Thomas Dooley (born May 12, 1961) is an American 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 and coach. He played as a defender and

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and was a long-time member and former captain of the United States national team. Dooley recently served as the head coach of the Philippines national team.

Early life

Dooley was born to a German mother and a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

father.

Club career

Dooley played as a forward with amateur team

FK Pirmasens FK Pirmasens is a German association football club in Pirmasens, Rhineland-Palatinate. The team was formed as the football section of the gymnastics and sports club TV Pirminia Pirmasens in 1903 and became independent in 1914. They took on thei ...

. He started his professional career in 1984 with third division club

FC Homburg Fußball-Club 08 Homburg or simply FC Homburg is a German association football club based in Homburg, Saarland, that competes in the Regionalliga Südwest. The club was founded on 15 June 1908 as ''Fussball Club Homburg'' by a group of seventeen ...

. He moved to midfield with Homburg and helped the team move steadily up the German leagues, until they finally reached the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

. He moved to 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 1988 and helped them to the

German Cup The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

in 1990 and the Bundesliga title in 1991. He also played as they won the

1991 DFB-Supercup The 1991 DFB-Supercup was the fifth edition of the DFB-Supercup. Uniquely, because Germany had just been reunified, the competition featured four teams instead of the usual two: The previous season's Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal winners, 1. FC Kaiser ...

. After the 1994 World Cup, he moved to

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

, and to

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

a year after that, helping them to the 1997 UEFA Cup title. At the end of the season, he moved to

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 ...

(MLS), signing with the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

. Dooley spent three seasons in Columbus, and was named to the

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. Winners *Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award for that season. Most appearances by a player The following players have appeared ...

in both 1997 and 1998. In 2000, Thomas was traded to the MetroStars for

Mike Duhaney Mike Duhaney (born April 5, 1974) is an American retired professional soccer player who played in Major League Soccer (MLS) and the 2. Bundesliga. He was the 1997 Major League Soccer Rookie of the Year. Career Duhaney played college soccer a ...

, partially to help support

Lothar Matthäus Lothar Herbert Matthäus (; born 21 March 1961) is a German association football, football pundit and former professional player and manager. After captaining Germany national football team, West Germany to victory in the 1990 FIFA World Cup whe ...

' adjustment to the United States. Dooley played one year for the Metros before retiring from playing soccer.

International career

As US Soccer started to look abroad for players eligible to play for its national team in advance of its hosting the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

, Dooley was discovered. He made his first international appearance on May 30 against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Dooley became a regular for the US almost immediately, being named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 1993 and then playing every minute at the 1994 World Cup, including the match against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

which the U.S. won 2–1. After

John Harkes John Andrew Harkes (born March 8, 1967) is an American soccer coach and former professional player who is the head coach of Greenville Triumph SC. A member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, Harkes was the first American ever to play in the ...

was dismissed from the U.S. national team, Dooley was named captain for the 1998 World Cup, and started every game for the U.S. On February 21, 1999, Dooley was given a send-off match by the United States in a friendly against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. He ended his international career with 81 caps and seven goals.

International goals

:''Scores and results list United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dooley goal''.

Coaching career

Saarbrücken

After retiring, Dooley went back to Germany and became the head coach of

FC Saarbrücken FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

in 2002, becoming the first American to coach a team in Europe.

United States

Dooley was appointed by US national team coach

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...

to be an assistant coach in the match against Mexico on August 10, 2011.

Philippines

In February 2014, Dooley signed a one-year deal with 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 ...

to handle the Philippines national team. His first match was a friendly against

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

which ended 0–0, and a few days later, narrowly lost to European side

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

1–0. Dooley earned his first win for the Philippines after his charges defeated

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

3–0 in another friendly match in Qatar. Dooley earned national team manager

Dan Palami Dan Stephen Castillo Palami (born June 9, 1970) is the general manager of the Philippine men's national football team since 2009. He is credited for his contributions to the revival of football in the Philippines due to the national team's perf ...

's praise after his first few matches in charge. Palami commended Dooley's ability to foster a better understanding of the game to his squad and give subs and reserves chances to step up in the absence of star players."Our players have a better understanding of the role they have to play in their respective positions under Dooley's system that anyone can step up even if we don't have our stars playing," Palami said. The Philippine national team came close to qualifying to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. They failed to qualify after they lost 0–1 to Palestine in the final of the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup. Two months after the tournament, Stephan Schröck and

Dennis Cagara Dennis Mengoy Cagara (born 19 February 1985) is a retired Danish–Filipino professional association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football)#Full-back, left back. He represents the Philippines national football team, P ...

resigned from the national team over tensions with Dooley. Schröck had disagreement with the setup of the national team under Dooley but has made amends with the coach in 2015 and briefly played once again for the Philippines though undisclosed issues surfaced in 2016. In his first match coaching the Philippines in a World Cup qualifier, Dooley's team defeated Bahrain 2–1. After an impressive run in qualifying that included a 3–2 win over

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

that was considered an upset, Dooley's contract was extended for two years. Dooley failed to get the Philippines past the group stage at the 2016 AFF Championship, which the Philippines co-hosted with Myanmar. He managed to secure qualification for the Philippines for their first Asian Cup stint in the 2019 by winning 2–1 over Tajikistan in March 2018. The coach's contract with the Philippines ended on March 31, 2018 after the historic match. Dooley's contract was not renewed and the PFF announced

Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps ...

as his successor in June 2018.

Viettel

In 2019, Dooley was appointed as sporting director of

V.League 1 The V.League 1 ( vi, Giải bóng đá vô địch quốc gia, lit=National Football League), also called Night Wolf V.League 1 due to sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football league in Vietnam, controlled by the Vietnam Professio ...

club

Viettel The Viettel Military Industry and Telecoms Group (), less formally recognized as Viettel Group () or simply Viettel, is a Vietnamese multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam. Viettel is the largest telecommuni ...

. During his tenure, Viettel won the 2020 V.League 1 title.

Sri Pahang

In January 2021, Dooley was appointed as head coach of

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League ( ms, Liga Super Malaysia) is the men's top professional football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP), now known as the Malays ...

club Sri Pahang, replacing

Dollah Salleh Dollah Salleh (born 10 October 1963) is a Malaysian football coach and former player. He is well-known to MSL fans as Pablo Dollah. One of Malaysia's most decorated players, he has also been manager of Malaysia's national team. Playing car ...

. Three months after his appointment, Dooley was sacked by Sri Pahang together with his assistant coach, Christophe Gamel and was replaced by former head coach Dollah Salleh. After being sacked, he was immediately appointed as adviser of Sri Pahang U21 team while Gamel was appointed as head coach.

Return to Philippines

In May 2022, Dooley was reappointed as head coach of the Philippines national team ahead of the third round of 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, replacing Scott Cooper. He signed a short-term deal with an option to extend depending on the qualification of the Philippines to the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.

Managerial statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dooley, Thomas Living people 1961 births People from Südwestpfalz Citizens of the United States through descent American soccer coaches American soccer players United States men's international soccer players German footballers American people of German descent German people of American descent FK Pirmasens players FC 08 Homburg players 1. FC Kaiserslautern players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players FC Schalke 04 players Columbus Crew players New York Red Bulls players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars German emigrants to the United States Footballers from Rhineland-Palatinate 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1995 Copa América players 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players 1. FC Saarbrücken managers Philippines national football team managers Association football defenders American expatriate soccer coaches UEFA Cup winning players National Soccer Hall of Fame members West German footballers German expatriate sportspeople in the Philippines American expatriate sportspeople in the Philippines German expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in the Philippines Expatriate football managers in Malaysia German expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia American expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia