FRISCO, Texas - FC Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock announced today that former Arsenal (England) and Dallas (MLS) defender Steve Morrow will become the fourth head coach in team history. Morrow, who was an assistant coach with Dallas the last two seasons, becomes the first former Dallas player to be selected the team's head coach.
"Steve possesses all the characteristics which I feel are necessary to lead FC Dallas," said Hitchcock. "He brings a great background which not only includes success with one of the top clubs in the world, but also first hand understanding of what MLS is all about, having also played and coached in MLS. He's familiar with the team, the players, and I feel has the understanding and knowledge of what it will take to win championships."
The 36 year-old Morrow began his professional playing career at the age of 17, when he was signed by Arsenal of the English Premiership. After being loaned to various clubs, he made his Gunners' debut at the end of the 1991-92 season. The next year, he became a mainstay on the team that won the 1993 FA Cup and '93 League Cup, in which he scored the game-winning goal in the 2-1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday. He also played in the '94 European Cup Winner's Cup 1-0 win over Italian-side Parma, as well as the '95 Cup Winner's Cup final, which Arsenal lost 2-1 to Spain's Real Zaragosa.
After playing one season under current Arsenal head coach Arsène Wenger, he joined Queen's Park Rangers in 1997. Morrow played in 92 games in his four years at Rangers before coming to play for Dallas in 2002. In his two years as a defender with Dallas, he scored three goals in 41 regular season games and once in three playoff games. All four of his goals in MLS were against the Colorado Rapids.
"I'm thrilled and honored to coach what I consider to be the leading organization in MLS," said Morrow. "I believe we have an extremely talented group of players and with a few adjustments I think we can achieve great things."
Morrow, who earned 40 caps with the Northern Ireland National Team, was originally hired by Dallas as an assistant coach on Feb. 3, 2004, though he was forced to resign in late May of that year due to personal reasons. He returned to the club on Jan. 27, 2005 and has been the first assistant coach in each of the past two seasons. He acquired his UEFA "A" coaching license and also received a degree in Sports and Fitness Science from Luton University in England in 2002.
Morrow becomes the 51st coach in MLS history and the 11th that has previously played in Major League Soccer, with recently hired Kansas City head coach Curt Onalfo being the 10th. Six of the nine previous former players that coached MLS teams finished a particular season as interim coaches, but only two of those six were later named MLS head coaches. The three other former players that became MLS head coaches did so at the start of a season and have accounted for four of the last six MLS Cups Championships: Frank Yallop (San Jose - 2001, 2003); Peter Nowak (D.C. United - 2004); and Dominic Kinnear (Houston - 2006). Morrow joins Onalfo as the two most recent former players that will begin a season as an MLS head coach.
Morrow is married to Fiona and has three children, Jonathan, Sophie, and Scarlett.
DALLAS COACHING HISTORY
-------- Regular Season ----- -------Playoffs -------
Year Coach W L T OT ShO PTS W L T OT ShO
1996 Dave Dir 17 15 0 0-0-0 5-3 41 1 2 0 0-0-0 0-1
1997 Dave Dir 16 16 0 0-0-0 3-2 42 2 2 0 0-0-0 1-0
1998 Dave Dir 15 17 0 0-0-0 4-2 37 0 2 0 0-0-0 0-0
1999 Dave Dir 19 13 0 0-0-0 3-6 51 3 3 0 0-0-0 1-0
2000 Dave Dir 14 14 4 0-0-4 0-0 46 0 2 0 0-1-0 0-0
2001 Mike Jeffries 10 11 5 2-1-5 0-0 35 0 2 1 0-0-1 0-0
2002 Mike Jeffries 12 9 7 3-0-7 0-0 43 1 1 1 0-0-1 0-0
2003 Mike Jeffries 4 16 4 0-1-4 0-0 16 0 0 0 0-0-0 0-0
Colin Clarke 2 3 1 0-0-1 0-0 7 0 0 0 0-0-0 0-0
2004 Colin Clarke 10 14 6 0-0-0 0-0 36 0 0 0 0-0-0 0-0
2005 Colin Clarke 13 10 9 0-0-0 0-0 48 0 1 1 0-1-0 0-0
2006 Colin Clarke 16 12 4 0-0-0 0-0 52 1 1 0 0-1-0 0-0
TOTALS 148 150 40 5-2-21 15-13 454 8 16 3 0-2-2 2-1
FORMER MLS PLAYERS THAT HAVE COACHED IN MLS
Brian Bliss - Interim coach of Kansas City Wizards to end 2006 season.
Mo Johnston - Interim coach of MetroStars to end 2005; began 2006 as the team's head coach; is the current head coach of Toronto FC
Dominic Kinnear - Head Coach of San Jose (2004-2005; Houston 2006); currently the team's coach.
Peter Nowak - Head Coach of D.C. United (2004-2006); currently the team's coach.
Robert Warzycha - Interim Coach of Columbus Crew to end 2005 season.
Roy Wegerle - Interim Coach of Colorado Rapids to end 1996 season.
Richie Williams - Interim Coach of the New York Red Bulls in the middle of the 2006 season.
Frank Yallop - Head Coach of San Jose (2001-2003); is the current head coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Walter Zenga - Interim coach of New England Revolution to end 1998 season; coached the team in 1999.
