Bob Rigby (born July 3, 1951 in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania) is a retired US soccer goalkeeper. Rigby played twelve seasons in the North American Football League, three in the Major Indoor Soccer League, one in the Western Soccer Alliance and earned six caps with the United States men's national football team. Rigby is a color commentator with the Union of Major League Soccer in Philadelphia.
Video Bob Rigby
Player
Youth
Rigby, the son of a school teacher, was born in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. He played soccer as a student at Ridley High School in Folsom, Pennsylvania and resumed his college degree at East Stroudsburg (PA) State University and named the All-American first team in 1972.
Professional
In 1973, Atoms coach Al Miller, an alumnus of East Stroudsburg University, took Rigby as the first choice in a draft NASL academy in 1973. Miller built his team for the atom, which was a franchise expansion that year. Miller has watched Rigby play and be familiar with his exceptional athletic and technical abilities. Rigby did not disappoint Miller. He set a league record of 0.62 goals allowed as a rookie that stood until the end of the league. That year, Philadelphia became the first US professional team in any sport to win their first year championship there. Rigby became a local hero and league and found himself on the cover of Sports Sports Illustrated on September 3, 1973. Rigby continued to give positive exposure to the young NASL when he took fourth place at Superstars ABC 1976, a television athletics competition that pitted athletes from various sports. February 1974 saw Rigby involved in another first important matter. The NASL is playing with the idea of ​​indoor football and Atoms hosts the Moscow Red Army team in the Philadelphia Spectrum. This is one of the first indoor games to use familiar configurations for future indoor leagues, an astroturf covered ice rink with small targets mounted on the far wall. While the Red Army team won, 6-3, his coach praised high for Rigby who had halted 33 of 39 shots of the Soviets.
The New York Cosmos acquired Rigby for the 1976 season, only for him to be hurt. The Cosmos then brought in Shep Messing to replace him in goal and send Rigby to the Los Angeles Aztec at the end of the season. After three seasons in Los Angeles, Rigby returned to Philadelphia to play for Fury. The Fury actually earned Rigby from Tulsa Roughneck who got Rigby from Aztec the day before. The Fury attempted to build on Atoms' popularity by bringing back some fan favorites, but the team only survived two seasons due to incompetent management. When Rigby moved back to Philadelphia, Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) started its first season. The following year, the local MISL club, Philadelphia Fever, who had used the amateur team in his first season, negotiated his associate relationship with Fury to use some Fury players in his second season. As a result, Fury loaned Rigby to Philadelphia Fever for Major Indoor Soccer League season 1979-1980. In 1981, Rigby moved to Montreal Manic for two seasons before moving to Golden Bay Earthquakes for the 1982-1983 MISL season. He remained with Earthquakes for the 1983 and 1984 NASL seasons. When the NASL folded after the 1984 season, Rigby was signed by Chicago Sting on 19 September 1984 for a 15 day contract. Sting took it off at the end of fifteen days and the Tacoma Star offered him a contract. Rigby declined an offer to concentrate on his landscape business. In February 1985, he signed a contract with Stars after they offered him another contract. He spent most of the season as a reserve for John Baretta. At the end of the season, Rigby moved back to Earthquake, renamed the San Jose Earthquake. In 1985, the Earthquake joined three independent west coast teams to play the Western Alliance Challenge Series. This is the origin of the Western Soccer Alliance/League. Rigby shared a goal with Hunter Stern during this challenge series and retired from playing at the end of the game.
Rigby was named for two NASL Team of the Second Stars, in 1973 and 1974.
National and Olympic Team
The mid-1970s also saw Rigby play for the Olympic and US national teams. While Rigby traveled with the US team to the 1972 Summer Olympics, he did not play. Mike Ivanow plays the first two games and the third Shep Messing. On November 3, 1973, Rigby earned his first cap with the national team in a 1-0 loss to Haiti. He played a total of six games, the latter coming with losses to Mexico on 24 August 1975.
Maps Bob Rigby
Coach
After retirement, Rigby became head coach of Ridley High School in Folsom, Pennsylvania. He remains active as a coach, recently as part of the Star Soccer Academy, as well as in gymnastics.
Broadcaster
Rigby served as a color commentator for the Philadelphia Union during the 2012 season.
References
External links
- East Stroudsburg University Football Record
- Rigby explains the 1973 NASL Championship game
- NASL/MISL statistics
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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