William "Bill" Irwin is a Northern Irish

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

 former professional footballer, currently working as director of soccer at the University of Portland

University of Portland

The University of Portland is a private Roman Catholic university located in Portland, Oregon. It is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross and is the sister school of the University of Notre Dame. Founded in 1901, UP has a student body of about 3,600 students...

 and head coach of the United States women's under-23 side.

Personal life

Irwin and his wife, Liz, live in Portland with their two sons Bryan, who played for the Portland university team, and Nicholas.

Playing career

An Irish amateur international, Irwin began his career at Bangor

Bangor F.C.

Bangor Football Club is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in IFA Championship 1. The club, founded in 1918, hails from Bangor and plays its home matches at Clandeboye Park. Club colours are gold and royal blue...

 where he was managed by Charlie Tully

Charlie Tully

Charles Patrick "Charlie" Tully was a famous footballer of Celtic Football Club.Tully was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 1944 he was struggling to break into a very strong Belfast Celtic team and in a bid to garner better match experience was sent on loan to Cliftonville F.C....

. During his spell at the club, he helped win the clubs first honours when they won the County Antrim Shield

County Antrim Shield

The County Antrim Shield is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Football Association , often plus intermediate teams who...

 and the City Cup

City Cup (Northern Ireland)

The City Cup is a now-defunct cup competition which involved competitors from Northern Ireland. It was run by the Irish Football Association. It had previously been known as the Dunville Cup and ceased to exist in 1976...

 in successive seasons. Prior to his death Tully had recommended Irwin to his former club Celtic

Celtic F.C.

Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...

 but the move never materialised and he eventually joined Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 side Cardiff City

Cardiff City F.C.

Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...

 in 1971.

Brought in to replace Frank Parsons, Irwin was thrown straight into the Cardiff side and performed admirably, including winning the 1971–1972 BBC save of the season award for a spectacular save during a 2-0 defeat in the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 against Leeds United

Leeds United A.F.C.

Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...

 in February 1972. He also became the first Cardiff goalkeeper to be sent off during a match after receiving his marching orders against Bangor City

Bangor City F.C.

Bangor City Football Club are a semi-professional Welsh football club from the City of Bangor. The club compete in the Welsh Premier League, being ever present since the league was founded in 1992....

 during the 1972–73 Welsh Cup

Welsh Cup

The Welsh Cup is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams from Wales.The Football Association of Wales is the organising body of this competition, which has been run every year since its inception in 1877-78...

 final. Irwin held the position of first choice goalkeeper for four seasons, beating off competition from Parsons, Jim Eadie

Jim Eadie

James "Jim" Eadie is a Scottish former professional footballer.-Career:Eadie began his career at Rangers but never made a first team appearance for the club, moving to Dumbarton where he played a handful of matches before joining Kirkintilloch Rob Roy...

 and Peter Grotier

Peter Grotier

Peter Grotier , an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.He played for West Ham United between 1969 and 1974, mostly as understudy to Bobby Ferguson...

, until the arrival of Ron Healey

Ron Healey

Ronald "Ron" Healey is an English-born Irish former professional footballer.-Club career:Healey was a goalkeeper who began his career with Manchester City. Following an apprenticeship with City, he signed professional forms for the club in October 1969 and he made his debut at 17...

 in 1974 saw him lose his place. He eventually left the club in 1978 and went to play for the Washington Diplomats

Washington Diplomats

The Washington Diplomats were an American soccer club based in Washington, D.C.. Throughout their existence, the club played their home games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium...

 in the NASL

North American Soccer League

North American Soccer League was a professional soccer league with teams in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984.-History:...

.

He went on to play at various teams in the NASL before finishing his career with two years playing indoor football in the Major Indoor Soccer League

Major Soccer League

The Major Indoor Soccer League, known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League, was an indoor soccer league in the USA from 1978 to 1992. After the folding of the North American Soccer League in 1984, the MISL was the Division I soccer league for the United States...

.

Coaching career

After his retirement Irwin took up an assistant manager role at the University of Portland alongside former Cardiff teammate Clive Charles

Clive Charles

Clive Charles was a football player, coach and television announcer. Charles began his career with West Ham United and finished it in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He later coached at the high school, collegiate and international levels in the United States.-Player:Charles was born in London,...

. During his time at the University he has an impressive record of training goalkeepers. The five starting goalkeepers who have trained under Irwin, Greg Maas

Greg Maas

Greg Maas is a retired U.S. soccer goalkeeper who spent his entire professional career in Portland....

, Kasey Keller

Kasey Keller

Kasey Keller is a retired American soccer player who last played for Seattle Sounders FC in Major League Soccer....

, Stuart Dobson

Stuart Dobson

Stuart Dobson is a former English indoor soccer goalkeeper who last played for Philadelphia KiXX. He is currently the Goalkeeping Coach for UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer....

, Scott Hileman, Curtis Spiteri and most recently Luis Robles

Luis Robles

Luis Robles is an American soccer goalkeeper who currently plays for Karlsruher SC. He signed a two-year deal to play at the Wildparkstadion on August 8, 2010. He was given the number 32.- Career :...

, have all gone on to play professional football. Following the sudden death of Charles in 2003 Irwin was promoted to headcoach after serving as his assistant for sixteen years.

Irwin has been involved with goalkeeper coaching throughout the US women's teams and various youth levels of the men's team and in 2007 he was appointed as head coach of the U.S. under-23 women's team, winning the Nordic Cup in his first year.

Player

Bangor

• City Cup
  City Cup (Northern Ireland)
  The City Cup is a now-defunct cup competition which involved competitors from Northern Ireland. It was run by the Irish Football Association. It had previously been known as the Dunville Cup and ceased to exist in 1976...
  
   Winner: 1

1970–71

• County Antrim Shield
  County Antrim Shield
  The County Antrim Shield is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Football Association , often plus intermediate teams who...
  
   Winner: 1

1969–70

Cardiff City

• Welsh Cup
  Welsh Cup
  The Welsh Cup is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams from Wales.The Football Association of Wales is the organising body of this competition, which has been run every year since its inception in 1877-78...
  
   Winner: 3

1972–73, 1973–74, 1975–76

• Welsh Cup
  Welsh Cup
  The Welsh Cup is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams from Wales.The Football Association of Wales is the organising body of this competition, which has been run every year since its inception in 1877-78...
  
   Finalist: 2

1971–72, 1974–75

• Division Three
  Football League Third Division
  The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...
  
   Runner-up: 1

1975–76