Richard "Richie" Williams (born June 3, 1970) 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 who is currently the head coach of MLS Next Pro side New England Revolution II. 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, two in the USL A-League, 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 D.C. United. He also earned 20 caps for the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

. As a player, he won national championships at the youth (Union NJ Lancers, McGuire Cup U-19 in 1988), college (University of Virginia, NCAA Champions in 1989, 1991 and 1992), and professional (DC United, MLS Cups in 1996, 1997 and 1999) levels. Since the end of his playing career, Williams has been involved in coaching, including as head coach of the U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team and as an assistant coach in Major League Soccer for the New York Red Bulls and the New England Revolution.

Club career

Early career

Williams was born in Middletown Township, New Jersey and attended Mater Dei High School. Williams' career has been closely tied to Bruce Arena, former coach of the United States men's national team. Arena first coached Williams at the University of Virginia. The two parted ways after Williams graduated. In 1992, Williams signed with Buffalo Blizzard 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 USISL. That fall, he moved to Ayr United in

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 USISL 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 D.C. United 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 titles. Williams was traded to MetroStars for Mike Ammann in 2001, spent a year there and was sent back to D.C. for

Brian Kamler Brian Kamler (born February 12, 1972) is an American soccer coach and former player who is currently the head coach of Green Bay Voyageurs FC in USL League Two. As a player, he played two seasons in the USISL, winning the 1995 U.S. Open Cup and ...

. His MLS career ended with the Metros in a trade with Eddie Pope and Jaime Moreno for Mike Petke, 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 USL A-League, 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 career

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.

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 New York Red Bulls, and went back as assistant following former United States men's national soccer team head coach Bruce Arena'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 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'', 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. 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 in the USL Championship. He left the team on May 30 to take a job as an assistant coach for the New England Revolution. In August 2020 during the “MLS is Back Tournament” in a COVID-shortened season, Williams assumed head coaching duties of the New England Revolution for three games (a win and a tie, extending the team's unbeaten streak to eight games) while Bruce Arena served a temporary suspension. On August 1, 2023, the New England Revolution announced that Bruce Arena was placed on administrative leave amid allegations of "insensitive and inappropriate remarks"and that Williams would act as interim head coach pending a related league investigation. On September 12, 2023, it was announced that Clint Peay would be replacing Williams as interim head coach. Williams was named head coach of the Revolution's MLS Next Pro squad New England Revolution II on January 17, 2024.

Managerial statistics

Honors

D.C. United * MLS Cup: 1996, 1997, 1999 * MLS Supporters' Shield: 1997, 1999 *

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

: 1996 *

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

: 1998 * InterAmerican Cup: 1998 Richmond Kickers * USISL Premier League Champions: 1995 * US Open Cup Champions: 1995 * James River Cup: 2004, 2005 United States * CONCACAF Gold Cup:

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 ...

Individual * MLS All-Star:

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

References

External links

MetroFan player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Richie 1970 births Living people American soccer coaches American men's soccer players American expatriate men's 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 head 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 Mater Dei High School (New Jersey) alumni People from Middletown Township, New Jersey Soccer players 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 Men's association football midfielders USL Championship coaches Loudoun United FC New England Revolution head coaches New England Revolution II New England Revolution non-playing staff