Tom Soehn (born April 15, 1966) 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 who was the head coach of

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 ...

club Birmingham Legion. A former player, his career as a defender spanned seven clubs across 12 seasons, both indoors and outdoors.

Playing career

Youth and college

Soehn was born to immigrant parents. His parents moved to the United States from Germany, but his father was born in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Soehn began playing soccer with the Chicago Kickers when he was four. He attended Forest View High School. He attended

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. Once West ...

from 1984 to 1987. In 2003, Western Illinois inducted Soehn into its Athletics Hall of Fame.

Indoor soccer

Soehn signed with the

Wichita Wings The Wichita Wings were a professional indoor soccer franchise based in Wichita, Kansas. The Wings were admitted to the Major Indoor Soccer League as an expansion team on August 21, 1979.

of Major Indoor Soccer League from 1988 to 1992. He moved to the Denver Thunder of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) for the 1992–1993 season before returning to the Wings in 1993 which were now playing in the NPSL. He remained with the Wings until 1996. In 1995, he played the summer indoor season with the Las Vegas Dustdevils 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 ...

(CISL).

CSL

In 1989 and 1990, Soehn played with the

Ottawa Intrepid Ottawa Intrepid was a professional soccer team based in Ottawa, Ontario that competed in the original Canadian Soccer League. They were founded as the National Capital Pioneers (also spelled National Capitals Pioneers) and played in Aylmer, Queb ...

of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

(CSL). In 1991, he played with the Hamilton Steelers.

APSL

In addition to playing indoor soccer, Soehn played with the

Colorado Foxes The Colorado Foxes were a professional men's soccer club originally based in Commerce City, Colorado, that played in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and USL A-League. Founded in 1990, the club moved to San Diego, California in ...

of the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. ...

(APSL) in 1992, 1993 and 1994. The Foxes went to three consecutive APSL championship games those three seasons. They won the 1992 and 1993 titles, but lost to the Montreal Impact in 1994.

MLS

Soehn played four years in MLS after being drafted by 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 ...

in the second 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 ...

. He missed the 1996 season with the injury, but played for the Burn in 1997. In 1998, he began the season with the Burn, but was traded to the Chicago Fire after fourteen games. He remained with the Fire until he retired from playing in 2000. During his time with Chicago, he was a member of the Fire's three championship teams (MLS Cup 1998, U.S. Open Cup 1998 and 2000).

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, he became an assistant coach to

Bob Bradley Robert Frank Bradley (born March 3, 1958) is an American association football, soccer coach, who most recently managed Norwegian football team Stabæk Fotball, Stabæk fron 2023 - 2024. A native of New Jersey and graduate of Princeton Universi ...

at the Fire and then moved to D.C. United to become Peter Nowak's top assistant in 2003. During his time as the top assistant, D.C. United won MLS Cup in 2004, and a Supporters Shield in 2005. On December 21, 2006, Soehn replaced Nowak as the head coach at United. On November 3, 2009, it was announced that Soehn had withdrawn himself for consideration for a contract renewal, ending a three-year reign that included a Supporters Shield in 2007, an Open Cup in 2008 and Open Cup Runner-Up in 2009. On January 19, 2010, Soehn was given the job as Director of Soccer Operations by Canadian soccer club

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

. On May 30, 2011, it was announced that he would take over as head coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps, after

Teitur Thordarson Teitur Thordarson (, born 14 January 1952) is an Icelandic football coach. He is the older brother of Ólafur Þórðarson. Playing career Club Íþróttabandalag Akraness Before coaching, Teitur playing as a striker for nearly two decades. H ...

was let go by the club. After the 2011 season ended, Soehn stepped down from the head coaching role in favor for Martin Rennie and reclaimed his former position as Director of Soccer Operations. On November 15, 2012, it was revealed that Soehn and

had mutually parted ways. As of January 10, 2014, Soehn has been brought to 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 ...

as an assistant coach to

Jay Heaps John Franklin "Jay" Heaps (born August 2, 1976) is an American former soccer player who currently serves as president and general manager of Birmingham Legion FC. He is a former head coach for the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer ...

. On September 18, 2017, it was reported that

had been fired and that Soehn would take over as the interim coach of the

. On August 16, 2018, the newly-formed

Birmingham Legion FC Birmingham Legion FC is an American professional soccer club based in Birmingham, Alabama, that competes in the USL Championship, the second division of American soccer. The team was established in August 2013 and played under the name Birming ...

announced that Soehn would become head coach of the team ahead of their first season in the USL. On April 9, 2025, he was released as head coach of Legion FC.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

NPSL stats
*
D.C. United profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soehn, Tom 1966 births Living people American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players American soccer coaches American Professional Soccer League players American people of German-Romanian descent American people of German descent Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada American expatriate sportspeople in Canada Ottawa Intrepid players Colorado Foxes players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Wichita Wings (MISL) players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Denver Thunder players Continental Indoor Soccer League players Las Vegas Dustdevils players Major League Soccer players FC Dallas players Chicago Fire FC players D.C. United head coaches Vancouver Whitecaps FC head coaches Western Illinois Leathernecks men's soccer players D.C. United non-playing staff Sportspeople from Ashburn, Virginia New England Revolution non-playing staff Chicago Fire FC non-playing staff Men's association football defenders Birmingham Legion FC coaches USL Championship coaches Hamilton Steelers (1981–1992) players 20th-century American sportsmen