Neil Megson (soccer)

Neil Megson
Personal information
Date of birth	27 July 1962 (age 61)
Place of birth	Manchester, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1976–1977	Bristol Rovers
Senior career*
Years	Team
1983	Seattle Sounders
1984	Tulsa Roughnecks
1983–1992	Tacoma Stars (indoor)
1988	Calgary Kickers
1993	Portland Pride (indoor)
1994–1999	Seattle Sounders
International career
1988	United States
Managerial career
1993	Portland Pride (assistant)
1994–1995	Seattle Sounders (assistant)
1996–2000	Seattle Sounders
2003–2004	Olympic Rangers
2007–	Sounders Crossfire (assistant)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Neil Megson (born 27 July 1962) is a

Sheffield Wednesday manager Gary Megson

.

North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1977. Megson played with the Frampton Rangers Youth Academy before joining Bristol Rovers F.C. as an apprentice when he was fourteen. He was sixteen when his father moved their family to Portland. On arriving in Oregon, Megson attended Lake Oswego High School

, becoming an outstanding prep player. He was named the Oregon Player of the Year his senior year. Megson's family returned to England, but he elected to remain in the U.S. After high school, he attended a local community college for a year.

Professional

In 1983, the

A-League

championship. In March 1996, Megson took on the duties of coach, as well as player, with the Sounders. In that role, he led the team to the 1996 A-League title. In August and then again in October of that year, he suffered several injuries which put him out of play for several months. Megson continued to play with the team through the 1998 season. In 1999, he became the team's dedicated coach.

International

Megson earned his first of two

caps with the U.S. national team in a 1–1 tie with Chile on 1 June 1988. He came on for Bernie James who replaced Megson as head coach of the Sounders after Megson was fired. Megson's second cap came two days later in a 3–1 loss to Chile. He started the game, then came off for Chris Sullivan.^[2]

Coaching career

While playing with the Portland Pride in 1993, Megson also served as an assistant coach. When he moved to the Sounders in 1994, he served as both an assistant coach and player under Alan Hinton. On 3 March 1996, the Sounders elevated Megson from player to player-coach after the team fired Hinton. On 28 September 2000 he was named the USL A-League Coach of the Year.

In 2003, Olympic College hired Megson to establish the school's men's and women's soccer teams. He coached the women's team's first season in 2004.^[3] In 2004, he became the Coaching Director of the WestSound Football Club and remained with the club through July 2007. In 2007, Megson rejoined the Sounders club as an assistant with the Sounders Crossfire W-League team. He now coaches several Franklin Pierce Fury teams in Tacoma, Washington.

Non soccer ventures

Over the years, Megson has owned at least two Baskin-Robbins ice cream stores and a hair salon.

References

External links

[1] "Neil Megson soccer statistics on StatsCrew.com".

[2] USA – Details of International Matches 1980–1989

[3] OC Men's Soccer Records

[2]

[3]