Bernard "Benny" Dargle (born 2 January 1957) is an American retired professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a defender, making over 400 career appearances in a professional career which lasted from 1978 to 1992.

Career

Dargle was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England and played college soccer for the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...

from 1975 to 1977. He began his professional career in 1978 with the Cleveland Cobras of the American Soccer League before moving to the Detroit Express of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

in 1979. He played two outdoor seasons and one indoor season with the Express before moving to the

Washington Diplomats The Washington Diplomats were an American soccer club representing Washington, D.C. Throughout their playing existence, the club played their home games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and indoor home matches at the neighboring D.C. A ...

in 1981. The Dips folded at the end of the season and on October 6, 1981, the Seattle Sounders selected Dargle first in the dispersal draft. He finished his NASL career with the Sounders in 1983. When the Sounders folded at the end of the 1983 season, the Vancouver Whitecaps selected Dargle in the dispersal draft, but he did not sign with that team. Instead, he turned to indoor soccer with the Cleveland Force of the Major Indoor Soccer League with whom he played five seasons. On June 16, 1988, the Force released Dargle, along with several other players, as the team folded. Dargle remained in Cleveland after no other MISL team signed him. In the summer of 1989, Dargle was signed by the expansion

Cleveland Crunch The Cleveland Crunch is an American professional indoor soccer club located in Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1989 as an expansion team in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL), the Crunch played a total of 16 seasons in three separate leagues unde ...

after a successful trial. On June 20, 1990, Dargle became a free agent when the Crunch allowed his contract to lapse. He then moved to the Canton Invaders of the

American Indoor Soccer Association American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. He became the head coach during the 1990–91 season and remained so until resigning in July 1992. He continued to play until the end of the 1992–93 season. In January 1996, he returned to the Invaders on a fifteen-day contract.''LOW-KEY CRUNCH SUBDUES INVADERS'' Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH) - Saturday, January 20, 1996

References

External links

NASL/MISL career stats

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dargle, Benny 1957 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool Akron Zips men's soccer players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) coaches American soccer coaches American men's soccer players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Canton Invaders players Cleveland Crunch players Cleveland Cobras players Cleveland Force (original MISL) players Detroit Express players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Seattle Sounders (1974–1983) players Washington Diplomats (NASL) players Men's association football defenders English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate men's footballers 20th-century American sportsmen