Not to be confused with the Irish association (soccer) footballer of the 1980s for Bohemian F.C., Richie Williams

Richie Williams
Personal information
Full name	Richard Williams
Date of birth	June 3, 1970 (1970-06-03) (age 39)
Place of birth	Middletown, New Jersey, United States
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m).
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1988-1991	University of Virginia
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1992-1993 1993 1993-1994 1994-1995 1996-2000 2001 2002 2003 2004-2005	Buffalo Blizzard (indoor) Richmond Kickers Ayr United Richmond Kickers D.C. United MetroStars D.C. United MetroStars Richmond Kickers	030 (10) 143 0(8) 021 0(0) 026 0(0) 026 0(0) 053 0(2)
National team
1989 1992 1998-2002	U.S. U-20 U.S. U-23 United States	020 0(0)
Teams managed
2005-2006 2006, 2009 2006-	University of Virginia (assistant) Red Bull New York (interim) Red Bull New York (assistant)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Richie Williams (born June 3, 1970 in Middletown, New Jersey) was an American soccer defensive midfielder and was twice named the interim head coach of Red Bull New York of Major League Soccer. Williams first became interim coach in 2006 following the dismissal of Mo Johnston and took the same position again following the 2009 resignation of Juan Carlos Osorio.

He is known for his diminutive height (5'5") and his dogged tackling. He played one season in the National Professional Soccer League, two in USISL, two in the USL A-League and eight in Major League Soccer.

[edit] Club career

Williams' career has been closely tied to Bruce Arena, former coach of the United States men's national team. Arena first coached Williams at the University of Virginia. The two parted ways after Williams graduated. In 1992, Williams signed with the Buffalo Blizzard in the National Professional Soccer League.^[1] He played thirty games for the Blizzard during the 1992-1993 winter indoor season. In the spring of 1993, he signed with the Richmond Kickers of the USISL. That fall, he moved to Ayr United in Scottish Football League but then came back to the United States, signing with the Richmond Kickers of the USISL in 1994. Williams played two seasons with the Kickers, helping them to the 1995 U.S. Open Cup and USISL titles. In February 1996, he was drafted by Arena, who then coached DC United, in the fourth round of the 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft. Making up for his height with his ferocious shadowing of the opponent's top playmaker, he became an integral member of the early DC teams, helping them to three MLS Cup titles. Arena left DC after three years, but, in his first game as the new US coach, gave Williams his first cap, on November 10, 1998, against Australia. Overall, Richie has appeared 20 times for the national team.

Williams was traded to the MetroStars for Mike Ammann in 2001, spent a year there and was sent back to DC for Brian Kamler. His MLS career ended with the Metros in a trade with Eddie Pope and Jaime Moreno for Mike Petke, a draft pick, and an allocation before the 2003 season. Williams tallied just eight goals and added 33 assists in 216 regular season games in MLS (plus two goals and four assists in 26 playoff games).

Williams signed with his original American team Richmond Kickers which now played in the USL A-League, prior to the 2004 season, but left the club in September 2005 after disagreements with the coach Leigh Cowlishaw. Williams also spent time as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Virginia. In January 2006, he was named an assistant coach with the MetroStars. On June 27, 2006, Williams was named interim head coach of the re-branded New York Red Bulls, and went back as assistant following former United States men's national soccer team head coach Bruce Arena's appointment with the club. He remained as the clubs top assistant coach, until he was once again called on to serve as the clubs interim coach replacing Juan Carlos Osorio for the remaining 8 matches of the 2009 season.

[edit] Honors

[edit] Richmond Kickers

• USISL Premier League Champions: 1995
• US Open Cup Champions: 1995
• James River Cup: 2004, 2005

[edit] D.C. United

Domestic

• MLS Cup:
  • Winners (3): 1996, 1997, 1999
  • Runners-up (1): 1998
• MLS Supporters' Shield:
  • Winners (2): 1997, 1999
  • Runners-up (1): 1998
• U.S. Open Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1996
  • Runners-up (1): 1997

International

• CONCACAF Champions' Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1998
• InterAmerican Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1998

[edit] New York Red Bull

as Metrostars

• U.S. Open Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2003

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• MetroFan player profile
• MetroStars coaching profile
• USL player profile

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