Francis Okaroh (born August 25, 1963 in

Enugu Enugu () verbally pronounced as "Enụgwụ" by the Igbo indigenes is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the so ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

) is a retired

football (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 ...

defender. Playing professionally in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, he began his career indoors with the Cleveland Force in 1987–88 before spending five seasons in Major League Soccer (MLS) with the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

(1996–1997), Chicago Fire (1998–1999) and

Miami Fusion Miami Fusion F.C. was an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team played from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one ...

(2000). He was a starting defender in the inaugural campaigns for both the Revolution and Fire, winning MLS Cup '98 with the latter. He has been an assistant coach with the men's soccer program at his alma mater

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

since 2007.Francis Okaroh (biography) – Boston University Athletics.
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Player

College

Okaroh played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

in the United States at

(BU) from 1982 to 1986. He was a 1986 Second Team All American. He was inducted into the BU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.

Professional

In November 1987, Okaroh signed with the Cleveland Force of Major Indoor Soccer League. He played only one season with the Force. In 1995, Okaroh played for the amateur Lowell Blues of the Luso-American Soccer Association.

Major League Soccer

In 1996, in preparation for the upcoming

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

season, Okaroh signed with the

Cape Cod Crusaders The Cape Cod Crusaders was an American soccer team based in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Founded in 1994, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2008, when the franchi ...

of the

USISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to 1994. It was the first outdoor league to be operated by the organization known today as the United ...

. Okaroh was signed by

on July 22, 1996. He made his Revolution debut on June 23 in a 4-1 loss to the

Dallas Burn Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. Okaroh was a stand-out player and a fixture on the Revolution backline during his time with the club. Nicknamed "The General," Okaroh started twenty matches in the Revolution's inaugural campaign, despite joining mid-way through the season. He was named team defender of the year for the 1996 New England Revolution season (then known as the " Bic Tough Defensive Player of the Year" for sponsorship reasons). In 1997, Okaroh helped the club qualify for the playoffs for the first time in their history, making 29 starts during the regular season, and again being named Revolution Defender of the Year. On November 4, 1997, Okaroh was taken by the Chicago Fire in the seventh round of the 1997 MLS Expansion Draft. He then helped the Fire to the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

and

1998 U.S. Open Cup The 1998 U.S. Open Cup ran from June through October, 1998, open to all soccer teams in the United States. The first-year Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire won the Cup with a 2–1 overtime victory over the Columbus Crew at Soldier Field in ...

double, making 33 appearances across all competitions. On March 10, 2000, he was traded to the

for Fusion's 2001 second round MLS SuperDraft selection and a conditional draft pick. He made 13 appearances in his sole season with the Fusion before being traded to the MetroStars. He never played for the latter club, and was waived before the 2001 season. Okaroh made 114 appearances during his MLS career, and never scored a goal. That run ranked him 7th all-time in MLS appearances without recording a goal as of 2009.

Coach

In the early 1990s, Okaroh coached the Norwood High School boys' soccer team. Currently, he runs Francis Okaroh's Ultimate Soccer Academy in

New Hampton, New Hampshire New Hampton is a town in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,377 at the 2020 census. A winter sports resort area, New Hampton is home to George Duncan State Forest and to the New Hampton School, a private prepara ...

. In 2007, he became an assistant coach with the Boston University men's soccer team. With his brother Ben, he founded FC Blazers, a youth soccer club based in Massachusetts. Francis Okaroh joined the Emmanuel College staff as the Head Women's Soccer Coach, taking over the program in April 2021. In his first two seasons with the team, Okaroh led the Saints to a pair of GNAC postseason berths and was named the 2022 GNAC Women's Soccer Coach of the Year. He coached the 2022 GNAC Rookie of the Year, the 2022 GNAC Goalkeeper of the Year and the 2021 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year while having eight members honored on the GNAC All-Conference squad.

References

External links

Francis Okaroh's Ultimate Soccer Academy
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okaroh, Francis 1963 births Living people Boston University alumni Boston University Terriers men's soccer players Cape Cod Crusaders players Chicago Fire FC players Cleveland Force (original MISL) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Major League Soccer players Miami Fusion players New England Revolution players Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the United States USISL players Footballers from Enugu Men's association football defenders 20th-century Nigerian sportsmen