Mark Watson (Canadian soccer)

Mark Stewart Watson (born 8 September 1970) is a Canadian former professional soccer player and is currently an assistant coach at Minnesota United FC. A former defender, Watson is the fifth most-capped player in the history of the Canadian national team.[1]

For the English football (soccer) player, see Mark Watson (English footballer).

Mark Watson
Personal information
Full name Mark Stewart Watson
Date of birth (1970-09-08) 8 September 1970
Place of birth Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
UBC Thunderbirds
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990 Ottawa Intrepid 22 (0)
1991 Hamilton Steelers 24 (1)
1992 Montreal Supra 20 (1)
1993–1994 Vancouver 86ers 10 (0)
1993–1995 Watford 18 (0)
1996 Columbus Crew 14 (0)
1996 New England Revolution 4 (1)
1997 Seattle Sounders 21 (1)
1997–1999 Östers IF 24 (0)
1998–2000 Oxford United 58 (0)
2000–2001 Oldham Athletic 2 (0)
2001 D.C. United 11 (0)
2002–2004 Charleston Battery 70 (3)
2005 Vancouver Whitecaps 17 (0)
2006–2007 Charleston Battery 20 (0)
Total 335 (7)
National team
1991–2004 Canada 78 (3)
Teams managed
2004–2008 Canada (assistant)
2006–2009 Charleston Battery (assistant)
2007–2010 Canada U20 (assistant)
2010–2013 San Jose Earthquakes (assistant)
2013 San Jose Earthquakes (interim)
2013–2014 San Jose Earthquakes
2014–2016 Orlando City (assistant)
2017– Minnesota United FC (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Club

Watson spent 18 years as a professional soccer player. He spent three seasons with Watford FC of the English Championship from 1993 to 1995 and then joined Major League Soccer for its inaugural season in 1996. He split that first MLS season between the New England Revolution and Columbus Crew. Watson returned to MLS in 2001 with D.C. United after stops with the Seattle Sounders, Oxford United and Oldham Athletic.

International

For Canada, Watson has appeared 78 times for the 'A' national team during a 14-year span. He has played in four World Cup qualifying campaigns.[2] and on the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup side that won the tournament. Watson scored the winning goal for Canada in the semi-final of the 2000 Gold Cup, a match Canada won 1–0 over Trinidad and Tobago.

International goals
Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
131 July 1993Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Canada Australia1–12–11994 FIFA World Cup qualification
215 December 1996Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador El Salvador1–02–01998 FIFA World Cup qualification
324 February 2000Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States Trinidad and Tobago1–01–0CONCACAF Gold Cup

Coaching career
Coaching the Earthquakes in 2013

Watson began his coaching career in 2004 with the Canadian national team system where he held assistant positions with the U-20 and senior squads. Watson served as assistant coach for Canada at the 2004 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualification Tournament and was an assistant when the team finished third in the same tournament in 2008. He also spent four seasons on the staff of his former playing club Charleston Battery as an assistant to Mike Anhaeuser from 2006 to 2009, helping lead Charleston to the final of the 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.

After spending several seasons with San Jose Earthquakes as an assistant to his Canadian colleague Frank Yallop, Watson became the club's interim head coach on 7 June 2013 following Yallop's dismissal.[3] Watson's first win as an MLS head coach came on 15 June 2013 against the Colorado Rapids at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.[4] Watson was 11–5–3 during his 19 league games as interim coach, nearly rallying the Earthquakes to an MLS Cup Playoff berth. His mark 1.89 points per game was tops among all coaches after he took over. In addition to his success in MLS, Watson's squad advanced to the 2013-14 CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals by winning Group 5. Following these successes, on 30 October 2013 the Earthquakes announced that they had signed Watson to a permanent contract, thereby removing his interim status. After a disappointing season in which the Earthquakes failed to qualify for the playoffs, Watson was dismissed in late 2014.[5]

He was hired as an assistant coach at Orlando City Soccer Club for their inaugural Major League Soccer season on 10 November 2014.[6]

He was fired by Orlando City in July 2016.[7]

On 18 January 2017, he was named assistant coach for Major League Soccer side Minnesota United FC.[8]

Coaching record
As of 23 August 2014
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
San Jose Earthquakes 7 June 2013[3] 15 October 2014 51 17 20 14 033.33

Honours

Club

Charleston Battery

International

Canada

Individual

References
  1. Appearances for Canada National Team – RSSSF
  2. Record at FIFA Tournaments – FIFA
  3. "San Jose Earthquakes part ways with longtime head coach Frank Yallop". Major League Soccer. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  4. "Recap: Quakes 2, Rapids 1". San Jose Earthquakes. 15 June 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  5. Dominic Kinnear ends run with Houston Dynamo, will take over for San Jose Earthquakes, mlssoccer.com, 15 October 2014, retrieved 4 August 2015
  6. Tenorio, Paul (10 November 2014), "Orlando City hires former San Jose Earthquakes coach Mark Watson as assistant coach", Orlando Sentinel, Tribune Publishing, retrieved 4 August 2015
  7. "Orlando City SC Agrees to Part Ways with Head Coach Adrian Heath". Orlando City SC. 6 July 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  8. "MNUFC Finalizes MLS Coaching Staff". www.mnufc.com. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
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