Full name Ian Russell Name Ian Russell Height 1.78 m | Playing position Years Team Role Soccer player | |
Date of birth (1975-08-30) August 30, 1975 (age 40) Place of birth Seattle, WA, United States | ||
Ian Russell (born August 30, 1975) is an American soccer player and coach.
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Russell attended the University of Washington on a soccer scholarship and was a three-time (1995–97) All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation first team selection. He then played for the Seattle Sounders of the USL First Division in 1998 and 1999. He won the offensive MVP award in 1999.
After being drafted from the Seattle Sounders in 2000, Russell played for seven seasons in Major League Soccer. Six of those seasons were with the San Jose Earthquakes; Russell appeared in 131 games. A pacy midfielder, he scored five goals and 20 assists, helping the Quakes win two MLS Cups, in 2001 and 2003. He is ninth all-time in Quakes history in assists and is tied for first in club history in playoff appearances with 14. His best season with San Jose came in 2001, when he scored three goals and nine assists, while starting all 26 regular season games and all six playoffs games.
Russell also played three games in 2007 with the Los Angeles Galaxy, under the management of Frank Yallop.
Coaching career
Russell began coaching while playing for the Seattle Sounders and has continued coaching in the Bay Area, including running camps and directing training sessions for numerous youth teams in the South Bay.
Russell returned to the San Jose Earthquakes in 2008, as assistant coach. During his first year with the club, Russell helped the team make a very successful return to MLS. This included the team's posting the best record for any expansion team since 1998 with eight wins, 33 points and 32 goals scored. The Quakes also posted a nine-game unbeaten streak from July 12-Sept. 27, which was the longest unbeaten streak in the league in 2008 and the second longest ever by an expansion team.
In the offseason, Russell successfully completed the U.S. Soccer Federation "A" coaching license course.
For the last two games of the 2014 regular season, Russell became interim head coach. Dominic Kinnear eventually took over after the season.