Randolph "Randy" Lee Ragan (born June 7, 1959) is a former Canadian elite 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, who was considered one of the top midfield players in Canada in the 1980s.

Professional

Ragan attended Simon Fraser University where he played on the men's soccer team. In 1980, the

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

of 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 ba ...

drafted Ragan. He played for the Blizzard from 1980 to 1984, including one indoor NASL season. In 1986, he played with the Blizzard during their 1986 season in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

. In 1987, he again played for the

Blizzard A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged period of time—typically at least three or four hours. A ground blizzard is a weather condition where snow is not falling ...

in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

where he was a 1987 First Team All Star. In 1990 he played with the

Victoria Vistas The Victoria Vistas were a professional soccer team based in Victoria, British Columbia that competed in the original Canadian Soccer League. The Vistas joined the CSL for the 1989 season and folded after the 1990 season. Victoria All-star teams ...

. In 1991, he spent one season with the

North York Rockets The North York Rockets were a professional soccer team based in North York, Toronto, Ontario that competed in the original Canadian Soccer League. They were one of four teams to participate in every season of the CSL. Upon the demise of the CSL, th ...

National team

In 1976, Ragan played for the Canada U-20 men's national soccer team during its unsuccessful qualification campaign for the

1977 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1977 FIFA World Youth Championship was the inaugural staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship, hosted by Tunisia from 27 June to 10 July 1977, in three venues — Tunis, Sousse and Sfax. The 28 matches played were the smallest number in to ...

. He went on to play 40 times for the Canadian national team. His first game was a 4–0 win over

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

on September 15, 1980. His last was a 1–0 loss to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

on August 31, 1986. His greatest achievement came when he played all three games for Canada during the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

. Ragan also played nine games with the Canadian Olympic team and was a member of the 1984 Olympic Canadian soccer team which went to the quarterfinals of the 1984 Olympic soccer tournament. In April 2002, Ragan was inducted into the

Canada Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2019, the Canada Soccer H ...

Coach

He is now a contracts manager in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

and coaches the Guelph Royals 1994 Boys A team who play in the Western Ontario Youth Soccer League. In 2007, he served as an assistant with the

University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

men's soccer team. On May 16, 2008, the university hired Ragan as the head coach of the Gryphons Women's team.Randy Ragan named head coach of Guelph Gryphon program

References

External links

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NASL stats
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ragan, Randy 1959 births Living people 1986 FIFA World Cup players Soccer people from Alberta Canada men's international soccer players Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees Canadian soccer coaches Canadian soccer players Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Association football midfielders Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North York Rockets players Olympic soccer players of Canada People from Big Lakes County Simon Fraser Clan men's soccer players Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993) players Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canadian National Soccer League players CONCACAF Championship-winning players Guelph Gryphons men's soccer coaches Guelph Gryphons women's soccer coaches Victoria Vistas players