Richard "Richie" Williams (born June 3, 1970) is an American

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 ...

coach and former player who is currently the head coach of

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

side

New England Revolution II New England Revolution II is a professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in MLS Next Pro, the third division of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club ...

. Known for his diminutive height and his dogged tackling, Williams spent the vast majority of his playing career in the United States, playing one season in the National Professional Soccer League, two in

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 ...

, two in the

USL A-League The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second Di ...

, and eight in

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 ...

, most notably for D.C. United. He also earned 20 caps for the United States national team. As a player, he won national championships at the youth (Union NJ Lancers, McGuire Cup U-19 in 1988), college (University of Virginia, NCAA Champions in 1989, 1991 and 1992), and professional (DC United, MLS Cups in 1996, 1997 and 1999) levels. Since the end of his playing career, Williams has been involved in coaching, including as head coach of the U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team and as an assistant coach in Major League Soccer for the New York Red Bulls and the New England Revolution.

Club career

Early career

Williams was born in

Middletown Township, New Jersey Middletown Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in northern Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township was List of municipalities in New Jersey, the ...

and attended Mater Dei High School. Williams' career has been closely tied to

Bruce Arena Bruce Arena (born September 21, 1951) is an American soccer coach who currently serves as the head coach and sporting director of the San Jose Earthquakes. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and the NJCAA Lacrosse Hall of Fame. ...

, former coach of the United States men's national team. Arena first coached Williams at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. The two parted ways after Williams graduated. In 1992, Williams signed with Buffalo Blizzard in the National Professional Soccer League. He played thirty games for the Blizzard during the 1992-1993 winter indoor season. In the spring of 1993, he signed with the

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

of the

. That fall, he moved to Ayr United in

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

but then came back to the United States, signing with the

of the

in 1994. Williams played two seasons with the Kickers, helping them to the 1995 U.S. Open Cup and USISL titles.

Major League Soccer

In February 1996, Williams was drafted by D.C. United head coach Bruce Arena in the fourth round of the

1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft The MLS Inaugural Player Draft, held before Major League Soccer's initial 1996 season, distributed players to the league's ten inaugural teams. The Inaugural Player Draft occurred on February 6 and 7, 1996 after each team was allocated four marqu ...

. Making up for his height with his ferocious shadowing of the opponent's top playmaker, he became an integral member of the early DC teams, helping them to three

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 ...

titles. Williams was traded to MetroStars for

Mike Ammann Mike Ammann (born February 8, 1971) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper in England and Major League Soccer. Youth Ammann was born in Orange, California. The younger brother of Bob Ammann, he played for th ...

in 2001, spent a year there and was sent back to D.C. for Brian Kamler. His MLS career ended with the Metros in a trade with Eddie Pope and Jaime Moreno for Mike Petke, a draft pick, and an allocation before the 2003 season. Williams tallied just eight goals and added 33 assists in 216 regular season games in MLS (plus two goals and four assists in 26 playoff games). Williams signed with his original American team

which then played in the

, prior to the 2004 season, but left the club in September 2005 after disagreements with the coach Leigh Cowlishaw, and retired from playing shortly thereafter.

International career

Williams earned his first cap for the United States on November 6, 1998, against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and went on to appear 20 times for the national team.

Coaching career

Williams spent several years as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Virginia, before being named an assistant coach with the MetroStars in January 2006. In June 2006, Williams was named interim head coach of the re-branded

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

, and went back as assistant following former

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT), officially recognized as USA by FIFA, represents the United States in men's international Association football, soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation, which is ...

head coach

's appointment with the club. He remained as the club's top assistant coach, until he was once again called on to serve as the club's interim coach replacing Juan Carlos Osorio for the remaining eight matches of the 2009 season. Williams was retained by Red Bulls as an assistant coach for the 2010 season before being abruptly fired just three weeks before the start of the 2011 MLS season.Giase, Frank
"Red Bulls fire longtime assistant coaches Richie Williams, Des McAleenan"
''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' was the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. It is based in Newark, New Jersey. The newspaper ceased print publication on February 2, 2025, but continues to publish a digital edition. In 2007, ''The Star-Ledger''s ...

'', February 28, 2011. Accessed July 20, 2011. "Williams, a Mater Dei graduate who played eight years in MLS, including stints with the MetroStars in 2001 and 2003, was entering his sixth year as an assistant coach, but he has been much more important to the team than that." In October 2011, Williams was hired as the head coach of the U-18 national team. Three months later he was named head coach of the United States men's national under-17 soccer team. After the

2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the sixteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, held in Chile from 17 October to 8 November 2015. Host selection The following four countries bid to host the tournament: * * * * Venues Along with proposing ...

, Williams departed the program. In January 2019, Williams was hired as the head coach of Loudoun United FC in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

. He left the team on May 30 to take a job as an assistant coach for 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 ...

. In August 2020 during the “MLS is Back Tournament” in a COVID-shortened season, Williams assumed head coaching duties of the New England Revolution for three games (a win and a tie, extending the team's unbeaten streak to eight games) while Bruce Arena served a temporary suspension. On August 1, 2023, the New England Revolution announced that Bruce Arena was placed on administrative leave amid allegations of "insensitive and inappropriate remarks"and that Williams would act as interim head coach pending a related league investigation. On September 12, 2023, it was announced that Clint Peay would be replacing Williams as interim head coach. Williams was named head coach of the Revolution's

squad

on January 17, 2024.

Managerial statistics

Honors

D.C. United *

: 1996, 1997, 1999 *

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 199 ...

: 1997, 1999 * U.S. Open Cup: 1996 *

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

: 1998 * InterAmerican Cup: 1998 Richmond Kickers * USISL Premier League Champions: 1995 * US Open Cup Champions: 1995 * James River Cup: 2004, 2005 United States *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Individual *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

References

External links

MetroFan player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Richie 1970 births Living people American soccer coaches American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players Ayr United F.C. players Buffalo Blizzard players D.C. United players New York Red Bulls players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players New York Red Bulls head coaches Richmond Kickers players Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer coaches Virginia Cavaliers men's soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players USISL players USL First Division players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players Mater Dei High School (New Jersey) alumni Sportspeople from Middletown Township, New Jersey Soccer players from Monmouth County, New Jersey Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars A-League (1995–2004) players New York Red Bulls non-playing staff Men's association football midfielders USL Championship coaches Loudoun United FC New England Revolution head coaches New England Revolution II New England Revolution non-playing staff CONCACAF Champions Cup–winning players 20th-century American sportsmen