Pro Game: Whitecaps Sign Bob Lilley As Men's Head Coach
Posted on Monday, November 01 @ 19:08:29 EST by rhi |
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Two-time A-League Coach of the Year joins Whitecaps
Whitecaps FC Director of Soccer Operations Bob Lenarduzzi announced today that the club has signed Bob Lilley as the new Whitecaps Men’s Head Coach. Lilley signed a two-year deal.
Lilley is a two-time A-League Coach of the Year, winning the award in his rookie season as coach of the Hershey Wildcats in 1997, and again in 2003 with the Montreal Impact. He is only the second two-time Coach of the Year recipient in league history, following Alan Hinton (1994-95 with the Seattle Sounders).
“Bob Lilley has had great success in the A-League and we believe he can help us raise our game to the next level,” says Whitecaps Director of Soccer Operations Bob Lenarduzzi. “He’s a no-nonsense type of coach, and will demand a consistent effort from every player game in and game out.”
Lilley has seven seasons of A-League coaching experience, five years with Hershey (1997-2001) and two with the Impact (2002-2003). In that time he has compiled a regular season record of 118-61-15, for a winning percentage of 0.647, 12-12-2 in the playoffs, and 2-2-1 in the US Open Cup.
He has never had a losing season, and has always guided his team to the playoffs,
going as far as the A-League Final in 2001, eliminating the Whitecaps in the semi-finals 4-1 on aggregate, before losing to Rochester 2-0 in the Championship.
Lilley guided Montreal to the Eastern Conference title in 2003, and Hershey to the Northern Conference title in 2001. He also led Hershey to division titles in 1997 and 1999, and earned Montreal the fan-based Voyageurs Cup in 2002 and 2003 as the top team in Canadian interlocking play.
| Year |
Team |
Regular Season |
GF-GA |
Playoffs |
| 2003 |
Montreal |
16-6-6 |
40-21 |
0-1-1 |
| 2002 |
Montreal |
16-9-3 |
39-29 |
1-2-1 |
| 2001 |
Hershey |
16-7-3 |
45-20 |
3-2-0 |
| 2000 |
Hershey |
15-10-3 |
49-30 |
0-1-0 |
| 1999 |
Hershey |
17-11 |
54-33 |
4-2 |
| 1998 |
Hershey |
19-9 |
51-31 |
3-2 |
| 1997 |
Hershey |
19-9 |
56-33 |
1-2 |
The 38-year-old becomes the fifth head coach heading into the team's 19th season of play, following Bob Lenarduzzi (1987-1993), Carl Valentine (1994-1999), Dale Mitchell (2000-2001), and Tony Fonseca (2002-2004). Lilley becomes the team's first American coach, and the first coach never to have previously played for Vancouver.
In his playing days, Lilley was one of the all-time top defenders of the indoor NPSL, starring for the Hershey Impact and Harrisburg Heat before retiring in 1997. Prior to that he was team captain at George Mason University in Virginia.
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