade with

Eddie Pope George Edward Pope (born December 24, 1973) is an American former soccer player who last played for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer and spent eleven years as a defender for the United States national team. He spent most of his career pla ...

and Jaime Moreno for

Mike Petke Mike Petke (born January 30, 1976) is an American former soccer player and coach who was most recently head coach of Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. Prior to his tenure with Real Salt Lake, he was head coach of the New York Red Bulls, ...

, a draft pick, and an

allocation Allocation may refer to: Computing * Block allocation map * C++ allocators * Delayed allocation * File allocation table * IP address allocation * Memory allocation * No-write allocation (cache) * Register allocation Economics * Asset alloca ...

before the 2003 season. Williams tallied just eight goals and added 33 assists in 216 regular season games in MLS (plus two goals and four assists in 26 playoff games). Williams signed with his original American team

which then played in the

, prior to the 2004 season, but left the club in September 2005 after disagreements with the coach

Leigh Cowlishaw Leigh Cowlishaw (born 16 December 1970) is an English former footballer and coach. He served as the head coach of the Richmond Kickers from 2000 until 2018. Career Coaching Cowlishaw had been manager of the Kickers since 2000, during which t ...

, and retired from playing shortly thereafter.

International

Williams earned his first cap for the United States on November 6, 1998, 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 ...

, and went on to appear 20 times for the national team.

Honors

United States

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

(1):

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

D.C. United

Winners (3): 1996, 1997, 1999 *

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 1 ...

Winners (2): 1997, 1999 * U.S. Open Cup Winners (1): 1996 * CONCACAF Champions' Cup Winners (1): 1998 *

InterAmerican Cup The Copa Interamericana ( en, Interamerican Cup) was an annual club football competition contested between a representative from North America (CONCACAF) and South America (CONMEBOL). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACA ...

Winners (1): 1998

Richmond Kickers

*USISL Premier League Champions: 1995 *US Open Cup Champions: 1995 *James River Cup: 2004, 2005

Coaching career

Williams spent several years as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Virginia, before being named an assistant coach with the MetroStars in January 2006. In June 2006, Williams was named interim head coach of the re-branded

, and went back as assistant following former

head coach

's appointment with the club. He remained as the club's top assistant coach, until he was once again called on to serve as the club's interim coach replacing

Juan Carlos Osorio Juan Carlos Osorio Arbeláez (; born 8 June 1961) is a Colombian professional football manager and former footballer who played as a midfielder. Osorio began his playing career with Deportivo Pereira in 1982, and went on to play for Brazilian c ...

for the remaining eight matches of the 2009 season. Williams was retained by Red Bulls as an assistant coach for the 2010 season before being abruptly fired just three weeks before the start of the 2011 MLS season.Giase, Frank
"Red Bulls fire longtime assistant coaches Richie Williams, Des McAleenan"
''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...

'', February 28, 2011. Accessed July 20, 2011. "Williams, a Mater Dei graduate who played eight years in MLS, including stints with the MetroStars in 2001 and 2003, was entering his sixth year as an assistant coach, but he has been much more important to the team than that." In October 2011, Williams was hired as the head coach of the U-18 national team. Three months later he was named head coach of the

United States men's national under-17 soccer team The United States U-17 men's national soccer team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation. The highest level of competition in which the team may compete is in the FIFA U-17 World Cup, which is held every two years. History Champ ...

. After the

2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the sixteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, held in Chile from 17 October to 8 November 2015. Host selection The following four countries bid to host the tournament: * * * * Venues Along with proposing ...

, Williams departed the program. In January 2019, Williams was hired as the head coach of

Loudoun United FC Loudoun United FC is an American professional soccer team based in Leesburg, Virginia. The team was founded in 2018 as the reserve team of D.C. United and made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. History On July 18, 2018, the team was offi ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

. He left the team on May 30 to take a job as an assistant coach for the

Managerial stats

References

External links

MetroFan player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Richie 1970 births Living people American soccer coaches American soccer players American expatriate soccer players Ayr United F.C. players Buffalo Blizzard players D.C. United players New York Red Bulls players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players New York Red Bulls coaches Richmond Kickers players Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer coaches Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players USISL players USL First Division players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players Soccer players from New Jersey Mater Dei High School (New Jersey) alumni People from Middletown Township, New Jersey Sportspeople from Monmouth County, New Jersey Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars A-League (1995–2004) players New York Red Bulls non-playing staff Association football midfielders USL Championship coaches Loudoun United FC