Willy Roy

Willy Roy

Roy circa 1984
Personal information
Full name	Willy Roy
Date of birth	(1943-02-08)February 8, 1943
Place of birth	Treuberg,Germany
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1964–1966	Hansa
1967–1968	Chicago Spurs	27	(17)
1968	Kansas City Spurs	15	(6)
1971–1974	Saint Louis Stars	43	(18)
1975	Ukrainian Lions
1975	Chicago Sting	14	(0)
International career‡
1965–1973	United States	20	(9)
Managerial career
1977–1986	Chicago Sting
1987–2002	Northern Illinois Huskies
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of May 31, 2006 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 22, 2006

Willy Roy(born February 8, 1943) is a retired American soccerforwardand coach. He played for several teams in theNational Professional Soccer Leagueand theNorth American Soccer Leaguein the 1960s and 1970s, as well as theUnited States national teamfrom 1965 to 1973. He is a member of theNational Soccer Hall of Fame.

Early years

When Roy was six, his family moved to the United States from Germany, settling in Chicago. After attendingReavis High Schooland winning the 1961 IHSA Wrestling Team State Championship and individual 145 lb State Championship in what is nowBurbank, Illinois,he began playing semi-pro soccer in the Chicago area. In 1964, he joined Hansa of theNational Soccer League of Chicago.In 1966, Hansa won thePeter J. Peel Challenge Cupas the Illinois State Champion. The year prior, the team lost to the New York Ukrainians in theNational Challenge Cup.

Professional career

The year 1966 saw a series of events that had a major impact on Roy's future career. Three separate groups decided to form a professional league in the U.S. Through various negotiations, two of the groups merged to form theNational Professional Soccer League(NPSL). While theUSSFandFIFArefused to recognize the NPSL, it gained a television contract withCBS,thereby guaranteeing some element of financial stability.

Up to this point, Roy played almost exclusively with local Chicago minor league teams and the U.S. national team.

Once again, external soccer events impacted Roy's career. The NPSL merged with theUnited Soccer Associationin December 1967 to form theNorth American Soccer League.That year, the Spurs also moved to Kansas City. Roy moved with the team and spent one season there. Roy experienced a sophomore slump in1968,playing 15 games, scoring 6 goals and assisting on 4 others. However, the team played well, losing to theAtlanta Chiefsin the playoff semifinals.

Roy moved on to theSaint Louis Stars(NASL) in 1971. In his three seasons with the Stars, he scored 18 goals and assisted on 16 others. In 1972, the team made it to theNASL final,losing to theNew York Cosmos2–1.

After retiring from the national team, Roy continued to play professionally for a few more years. In 1975, he moved to his last team, the expansionChicago Sting.He would play a single season with the Sting, statistically the worst of his career. He scored no goals and made 3 assists in 14 games. He retired from playing at the end of the season.

U.S. national team

In 1965, Roy made his debut with theUnited States national teamin a1966 FIFA World Cup qualificationmatch againstMexicoin Mexico City, a 0–2 loss. He earned his secondcapnine days later in a tie withHonduraswhich ended the U.S. attempt to qualify for the1966 World Cup.

Roy enjoyed relative success with the national team in 1968. He played eight games, scoring six goals. In those eight games, the national team went 4–3–1. More significantly, four of those games were qualifying matches for the1970 FIFA World Cup.In those three games, the U.S. went 3–1 with Roy scoring 3 goals. The next year, he played only a single game with the national team, a 2–0 loss toHaiti.That game, combined with a second loss to Haiti a month later spelled the end to yet another U.S. attempt to qualify for a World Cup. Roy would not play for the national team again until it began playing qualification games for the1974 World Cup.

In 1972, Roy played four games with the national team, all1974 World Cup qualifyingmatches. The U.S. went 0–3–1, failing to reach yet another World Cup. Despite the team's dismal showing, Roy scored in three consecutive games, giving him a record six goals in World Cup qualifying matches. The next player to score in three consecutive matches did not come untilCobi Jonesdid it in 2000. Roy's record of six goals in world cup qualifying matches lasted untilEarnie Stewartscored his seventh qualifying goal in 2001.

Roy played five more games with the national team, all in 1973. That year, he scored once, ending his national team career with 20 games and 10 goals, one of the best scoring rates by any national team member over a sustained career.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	September 15, 1968	New York, New York	Israel	1–2	3–3	Friendly
2	October 13, 1968	Toronto,Canada	Canada	1–0	2–4	1970 World Cup Qualifying
3	October 20, 1968	Port-au-Prince, Haiti	Haiti	?	6–3	Friendly
4	November 2, 1968	Kansas City, Missouri	Bermuda	4–2	6–2	1970 World Cup Qualifying
5	November 10, 1968	Hamilton, Bermuda	Bermuda	2–0	2–0	1970 World Cup Qualifying
6	August 20, 1972	St. John's, Canada	Canada	1–3	2–3	1974 World Cup Qualifying
7	August 29, 1972	Baltimore, Maryland	Canada	1–1	2–2	1974 World Cup Qualifying
8	September 3, 1972	Mexico City, Mexico	Mexico	1–3	1–3	1974 World Cup Qualifying
9	November 13, 1973	Tel-Aviv, Israel	Israel	1–1	1–3	Friendly

Coaching career

In 1976, upon retiring from playing, Roy became an assistant coach forChicago Sting.He spent two seasons in this position, before moving up to head coach in 1979. In 1981, Roy coached the Sting to a 23–9 record and a victory in theSoccer Bowl(the NASL championship game) and earned himselfNASL Coach of the Yearhonors. The summer of 1984 saw Roy coach the Sting to itssecond NASL outdoor title.This would also be the last NASL championship as the league folded the following Spring.

TheMajor Indoor Soccer Leaguehad commenced operations in 1978, and it proved its success in its first two years of operation as it gained teams and the NASL lost teams to financial failure. The NASL attempted to piggyback on the MISL success, by playing an indoor season beginning in the winter of1979–1980,following its 1979 outdoor season. Roy's Sting did not do well in that first season indoors, but things improved drastically during the1980–1981 indoor season.He guided them to a division title, the league's best regular-season record, and into the finals, where they lost to theEdmonton Drillers,two games to none. The following season (1981–82) saw another division title, but this time they made an early exit from the playoffs. The NASL did not hold a full indoor season in 1982–83, so the Sting played that winter in theMISLwhere it finished third in the Eastern Division. Roy got the Sting on track during the1983–84indoor season, back again in the NASL. They finished second in the standings and lost to theNew York Cosmos (1971–1985)in the playoff semifinals. With the demise of the NASL, the Sting became a full-time member of the MISL.

Roy coached the Sting for two more seasons. The team lost to the Cleveland Force in the 1985 quarterfinals but missed the playoffs in 1986, finishing with a 23–25 record. A 2–8 start the following campaign led to Roy being replaced byErich Geyeron December 23, 1986.

During his time with the Sting, Roy did more than win two championships. He had an impact that went beyond the team when he coached the formerDutch National TeamHead CoachDick AdvocaatandUnited States women's national soccer teamGreg Ryan.Ryan later credited Roy with being a strong influence on his development as a player and coach. Ryan said, "The thing that defined Willy was, he was one of the most intense competitors as a player and that carried over to his coaching. He was so intense and so determined that he brought that quality out in his players. If he mentioned people who went on to bigger and better things, it was because they learned to work so hard and give so much."

Roy was named the men's soccer head coach atNorthern Illinois Universityon August 12, 1987.In 1990, the Huskies had theMid-Continent Conference's best record and Roy was selected as the Mid-Con's Coach of the Year.

The school announced on February 18, 2003, that it was not renewing Roy's contract after the Huskies had three consecutive losing seasons. He finished with a 142–131–22 coaching record and two conference championships.During his time with the team, it was known for the high academic standards Roy set for his players. Although his last season with the team saw a dismal 4–13–1, the Huskies ranked in the Division-I Academic top 20.

Later years

In 1989, Roy was elected to theNational Soccer Hall of Fame.

He currently owns and helps his family run the Willy Roy Soccer Dome, an indoor soccer arena in Chicago, Now in his eighties, he continues to support the many players and leagues at the Soccer Dome.

In 1979, he wrote the bookCoaching Winning Soccer.

Honors

Player

• NASL Champion:1972(runner-up)
• Division Title:1968,1972

Manager

• NASL Champion:1981,1984
• NASL premiership:1984
• Division Title:1980,1981,1984
• NASL Champion indoor:1980–81(runner-up)
• NASL premiership indoor:1980–81
• Indoor Division Title:1980–81,1981–82

Individual

• Rookie of the Year:1967
• First Team All-Star:1967
• Coach of the Year:1981
• National Soccer Hall of Fame:1989