William “Ty” Keough (born December 19, 1956 in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

) 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 ...

player and coach who has served as a soccer broadcaster for several networks. He earned eight

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 in 1979 and 1980. He was a member of the U.S. Olympic soccer team which qualified for the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

. However, he did not attend the tournament as the U.S. boycotted those games.

Youth

Keough is the son of U.S. soccer legend

Harry Keough Harry Joseph Keough (November 15, 1927 – February 7, 2012) was an American soccer defender who played on the United States national team in their 1–0 upset of England at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. He spent most of his club career in his ...

, member of the U.S. team at the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...

. His father later entered coaching and Keough benefited from his father's instruction, developing into an excellent midfielder. Keough attended St. Louis University High School, graduating in 1975.
/sup> After graduating from high school, he entered St. Louis University where he played on the men's soccer team, coached by his father from 1975 to 1978. During his four seasons with the Billikens, Keough was a four-time All American,

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

in 1976 and 1978 and honorable mention (third team) in 1975 and 1977.

Playing career

The

San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to: *San Diego Sockers (1978–1996), a soccer team in the North American Soccer League *San Diego Sockers (2001–2004), a soccer team in the World Indoor Soccer League and second Major Indoor Soccer League *San Diego S ...

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 b ...

(NASL) selected Keough in the 1979 draft and he spent four seasons with the Sockers. While still with the Sockers, Keough also played with the St. Louis Steamers in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1980 to 1985. In 1985, the Steamers traded him to the Kansas City Comets where he spent a single season before retiring from playing professionally.

National and Olympic teams

In 1979, Keough entered the national team. His first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

came in a February 3, 1979 loss to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. He also began playing for the U.S. Olympic team as it began qualification for the

to be held in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Qualifications continued into 1980 and the U.S. ultimately qualified for the games, its first qualification since the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. However, President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

declared that the United States would boycott the games after the Soviet Union invaded

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Despite this disappointment, Keough continued to play for the senior team through the rest of the year. His last game with the team came in a November 9, 1980 loss to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Over his two years with the national team, he earned eight

Coaching

After retiring from playing, Keough entered the coaching ranks with

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

in his home town of St. Louis. He succeeded Joe Carenza, Jr., in 1986. Over the next eleven seasons, he compiled a 136–47–17 record before resigning in 1997 to devote his time to his broadcast career.
/sup> While no longer coaching at the university level, Keough remains in coaching as part of the staff of the Northwest Soccer Camp.

Broadcast career

While coaching with Washington University, Keough entered the broadcast career field. From 1990 until 2002, Keough covered four World Cups for TNT, ESPN and ABC.

External links

McCrath’s Soccer Camp bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keough, Ty 1956 births Living people Soccer players from St. Louis American soccer coaches American soccer players Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players San Diego Sockers (NASL) players St. Louis Steamers (original MISL) players Kansas City Comets (original MISL) players Association football commentators United States men's international soccer players Major League Soccer broadcasters All-American men's college soccer players Association football midfielders Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) commentators