The Aztexan

As rumored yesterday morning on the Aztex BigSoccer forum, Adrian Heath has been named Head Coach for the Austin Aztex.

Heath said, "I am overjoyed at the opportunity to Coach the Austin Aztex. I have had several offers recently to Coach in the English League but the chance to build something from scratch with Phil was just too tempting to turndown. I have followed US Soccer closely over the past few years and believe the game here is about to take-off and I want to be a part of that."

Heath is a manager and former player, having managed Championship sides Burnley, Sheffield United and Coventry City. As a player, most of his most notable achievements were during his time at Everton during the 80s, when they: won 2 League Championships, won the F.A. Cup and won the European Cup Winners Cup. Heath was top scorer for Everton in his first full season, and he scored double digits per year the rest of his time there.

The Aztex site also has an interview with Heath.

Q: What are you most looking forward to about coming to Austin?

Heath: I think it is just the newness and the freshness of it all. I’ve 25-30 years involved in professional football in Europe. In the previous four or five years we have been coming to America to play the game. We played BYU last year and the year before down in Salt Lake. So, I've come here and seen the newness of it all and the enthusiasm that’s coming with the game in America is something that really appeals to me.

I also came across this interesting bit by Greg Lalas on Goal.com from December of last year (emphasis added):

A few days ago, I found myself having lunch with a couple of interesting English cats: Mike Morris, an uber-agent who represents Alex Ferguson, among others, and Adrian “Inchy” Heath, a scout for Newcastle and former player best known for his years at Everton. They were in New York on business. Our conversation, of course, revolved around soccer, specifically, American soccer and whether the game will ever “succeed” here.

Morris grants that he knows nothing about American soccer, but that didn’t stop him from making bombastic pronouncements about American soccer’s lack of success and development. “I just don’t see any signs of progress in the last 30 years,” he said, sipping red wine.

I, of course, had my defense prepared, ready to bring up all the usual arguments about MLS’s growth, the USA’s international achievements, the millions and millions of kids who play the game, etc. But before I could launch into it all, Inchy put down his pint and piped up. “Thirty years ago, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” he said. “Now the American under-17s are beating Brazil.”

I was taken aback. It was amazing to hear a Brit, who nurtured on the hardscrabble pitches of Stoke City and who now made his living in the Eurocentric milieu of world football, come to the defense of American soccer. Hell, Inchy even knew the result of a youth international friendly played in Florida a month ago.

I'm sure there will be concern about this appointment from some quarters. Some may worry that Heath is being brought in from a foreign league, with little to no knowledge of the history here, or the dynamics of the PDL and the USL, or the cultural links to the hispanic side of U.S. football (er, "soccer"). And people who are afraid that the Aztex will be little more than a farm team for Stoke City may certainly raise their eyebrows. But I think it's great. I mean, we'll see how he actually does, of course, but I'm more than willing to give a guy with experience as both a player and a manager in the highest levels of world soccer the benefit of the doubt.

Welcome to Austin, Inchy!

Labels: coaches