Name Ross Irwin | Role Football player | |
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Ross J. Irwin (born 9 May 1960) is a former professional football player from Glasgow, Scotland. Always wearing the #4 shirt, his former teams include Fareham Town F.C. (England), FC Stade Nyonnais (Switzerland), The Bahama Royals (Bahamas) and the Boston Bolts and Albany Capitals of the American Soccer League. Irwin grew up in Glasgow and went to Croftfoot Primary school from 1965 to 1972 and Kings Park Secondary school from 1972 through 1978. He is currently a high school mathematics teacher in Medfield, Massachusetts, USA.
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Soccer
After the collapse in 1984 of the North American Soccer League featuring the New York Cosmos starring Brazilian forward Pelé, Italian striker Giorgio Chinaglia and the West German sweeper Franz Beckenbauer., the United States Soccer Federation realized that they had to develop home grown talent in order to be in a position to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. In 1988 Professional Soccer returned to the US in the form of the American Soccer League which had two divisions : Northern Division - Albany Capitals, Boston Bolts, Maryland Bays, New Jersey Eagles, Washington Stars ; Southern Division - Miami Sharks, Tampa Bay Rowdies, Orlando Lions, Washington Diplomats, Fort Lauderdale Strikers. Each franchise had a quota of only three non American players in its first year and two in subsequent years. Irwin had the distinction of being the first player to be signed by the Boston franchise as one of their three foreign players.
Soon after, Boston signed their marquee player Jeff Duback who was the current US National team goalkeeper. During the 1988/89 season as sweeper and vice captain of the Boston Bolts, Irwin was selected as the only Boston player to the American Soccer League (ASL) All Star Team. He was one of two Scotsmen on the All Star team, being joined by former Scottish National Team goalkeeper Alan Rough. The All Star team played against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with the legendary George Best making a guest appearance for the Strikers.
In 1988 at Nickerson Field, Boston University, Irwin scored the winning goal for the Boston Bolts v Orlando Lions by placing a penalty kick beyond fellow Scotsman and Orlando goalkeeper Alan Rough. This was the Boston Bolts first home game of the 1988/89 season and their first win. In 1989, following Irwin's selection to the ASL All Star team, he was signed by the Albany Capitals as one of their two foreign players. He joined US national team players John Harkes, Brian Bliss and Mike Windischmann, and former England international Paul Mariner.