Christopher George Dangerfield (born 9 August 1955) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who spent most of his career in the United States. He began his career in England before playing ten seasons in 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 ...

and at least one in the

Western Soccer Alliance The Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer ...

. A former England under-20 international, he played for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

, Port Vale, Las Vegas Quicksilvers, Team Hawaii, Tulsa Roughnecks,

California Surf The California Surf was an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1981. The team was based in Anaheim, California and played their home games at Anaheim Convention Center and the Long Beach ...

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs were an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 North American Soccer League season, 1974 ...

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

/ Golden Bay Earthquakes,

Minnesota Strikers The Minnesota Strikers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1984 season and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. The team was based in Minneapolis/ St. Paul metrop ...

, and San Jose Oaks.

Playing career

Dangerfield grew up in

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield ( ), is a town and civil parish in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south of L ...

and attended John Willmott School. Preferring rugby as a youth, he began playing football around 14. In 1972, he began his career with

, but made no first-team appearances. In 1975, he went on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

with the expansion

of the

, and scored four goals in 14 games in the 1975 season. Timbers reached Soccer Bowl '75, losing 2–0 to the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

at the Spartan Stadium. He was kept on by

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Vic Crowe Victor Herbert Crowe (31 January 1932 – 21 January 2009) was a Welsh international football player and later football manager. Career Crowe was born in Abercynon, South Wales but moved to Handsworth, Birmingham with his family when he was t ...

for the 1976 season, scoring another two goals in 22 appearances. He was then released from his

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

at Molineux by Wolves boss Bill McGarry. He returned to England to have a trial with Port Vale in August 1976, but only made two substitute appearances at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

in the Third Division for Roy Sproson's "Valiants". He then signed with Coventry City, where he spent the entire 1976–77 season with the team's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

in The Central League and then turned down a new contract offer from manager

Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, Order of the British Empire, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English football in England, footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including pla ...

to search for first-team football elsewhere. In 1977, he moved permanently to the United States and signed with Derek Trevis's Las Vegas Quicksilvers, who boasted the legendary

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Stri ...

on their playing staff. Dangerfield scored two goals in 16 games in the 1977 season. He was traded to Team Hawaii, playing six games. At the end of the season, both Quicksilvers and Team Hawaii were disbanded. In

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

, he began the season with the Tulsa Roughnecks, but saw time in only one game before being sent to the

, where he made 22 appearances. In

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, he signed with the

, scoring nine goals in 22 games in his first season at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the Los Angeles Coliseum or L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Conceived as a hal ...

. He then scored 15 goals in 12 games in the 1979–80 Indoor season. He scored two goals in 19 games in the 1980 season, before hitting 35 goals in 16 matches in the 1980–81 Indoor season. He scored eight goals in 30 appearances in the 1981 season. Dangerfield moved to the

in 1982, and scored 16 goals in 15 games in the 1981–82 Indoor season and then nine goals in 30 appearances in the 1982 season. At the end of the 1982 season, the Earthquakes were renamed the Golden Bay Earthquakes. They entered the Major Indoor Soccer League for the winter indoor season. Dangerfield was the 15th leading scorer with 48 games, 52 goals, 20 assists, and 72 points. The Earthquakes returned to the NASL for the

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

outdoor seasons. Dangerfield injured his knee during the 1983–84 NASL indoor season and lost the entire

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

outdoor season. In February 1985, the Kansas City Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League made an offer to purchase Dangerfield's contract from the Earthquakes. The deal fell through when Dangerfield was unable to pass a physical. In March 1985, he signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

of the MISL. He scored four goals in seven games in 1984–85, 24 goals in 47 games in 1985–86, 20 goals in 49 appearances in 1986–87, and hit 12 goals in 52 matches in the 1987–88 season. In June 1985, he returned to the renamed San Jose Earthquakes for the

. He played one more season, 1988, for the Earthquakes in the Western Soccer Alliance after which he retired from playing professionally. However, he continued to play for the San Jose Oaks, eventually also becoming the team's coach.

Coaching career

In 1992, he became the coach of the amateur San Jose Oaks, taking them to the 1992 U.S. Open Cup title. He remained in that position until 1996. He holds a USSF "National-A" coaching licence and has coached for the De Anza Soccer Club of Cupertino, Saratoga, West San Jose, area of California, and has worked as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of teams in the US Soccer Development Academy League until the end of the 2011 season. After coaching for De Anza Force's club and Academy teams, Chris worked with Comcast SportsNet Bay Area as a color commentator for the San Jose Earthquakes, working from 1996 to 1999 and returning to the role in 2014. He was inducted into the San Jose Earthquakers Hall of Fame in March 2018.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

Hall of Fame inductee: March 2018 Portland Timbers *

Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League (NASL), which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's ...

runner-up:

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

San Jose Oaks * US Open Cup:

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

References

External links

Dangerfield7 Staffing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dangerfield, Chris 1955 births Living people People from Coleshill, Warwickshire Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Portland Timbers (1975–1982) players Port Vale F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Las Vegas Quicksilvers players Team Hawaii players Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players California Surf players Los Angeles Aztecs players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players Golden Bay Earthquakes (MISL) players Minnesota Strikers (MISL) players San Jose Oaks players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players English Football League players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Western Soccer Alliance players English football managers English football coaches English association football commentators