Elvis Comrie
Personal information
Full name	Elvis Comrie
Date of birth	1959
Place of birth	Bristol, England
Playing position	Forward
Youth career
1979-1981	Kingsford Rangers University of Connecticut
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1982-1983 1984 1984-1985 1986-1987 1988 1989-1990	Montreal Manic Chicago Sting New York Cosmos (MISL) Chicago Shoccers (indoor) Maryland Bays Albany Capitals	33 (11) 22 0(4) 40 (37) ? (3) 0? (15)
National team
1984	United States	04 0(0)
Teams managed
1989-1990 1991-2008	Central Connecticut State (assistant) Holy Cross
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Elvis Comrie (born 1959 in Bristol, England) is a former U.S. soccer forward. Comrie played three seasons in the North American Soccer League, one in Major Indoor Soccer League, one in the American Indoor Soccer Association and two in the American Soccer League and one in the American Professional Soccer League. He earned four caps with the U.S. national team in 1984. Comrie worked briefly as a stockbroker and was formerly a college soccer coach.

[edit] Player

[edit] Youth and college

Born in England to Jamaican parents, Comrie was named after Elvis Presley. He played for both his school team, the Bristol Boys and his club team, the Kingsford Rangers, part of the Bristol City club system. When he was ten, Comrie’s father moved to the U.S. where he settled in Brooklyn and worked to bring over his family. Comrie continued to live in Bristol where Rovers offered Comrie a contract when he was twelve. Comrie’s father refused to allow his son to sign with the club, insisting Comrie continue with school. Soon after, the Comrie family moved to Bedford-Stuyvesant a particularly harsh neighborhood in Brooklyn to join his father. Comrie attended Fort Hamilton High School where he continued to play soccer.^[1]

After high school, Comrie entered the University of Connecticut where he majored in home economics and played on the powerhouse Huskies soccer team from 1979 to 1982. The Huskies won the 1981 NCAA Championship. Comrie was named a second team All American in 1981^[2] and finished second on career points list with 145. While Comrie finished his collegiate career in 1982, he did not graduate with a bachelor’s degree in fashion design until 1986.

[edit] NASL

In 1982, the Montreal Manic of the North American Soccer League (NASL) drafted Comrie. That season, he was runner up to fellow UConn team mate Pedro DeBrito for Rookie of the Year. The Manic folded at the end of the 1983 NASL season and Comrie moved to the Chicago Sting for the 1984 season.^[3] The Sting won the 1984 NASL championship. The NASL folded after the 1984 season and several of the league’s teams then jumped to the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL).

[edit] National team

In 1984, Comrie earned four caps with the U.S. national team. His first game with the national team came in a scoreless tie with Italy on May 30, 1984. While he started the game, he came off for Michael Fox. He then played three games in October with his last national team game coming on October 17, 1984 in a 2-1 loss to Mexico. He replaced Steve Sharp at halftime.^[4]

[edit] MISL

Comrie now found himself in the MISL, but the Sting traded him to the New York Cosmos. While the Cosmos began the 1984-1985 season, they folded after the All Star break.

[edit] France

Comrie spent time playing in France.

[edit] AISA

In 1986, Comrie joined the Chicago Shoccers of the American Indoor Soccer Association (AISA).^[5] The Shoccers folded at the end of the 1986-1987 season. Comrie retired from playing and became a stockbroker.

[edit] Stockbroker

On October 19, 1987, now known as Black Monday, Comrie suffered significant losses, as he found he had not diversified his investments properly, placing large bets on instruments that inevitably collapsed. This led to a re-evaluation of his career and his return to soccer.

[edit] ASL

In 1988, he signed with the Maryland Bays of the American Soccer League (ASL). He was a first team All Star.^[6] He moved to the Albany Capitals for the 1989^[7] and 1990^[8] seasons. In 1991, he retired from playing professionally for a second time, this time permanently, to enter the coaching ranks.

[edit] Coaching

Comrie gained his first coaching job as an assistant at Central Connecticut State University through an old friend, Shaun Green, the head coach at the university. In 1991, was hired as the head coach of Holy Cross. This position was not a full time job until 1996. He led the team to the NCAA Tournament in 2002, and won five Patriot League regular season titles, the last in 2007.^[9] Comrie finished with a career record of 125-158-34. He holds many school coaching records including most wins and most losses.^[10] On Dec. 24, 2008, Comrie resigned as the head coach at Holy Cross, after the administration became aware of a pattern of recruiting violations.^[11][12] Comrie also runs the Elvis Comrie Soccer Academy.^[13]

He was inducted into the Connecticut Hall of Fame in 2005.^[14]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Holy Cross profile