Robert James Dazo Gier (born 6 January 1981) is a Filipino former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played mainly as a centre back for various clubs in the United Kingdom and the Philippines national team where he was also the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Early life

Rob Gier was born to Robert Gier and Rosario and grew up in Ascot, England. Upon coming from work, Rob's father would often bring him to football training. His mother, Rosario is a

Waray Waray may refer to: * Waray people of the Philippines * Waray language, the fifth most spoken native language of the Philippines, spoken by the Waray people * Waray literature * Warray language Warray (Waray) was an Australian language spoken ...

from

Tacloban Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban ( war, Syudad han Tacloban; fil, Lungsod ng Tacloban), is a first class highly urbanized city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. The city is autonomous from the province of Leyte, a ...

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

Club career

Gier began his career at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, who had been relegated from the Premiership in 1999–00 season. He made his debut the following season, starting a 0–0 home draw with Sheffield United on 28 October 2000. In 2004, he joined Rushden & Diamonds, and was part of the side that was relegated from the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

in 2005–06. He left the club following their relegation, and had spells in the Conference with Cambridge United, and

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

during the 2006–07 season. He joined Aldershot Town at the start of the 2007–08 season, and was part of the side that won the Conference with a record points total. He made 38 league appearances for the club, all starts, but despite this was released at the end of the campaign. On 22 May 2008,

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Parkside in nearby Aveley. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former S ...

announced they had signed Gier on a one-year contract, however, he was transfer listed by the club in January 2009, with financial pressures and manager

Wayne Burnett Wayne Burnett (born 4 September 1971) is an English football coach and former footballer who is manager of Tottenham Hotspur under-23's team. As a player Burnett was a midfielder from 1989 until 2004 notably playing in the Football League for ...

's plans being cited as the reason. Gier joined Hellenic League Premier Division club Ascot United in November 2009, after being released at the end of the previous season by Grays Athletic. He announced his retirement in February 2016.

International career

Gier was called up to the Philippines national team in March 2009, for the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers in April, where they were due to face,

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

and the

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

. He made his international debut in

2010 AFC Challenge Cup qualification The 2010 AFC Challenge Cup qualification phase saw five teams advance to the finals to join three automatic qualifiers in the final tournament in Sri Lanka. Qualification consisted of two sections. * A playoff between the 19th and 20th ranked entra ...

match against Bhutan on 14 April 2009 and also played against Maldives and Turkmenistan. On 10 September 2012 Gier scored his first international goal for the Philippines in a 2–1 loss to Laos, however it was not a

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

-sanctioned match. FIFA did not recognize the match's results after it was found out that the referees who officiated the match were not recognized by the world sporting body. He scored his first official international goal for the Philippines in the

2014 Philippine Peace Cup The 2014 PFF Peace Cup was the third edition of the tournament, an international football competition organized by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) to celebrate peace month in the country through football. It was held at the Rizal Memorial ...

against

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list the Philippines' goal tally first.''

Retirement

On 17 February 2016 Gier announced his retirement from playing competitive football at the age of 35. Gier is set to focus on operating Zenith Soccer Tours and spending more time with his family. Earlier in 2014, Gier established Zenith Soccer Tours, a youth football program in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The idea was concepted by Gier, after he met with the Philippine national youth team who had a three-week training camp in the UK in 2013.

Coaching career

Oxford University (Women's)

In November 2016, Gier was appointed as head coach of the women's football team of the

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He served in this role until May 2018. Gier obtained a UEFA A coaching licence by September 2017. While still playing for the national team and Ascot United, he began finishing a two-year course to obtain the UEFA A coaching licence. He plans to coach in the United Kingdom while working for a UEFA Pro Licence that would make him eligible to coach in the

FA Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

and UEFA competitions. He has expressed his openness to coach for the Philippine national team.

Reading (Women's)

In 2017, Gier began working with

Reading F.C. Women Reading Football Club Women is an English women's football club affiliated with Reading FC. The Club plays in the Women's Super League, the top flight of English women's football. Reading F.C. Women previously played in the FA Women's Premier ...

as its women's development coach. He was eventually promoted as the Reading F.C. Women academy manager in July 2018.

Philippines U22

In March 2023, the

Philippine Football Federation The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is the governing body of association football in the Philippines. Established as the Philippine Amateur Football Association (PAFA) in 1907, the PFF is one of the oldest national football associations in ...

announced that Rob Gier was appointed as the new head coach of Philippines U22.

Honours

Club

;Aldershot Town *

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

: 2007–08 * Conference League Cup: 2007–08

International

;Philippines *

AFC Challenge Cup The AFC Challenge Cup was an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member countries that was categorized as "emerging countries" in the "Vision Asia" programme. "Vision Asia", created by former AFC president, ...

: Third

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Philippine Peace Cup The Philippine Peace Cup was a four-nation international football competition organized by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) which involves the national teams of the Philippines and three invitees. The inaugural edition took place in 2012, ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Personal life

Gier is married and has two children. His family resides in England.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gier, Robert 1981 births Living people English people of Filipino descent Filipino people of English descent People from Ascot, Berkshire Citizens of the Philippines through descent Filipino British sportspeople British Asian footballers English footballers Filipino footballers Filipino expatriate footballers Philippines international footballers Association football defenders National League (English football) players English Football League players Aldershot Town F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Wimbledon F.C. players Woking F.C. players Ascot United F.C. players Filipino football head coaches