Elvis Comrie
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| Elvis Comrie | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Elvis Comrie | |
| Date of birth | 1959 | |
| Place of birth | Bristol, England | |
| Playing position | Forward | |
| Youth clubs | ||
1979-1981 |
Kingsford Rangers University of Connecticut |
|
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| 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 (4) 40 (37) ? (15) |
| National team | ||
| 1984 | United States | 4 (0) |
| Teams managed | ||
| 1989-1990 1991- |
Central Connecticut State (assistant) Holy Cross |
|
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Elvis Comrie (born 1959 in Briston, 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 now coaches college soccer.
Contents |
[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. Since a successful 2002 season, Holy Cross has suffered from a series of disappointing seasons. [9] Additionally, the program has lost several talented and highly-touted underclassmen who have either transferred or quit the team.
At no point in Comrie's career as a head coach has his winning percentage been over .500
Comrie also runs the Elvis Comrie Soccer Academy.[10]
He was inducted into the Connecticut Hall of Fame in 2005.[11]
[edit] References
- ^ Kicking Off A New Era :: With college soccer on the rise, Coach Elvis Comrie and his footballers are ready for a breakaway
- ^ National Soccer Coaches Association of America - All-America Awards
- ^ http://home.att.net/~nasl/teams/sting.txt
- ^ USA - Details of International Matches 1980-1989
- ^ The Year in American Soccer - 1987
- ^ ASL 1988 Seasons
- ^ ASL 1989 Season
- ^ ASL 1990 Season
- ^ Yearly Record
- ^ 2006 Soccer Academy.indd
- ^ Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame
