Richard Mulrooney (born November 3, 1976) 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. He is the current men's soccer coach at the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

Career

College

Mulrooney played four years of

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...

, where he recorded 51 assists from 1995 to 1998. While there, he helped lead the team to the NCAA Final Four in 1996, and was named an

NCAA All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

as a senior.

Professional

Upon graduating, Mulrooney was drafted third overall in the

1999 MLS College Draft The 1999 Major League Soccer College Draft was held on February 6 and 7, 1999 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The first round of the draft took place on February 6 with the second and third rounds on February 7. The College Draft was followed by the ...

by the San Jose Clash. Mulrooney immediately earned himself a place in the Clash's starting lineup, starting 25 games while scoring one goal and 3 assists as a rookie. Mulrooney has since established himself as one of the most important players on the team, playing in 163 games and adding 44 assists while orchestrating the team's offense (both numbers are club records). He left the Quakes before the 2005 season, traded to Dallas in a large deal that included Arturo Alvarez and Brad Davis. Mulrooney helped form the core of the FC Dallas squad that began the 2005 season in first place, but Mulrooney tore his ACL May 14, 2005 and missed the remainder of the season. He came back to become a regular for Dallas in 2006 and was named as a commissioner's pick to the 2006 MLS All-Star game, starting as the MLS All-Stars beat

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

1–0. On March 20, 2007, Mulrooney was traded to expansion MLS club Toronto FC, in exchange for a partial allocation and a 2008 SuperDraft first-round pick. On April 18, after only two games with TFC, he was sent to the Houston Dynamo for Kevin Goldthwaite and a 2008 first-round pick. Mulrooney played every game the remainder of the season for the Dynamo and tied for the team lead with five assists. He also set up

Nate Jaqua Jonathan "Nate" Jaqua (born October 28, 1981 in Eugene, Oregon) is an American former soccer player. Career High school Jaqua is a graduate of South Eugene High School, where he led his team to two Midwestern League titles and one co-championsh ...

for the first goal in the Western Conference final against

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

. The Dynamo's 2007 MLS Cup championship was Mulrooney's third league championship. After the 2010 MLS season Houston declined Mulrooney's contract option and he elected to participate in the

2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft The two-stage 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 8, 2010 and December 15, 2010. The Stage 1 Draft of the Re-Entry Process took place on Wednesday, December 8, at 2 p.m. ET via teleconference. The Stage 2 Draft took place on Wednesday, D ...

. Mulrooney became a free agent in Major League Soccer when he was not selected in the Re-Entry draft.

International

Despite his success in MLS, Mulrooney has struggled to earn time for the US national team, as

Claudio Reyna Claudio Reyna (born July 20, 1973) is an American former professional soccer player and current executive. He most recently served as sporting director of Austin FC. A former midfielder, he spent most of his professional career in Europe, pla ...

, John O'Brien,

Pablo Mastroeni Pablo Mastroeni (born August 29, 1976) is an Argentine born American soccer coach and former player who is the head coach of Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. He was formerly head coach of the Colorado Rapids, and assistant coach of the H ...

and

Chris Armas Christopher Armas (born August 27, 1972) is an American professional soccer coach and former player. He is currently sharing interim head coach duties at Leeds United with Michael Skubala and Paco Gallardo after the sacking of Jesse Marsch. ...

play his position. Mulrooney earned his first cap on December 9, 2001 as a substitute against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. In a friendly match versus Ireland in Dublin during the lead-up to the tournament there was a torrential downpour which severely hampered play. Since then, he has played a total of 14 games, but has not played a major role with the team.

Coaching

In 2012 Mulrooney joined the University of Memphis soccer staff, Mulrooney is the Assistant coach under HC Richie Grant On February 25, 2014, Mulrooney was named the new head coach at the University of Memphis.

Honors

Club

San Jose Earthquakes

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 Cup (2):

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Western Conference Championship (1):

Houston Dynamo

MLS Cup (1):

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Western Conference Championship (1):

Individual

* MLS Comeback Player of the Year (1): 2006

References

External links

* *
Memphis Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulrooney, Richard 1976 births Living people United States men's international soccer players San Jose Earthquakes players FC Dallas players Nashville Metros players Toronto FC players Houston Dynamo FC players USL League Two players A-League (1995–2004) players Creighton University alumni Creighton Bluejays men's soccer players Soccer players from Memphis, Tennessee 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars American soccer players American expatriate soccer players San Jose Earthquakes draft picks Association football defenders Memphis Tigers men's soccer coaches All-American men's college soccer players American soccer coaches