Bill Becher (born 15 February 1965) is an American former

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 and head coach.

Playing coach

Youth

Born in West Virginia, Becher grew up in St. Louis. He began his collegiate career at

Lewis and Clark Community College Lewis and Clark Community College is a public community college in Godfrey, Illinois. It serves approximately 3,973 credit and non-credit students annually. The college has nine locations throughout the St. Louis Metro East, including a campu ...

. He then transferred to

Sangamon State University The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) is a public university in Springfield, Illinois, United States. The university was established by the Illinois General Assembly in 1969 as Sangamon State University with a focus on post-graduate edu ...

. In 1986, Becher was a Third Team NAIA All American. In 1987, he scored the winning goal as Sangamon won the

NAIA national men's soccer championship The NAIA Men's Soccer Championship is the annual tournament to determine the national champions of National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, NAIA men's College soccer in the United States, college soccer in the United States and Canada. ...

and Becher was named the tournament MVP.

Professional

In 1987, Becher turned professional with the Fort Wayne Flames 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 played two season with the Flames. When the Flames folded in 1989, Becher moved to the newly created Indiana Kick. In 1990, the Kick moved to New York to become the New York Kick. Becher began the 1990-1991 AISA season with the Kick, but left the team in January 1991 after the team cut salaries. In 1991, Becher played for the

Colorado Foxes The Colorado Foxes were a professional men's soccer club originally based in Commerce City, Colorado, that played in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and USL A-League. Founded in 1990, the club moved to San Diego, California in ...

in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. ...

. In 1993 and 1994, Becher played summer seasons with the

Arizona Sandsharks Arizona Sandsharks was a U.S. indoor soccer team that played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL). It was founded in 1992 and folded in 1997, along with the CISL. Club history The Sandsharks were founded on August 3, 1992, under the o ...

of the

Continental Indoor Soccer League The Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) was a professional indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997. History In the summer of 1989 Dr Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and California Sports, told his executive Vice ...

. On October 22, 1999, the Heat traded Becher to the St. Louis Ambush for undisclosed considerations. He spent one season with the Ambush, then retired from professional soccer. He also played for the

Hershey Impact The Hershey Impact was an indoor soccer club based in Hershey, Pennsylvania that competed in the National Professional Soccer League. The team played its home games at the Hersheypark Arena for all of its 3 seasons. Staff and ownership * Pres ...

Coaching statistics

Honors

2005 United Soccer Leagues The 2005 USL season was the first following a rebranding of two United Soccer Leagues operated leagues. The A-League and the Pro Soccer League were renamed to the USL First Division and USL Second Division, respectively. These leagues also became ...

Coach of the Year *2007

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ...

Championship * 2011 USL Pro Finalist * 2014 USL Pro Finalist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becher, Bill 1965 births Living people American men's soccer players American Professional Soccer League players Arizona Sandsharks players Colorado Foxes players Continental Indoor Soccer League players Fort Wayne Flames players Indiana Kick players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players New York Kick players Sportspeople from Wheeling, West Virginia Soccer players from St. Louis St. Louis Ambush (1992–2000) players Penn FC coaches Men's association football midfielders American soccer coaches Harrisburg Heat (NPSL) players USL Championship coaches UIS Prairie Stars University of Illinois at Springfield alumni 20th-century American sportsmen