Stuart Dobson (born 10 February 1970) is an English retired

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 played in various

indoor soccer Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a form of five-a-side football, five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball. It is derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arenas. It differs from the FIFA, FIFA ...

leagues in the United States. He serves as the goalkeeping coach for 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 ...

of 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 ...

Playing career

Continental Indoor Soccer League

Dobson started his professional career with Portland Pride 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 ...

in June 1995 where he appeared in 10 matches.

National Professional Soccer League

He then joined

Chicago Power The Chicago Power were an indoor soccer team based in Chicago, Illinois, that competed in the American Indoor Soccer Association and National Professional Soccer League. After the 1995–96 season, the team was sold to Peter Pocklington, m ...

of the National Professional Soccer League for the 1995–96 NPSL season and appeared in 20 matches before being traded to

Tampa Bay Terror The Tampa Bay Terror is the name of an indoor soccer team based in the Tampa Bay, Florida area that competed in the defunct National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). The team existed for two seasons before folding: 1995–1996 and 1996–1997. ...

in exchange for Bill Andracki. He appeared in a further seven games for Tampa Bay that season. In the Terror's offseason, Dobson featured in at least seven outdoor matches for

Cascade Surge Cascade Surge was an American association football, soccer team based in Salem, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1995, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2009, when ...

for the

1996 USISL Professional League The 1996 USISL Professional League was the second highest of the three outdoor men's leagues run by the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues during the summer of 1996. Overview This season, USISL created a higer caliber professional leagu ...

. He appeared in 39 more matches for the 1996–97 season, leading the Terror to the playoffs where he played three more matches. Dobson joined Montreal Impact for the club's first season of indoor soccer in

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 ...

, appearing in eight matches before being traded for cash to Harrisburg Heat. He made a further 11 appearances for the Heat. However, Dobson's stop in Harrisburg was short as the Heat traded him on 17 November 1998 to the

Buffalo Blizzard The Buffalo Blizzard was a soccer club that existed from 1992 to 2001 in Buffalo, New York. History The team was originally owned by the Knox brothers who owned the Buffalo Sabres at the time, and additionally by the Riches who owned the minor l ...

. He remained in Buffalo, on and off, until the National Professional Soccer League ceased operations after the 2000–01 season. In his first year with the club, Dobson led them to the playoffs, making three appearances, after playing in 26 regular season matches. He didn't appear in the 1999–2000 season, but made his final three appearances for the Blizzard in the 2000–01 season.

Eastern Indoor Soccer League

In the 1998 off-season of the NPSL, Dobson played in the

Eastern Indoor Soccer League The Eastern Indoor Soccer League (EISL) was an American professional regional indoor soccer league. The league featured teams from the Southeastern United States. The regular seasons were played from May to August with post-season play in Septe ...

, a regional minor indoor soccer league that lasted only two seasons. He was acquired by

Mississippi Beach Kings The Mississippi Beach Kings were an indoor soccer team based in Biloxi, Mississippi, Biloxi, Mississippi, United States. They played their games in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. They were members of the Eastern Indoor Soccer League and played ...

on 7 May 1998 ahead of the final 1998 EISL season. With Mississippi, Dobson went to the playoffs, but ultimately lost by one goal in the championship game to Lafayette SwampCats. Dobson was named the 1998 Eastern Indoor Soccer League Goalkeeper of the Year and was placed on the 1998 EISL All-League Team.

World Indoor Soccer League

In the 1999 off-season of the NPSL, Dobson joined

World Indoor Soccer League The World Indoor Soccer League (WISL) was a United States–based indoor soccer sports league, league that operated from 1998 to 2001 and consisted of nine teams. History After the demise of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, four of its te ...

team

Utah Freezz The Utah Freezz were a professional American indoor soccer team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Freezz were a 1999 expansion team of the now-defunct World Indoor Soccer League. The team played in the E Center in West Valley City, Utah. Tim Mou ...

and made 21 appearances before losing in the playoffs. He re-signed with the club in June 2000.

Major Indoor Soccer League

Dobson found a home with

Philadelphia KiXX The Philadelphia KiXX were a professional indoor soccer team based in Philadelphia, USA. The team competed as an National Professional Soccer League II, NPSL expansion franchise and then played in the Major Indoor Soccer League (2008–14), Major ...

of the Major Indoor Soccer League when he was selected in the 8th round (45th overall) in the 2001 MISL Dispersal Draft. He made 50 regular season appearances from 2001 through 2006 and won the 2001–02 MISL Championship.

Coaching career

Dobson was named Goalkeepers Coach for

Akron Zips men's soccer The Akron Zips men's soccer team is an intercollegiate Varsity team, varsity sports team of the University of Akron. As of the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, the Zips play in the Big East Conference. This move followed Akron's full-ti ...

on 15 August 2012 under former head coach

Caleb Porter Caleb Porter (born February 18, 1975) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach of Major League Soccer club New England Revolution. He was previously head coach of the Portland Timbers from 2013 until 2017. He won MLS Cup in 2015 with P ...

. He previously held the same role with

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team is an NCAA Division I college soccer team composed of student-athletes attending the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Gauchos play their home matches at Harder Stadium. Like most of th ...

which he joined in 2008 after being with

New Jersey Ironmen The New Jersey Ironmen were an American indoor soccer team. They originally joined the Major Indoor Soccer League for the 2007–08 season. When the MISL ceased operations a year later, they joined the Xtreme Soccer League. The team played at ...

and working with

Tony Meola Antonio Michael Meola (; ; born February 21, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He represented the United States national team at the 1990, 1994, and 2002 World Cups. From 1996 to 2006, he pla ...

. On 15 January 2015, the Tampa Bay Rowdies introduced Dobson as their new goalkeepers coach, replacing the outgoing

Slobodan Janjuš Slobodan "Čobo" Janjuš (born January 7, 1952, Sarajevo) is a Yugoslav and Bosnian retired football goalkeeper. Čobo gained a legendary status in his hometown Sarajevo, while playing for both Sarajevo clubs, a bitter city rivals, FK "Željo ...

. In July 2023, following

Neill Collins Neill William Collins (born 2 September 1983) is a Scottish football manager and former player who is the head coach of USL Championship club Sacramento Republic. Collins is a former Scotland U21 and Scotland B international who played as a ...

' departure to join

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

as manager, Dobson assumed the role of interim head coach for the Rowdies.

References

External links

Tampa Bay Rowdies profile

Akron Zips coaching profile
* *
Just Sports Stats player profile
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, Stuart 1970 births Living people Indoor soccer goalkeepers Eastern Indoor Soccer League players UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer coaches Tampa Bay Terror players Akron Zips men's soccer coaches Tampa Bay Rowdies coaches Portland Pride players Chicago Power (NPSL) players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players Harrisburg Heat (NPSL) players Buffalo Blizzard players Utah Freezz players Philadelphia KiXX (2001–2008 MISL) players Portland Pilots men's soccer players Continental Indoor Soccer League players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players World Indoor Soccer League players Cascade Surge players USL Second Division players Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players Men's association football goalkeepers English men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada English football managers Footballers from Beverley Association football goalkeeping coaches USL Championship coaches