Anthony "Tony" John Crudo (born March 25, 1959 in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

) is a former U.S.

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 ...

defender who spent five seasons in 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 ...

. He also earned seven

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with the U.S. national team between 1979 and 1982.

Youth

In 1968 played for Federal Way Boys Club. In 1969 moved to Shoreline and played for Lake City Blue Barons (coached by his dad Ray Crudo). Crudo attended

Shorecrest High School Shorecrest High School is a public high school (grades 9 through 12) in Shoreline, Washington, United States, one of two high schools in the Shoreline School District. Shorecrest was founded in 1961. Its mascot is Otis the Fighting Scot and stude ...

Shoreline, Washington Shoreline is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is located between the city limits of Seattle and the Snohomish County border, approximately north of Downtown Seattle. As of the 2020 census, the population of Shoreline was 58 ...

, where he was a member of the school's 1976 state championship soccer team.

NASL

Crudo signed with the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Champions ...

of the

(NASL) in the fall of 1977. He saw no regular-season outdoor games that year, but did play in an exhibition game against China on October 13, 1977. In 1979, he played the first seven games of the season in Tampa Bay before being traded to the

California Surf The California Surf were an American Association football, soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 North American Soccer League season, 1978 to 1981 North American ...

in July. During the 1980–81 NASL indoor season, Crudo played 13 games. He continued with the Surf until the end of 1981 when the Surf folded. In October 1981, 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 ...

purchased his contract. He played only three games during the 1982 season. He left the NASL at the end of the season.

National team

Crudo played seven times with the U.S. national team between 1979 and 1982. His first

came in a 6-0 loss to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on May 2, 1979. He played on World Cup qualifier, a loss to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

on November 1, 1980. His last game with the national team came on March 21, 1982, a victory over

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

Coaching

Crudo continues to live in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

where he is a special education teacher, the boys and girls soccer coach at

Fife High School Fife High School is located in Fife, Washington. FHS is the only high school in the Fife Public Schools system. History Fife High School initially consisted of the upper grades of the general Fife School, founded on December 23, 1899. In 1904, a ...

, and the Girls Sparta 99 coach.
/ref>

References

External links

NASL stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crudo, Tony 1959 births Living people American soccer players California Surf players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players Seattle Sounders (1974–1983) players United States men's international soccer players People from Shoreline, Washington Soccer players from Washington (state) Sportspeople from King County, Washington Association football defenders