Richie Burke (born 26 November 1962) is an English former professional footballer and former manager of

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the USL W-League (1995� ...

competing in the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

. He has extensive coaching experience in Scotland and the United States.

Playing career

Burke started his career with

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 ...

and Everton at youth level. After being released, he spent most of his professional playing career in the United States. Originally playing collegiate soccer at American University level, he then went on to play for 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 ...

and the Washington Stars. He also enjoyed brief spells with Chester City in England and

Sydney Olympic Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club, based in Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states o ...

in Australia. Burke spent the later stages of his career playing indoor soccer with

Washington Warthogs The Washington Warthogs were a professional indoor soccer team in the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) from 1994 to 1997. They played their home games in the USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland, an arena they shared with the Washington Bull ...

before retiring in 1994 following a career spanning 15 years.

Coaching career

Coaching in the United States

Burke began his coaching career in the US soccer camp business as an owner and operator of The Players Soccer Academy. He then went on to work with the

USSF USSF may refer to: * United States Servicemen's Fund, a support organization for soldier and sailor resistance to the Vietnam War and the U.S. military * United States Soccer Federation, governing body of soccer in the United States * United States ...

in the Olympic Development Program. Burke was also employed as technical director and director of coaching at various regional powerhouse soccer clubs. He then enjoyed a successful stint at

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional 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 sanctioned by the United ...

club

D.C. United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

where he worked in several positions including first-team assistant coach (from 2001 to 2003 under

Ray Hudson Raymond Wilfred Hudson (born 24 March 1955) is an English former professional football player and manager who currently works as a radio host for SiriusXM FC 157. He started playing professionally at 17, in 1973, with Newcastle United. Fans nic ...

), director of youth programs and USSF development academy head coach. In his time with the academy programme he helped to secure a MLS Youth Cup Championship in 2007. Burke's most recent coaching role in the US was with the

Northern Virginia Royals Northern Virginia FC (formerly Northern Virginia Royals and Evergreen FC, and commonly known as NoVa FC) is an American soccer club from Leesburg, Virginia competing in USL League Two, USL W League, Eastern Premier Soccer League and Major Arena ...

as head coach. Burke had a history of accusations of abusive conduct during his time as a youth coach.

Livingston

In 2012, Burke moved back to the United Kingdom after securing a coaching position with

Scottish Football League First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...

side

Livingston Livingston or Livingstonemay refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North Am ...

. In addition to this, he was also tasked with developing the clubs newly formed youth foundation. Burke, who was originally appointed as technical coach of the

West Lothian West Lothian (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, bordering (in a clockwise direction) the City of Edinburgh council area, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk (council area), Falkirk. The modern counci ...

club, was promoted to assistant manager (to Gareth Evans) following the departure of

John Hughes John Hughes may refer to: Arts and Entertainment Literature *John Hughes (poet) (1677–1720), English poet *John Hughes (1790–1857), English author *John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet *John Hughes (writer) (born 1961), Australian au ...

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

in November 2012. After the dismissal of Gareth Evans as manager on 28 February 2013, Burke assumed the role of interim manager. On 25 March 2013, he was appointed as the new permanent manager of Livingston on a contract running until the summer of 2015. He left the club on 12 September, resigning for personal reasons after a slow start to the season.

Washington Spirit

In January 2019, Burke was appointed head coach of the

in the

taking over for interim manager, Tom Torres.

Misconduct allegations

In September 2021, Burke was fired following an investigation into allegations of harassment and abusive behavior towards players. After multiple investigations into pervasive abuse within the league, Burke was one of four coaches banned from the NWSL for life on 9 January 2023.

Managerial statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Richie 1962 births Living people Continental Indoor Soccer League players English football managers Livingston F.C. managers Livingston F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from Liverpool Scottish Professional Football League managers Scottish Football League managers Washington Warthogs players Washington Spirit head coaches National Women's Soccer League head coaches Men's association football players not categorized by position English men's footballers