Billy Thompson (soccer, born 1968)

William Thompson (born May 5, 1968) is a retired U.S. soccer player who coaches youth soccer. He earned one caps with the U.S. national team and played three seasons in Major League Soccer with the Columbus Crew.

Billy Thompson
Personal information
Full name William Thompson
Date of birth (1968-05-05) May 5, 1968
Place of birth Cupertino, California, United States
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Position(s) Forward, midfielder
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1990 UCLA
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1989 Los Angeles Heat ? (10)
1991–1995 Pau FC
1995 Rajpracha
1995 Hawaii Tsunami 14 (21)
1995–1996 Tampa Bay Terror (indoor) 40 (30)
1996–1999 Columbus Crew 82 (4)
National team
1988 United States 1 (0)
Teams managed
1999 Ohio Wesleyan women (assistant)
2000 Ohio Wesleyan men (assistant)
2000– Worthington United Soccer Club
– Wellington High School
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

College

Thompson, born in Cupertino, California, attended UCLA where he played as a forward on the men's soccer team from 1986 to 1990. Thompson earned first team All American honors as a senior. That year he was the captain of the Bruins team which won the NCAA championship. Thompson was also the 1990 ISAA Player of the Year and finished his time at UCLA with 42 goals and 27 assists.

Early career

While playing with UCLA, Thompson spent the 1988 and 1989 collegiate off season with the Los Angeles Heat of the Western Soccer Alliance.[1] In 1988, he was named to the WSA All Star team.[2]

Following his last season at UCLA, Thompson was a member of the U.S. soccer team at the 1991 World University Games. He then moved to France to play for Pau Football Club, of the French Second and Third divisions. He was with the team from 1991 to 1994 before returning to the United States for a short spell with professional beach soccer which led him to compete in the Beach Soccer World Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil a year later. In 1995, he spent a single season with the Hawaii Tsunami of the USISL. He was the league's Offensive MVP.[3] That same year he also guest played with Raj Pracha FC of Thailand.

MLS

On February 6–7, 1996, Major League Soccer (MLS) held its first draft. The Columbus Crew selected Thompson in the third round (21st overall) ahead of fellow Bruins Eddie Lewis, Frankie Hejduk, and Ante Razov. At the time he was playing indoor soccer with the Tampa Bay Terror of the National Professional Soccer League.[4] Thompson went on to play four seasons with the Crew. However, at the end of his second season, in which he saw time in only six games (four as a starter), the Crew did not protect Thompson during the expansion draft. The next season, he came back strong, appearing in twenty-nine games. However, he retired at the end of the 1999 season finishing with 4 goals and 18 assists for his MLS career.

Coaching

After retiring from professional soccer, Thompson remained in Columbus. In 1999, he served as the assistant coach to the Ohio Wesleyan women's soccer team. The next season, he was an assistant to the men's soccer team. He is also the head coach for the Wellington High School girls' team. In 2000, Thompson joined Worthington United, a local youth soccer club, leading the 1990 boys team to the Ohio State Cup semifinals in 2006 and 2007, and to their first state title in 2008. In 2008 Worthington United merged with the Columbus Crew to become Worthington Crew Juniors, a developmental academy for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer. Thompson was the Director of Coaching for the Worthington Crew Juniors and Crew Juniors Soccer programs. Background includes former coaching for the Olympic Development Program. Thompson used to coach Worthington Crew Juniors, and is devoted to the Developmental Academy Team. He was awarded Ohio South's coach of the year honors in 2005 and holds a NSCAA national coaching diploma. Thompson currently coaches for Ohio Premier.

National team

Thompson earned one cap with the U.S. national team.[5] His one cap came in a 1–0 victory over Costa Rica on June 14, 1988.[6] While he has only one cap, he played seventeen total games with the national team, but sixteen of those were not full internationals.

Personal

Billy and his wife, Shawnda, reside in the Columbus area with their two children.

References
  1. 1989 Los Angeles Heat
  2. Western Soccer Alliance 1988 Season
  3. Tsunami get ready for new wave
  4. NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL SOCCER LEAGUE FINAL OFFICIAL STATISTICS -- 1995-1996 Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  5. U.S. Men's National Team: P - T
  6. USA - Details of International Matches 1980-1989 Archived September 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine


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