Dale Mulholland
Encyclopedia
Dale Mulholland grew up in Manitou, South Tacoma and is a former US professional soccer player (FIFA
registered) who has had a gypsical career in soccer taking him all over the world starting back in 1985 with TSV Reichenbach 05 of West Germany. He has served as a unique and pioneering ambassador like none other before him in the history of US soccer. Soccer truly is his passport to the world.
in a period referred to as Glasnost
while riding the wave of Perestroika
that ultimately saw the collapse of the USSR Empire. Originally, he transferred from the Orlando Lions
in 1989 to the Sing Tao Tigers of Hong Kong
before he contracted for two years with Lokomotiv Moscow of the Soviet 1st League
starting in 1990 and became the first and only American ever to do so. Simultaneously, he sent his Russian teammate, the former USSR jr. national team player, Alexander Golovnya, to take his place in Orlando
in a ‘player swap’ of sorts before transferring back to the US and the Miami Freedom
of the APSL
(American Professional Soccer League) in 1991 for a season.
Upon the completion of the APSL season, Mulholland was sent to the UK to West Brom Albion
(then under manager Bobby Gould
) but within two days found himself shanghaied by former England International Tony Morley
to test at Aston Villa where he trained under Ron Atkinson
and Andy Gray during the winter of 1991 before heading back again to live and play behind the Iron Curtain
only this time with historically famous FC Dukla Prague in the Czechoslovakian’s top flight of football. There he contracted until 1995.
One of his teammates at Dukla, Pavel Nedved
, went on to become one of the world’s most famous players in recent history winning the European and World’s Player of the Year Award while Mulholland seemed to drift on in relative obscurity in Eastern Europe rejecting offers from GAK Graz, Austria and other semi-well known clubs in Central Europe. Additional offers were made by FC Magdeburg of the former DDR (East Germany) and other notable Eastern European teams all rejected either by him or his club and so Mulholland never made it into Western Europe as expected and although being invited by Bora Milutinovic to the general player’s selection camp, disappointingly did not get selected to the US National Team roster for the 1994 World Cup.
transfer-free player. While the dispute was going through the courts, Mulholland went back to the US to revive his boyhood club, the Seattle Sounders
, formerly of the defunct league the NASL
(North American Soccer League).
Working along side Alan Hinton
and his boyhood friend and former junior soccer and collegiate teammate Grant Gibbs
, and accompanied by business manager Ken K. Nakamura, together they revived the club with the financial backing of Scott Oki
and C. Neil Farnsworth, both former Microsoft executives, and brought the club back from the graveyard of US soccer history where it has now flourished since 1994 mainly due to the solid foundation that they set up during the rebirth and reformation of that club. The current Seattle Sounders FC
now playing in the MLS
(Major League Soccer) have been in existence longer than the original NASL club which played from 1974-82. It has also been noted that Mulholland was the individual who coined the name of the A League which was the precursor of the MLS.
After nearly two seasons serving in management and officially as the Instructional Director for the Sounders, preparing the team and teaching 1,000’s of children the basics of soccer, Mulholland seemed to have had enough and his wanderlust sent him back to Europe apparently searching for one more big signing and a final club to settle and play but oddly he found himself in such teams and such places as Dinamo Zagreb
, Croatia
and Tero Sasana, Thailand
, and Hapoel Ramat Gan
, Israel
before finally settling down in Jakarta
, Indonesia
where he has lived and worked in soccer at all levels for the past decade.
’s (Asian Football Confederation) top instructor, Bernhard Schumm
of Munich
, Germany
, to try to settle down and make a career as a coach in the world’s most beautiful game. Schumm said that he thought Mulholland possessed an unbeatable enthusiasm and had developed outstanding organizational skills over the years combined with a unique perspective which together could serve as an asset for Asian soccer development and specifically Indonesia. "He was starting to work as a player’s agent offering and selling players when he contacted me and I said that that type of business is too unstable to last long. And so I got him into coaching."
He seemed to have taken Schumm’s advice, married a local Ambon Island
girl from the Spice Islands
(Moluccan Islands), earned his complete set of AFC international coaching licenses in a two year accelerated program rather than the normally required three year period, graduating Magna Cum Laude and finally retired as a full-time professional player in 2000. In addition to receiving the AFC A, B, and C licenses, he holds ASEAN (The Association of South East Asian Nations) and the PSSI’s (Indonesian FA’s) highest coaching honours and qualifications as well.
Some have referred to him as the Zelig
of Football (soccer) Americana blending in to which ever culture that he found himself. Former teammate and US international, Brent Goulet
, once referred to him as the human chameleon for his ability to mimic the style and quickly master the necessary skills of which ever land that he found himself. "Wherever he was or wherever he went he always seemed like he belonged there. He definitely was always the first guy to get offered a contract because his movements were so smooth and fluent. He was very skillful and moved more like a Brazilian than an American. I’m sure that he probably still does."
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
registered) who has had a gypsical career in soccer taking him all over the world starting back in 1985 with TSV Reichenbach 05 of West Germany. He has served as a unique and pioneering ambassador like none other before him in the history of US soccer. Soccer truly is his passport to the world.
Playing career
His most notable career achievement was breaking into the USSR professional soccer league after pounding down the barriers and never taking ‘no’ for an answer. He did so during the seemingly unbreakable era of the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in a period referred to as Glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
while riding the wave of Perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
that ultimately saw the collapse of the USSR Empire. Originally, he transferred from the Orlando Lions
Orlando Lions
The Orlando Lions was an American soccer team from Orlando, Florida which existed from 1985 to 1996. Over the years, the Lions competed at both the amateur and professional levels including some seasons as an independent team....
in 1989 to the Sing Tao Tigers of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
before he contracted for two years with Lokomotiv Moscow of the Soviet 1st League
Soviet Top League
The Soviet Top League since 1970 was officially known as the Supreme League serving as the top division of Soviet Union football since 1936.It was one of the best football leagues in Europe ranking second among the UEFA members in 1988-1989 seasons...
starting in 1990 and became the first and only American ever to do so. Simultaneously, he sent his Russian teammate, the former USSR jr. national team player, Alexander Golovnya, to take his place in Orlando
Orlando
Orlando is a major city in the U.S. state of Florida.Orlando may also refer to-Places:* in Florida** Orlando, a major city** Greater Orlando, the 27th-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
in a ‘player swap’ of sorts before transferring back to the US and the Miami Freedom
Miami Freedom
The Miami Sharks were an inaugural franchise of the third incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1988. The team were renamed the Miami Freedom and joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the ASL merged with the Western Soccer League...
of the APSL
American Professional Soccer League
The American Professional Soccer League is a former professional men's soccer league which featured teams from both the United States and Canada. It was the first outdoor soccer league to feature teams from throughout the United States since the demise of the original North American Soccer League...
(American Professional Soccer League) in 1991 for a season.
Upon the completion of the APSL season, Mulholland was sent to the UK to West Brom Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
(then under manager Bobby Gould
Bobby Gould
Robert Anthony "Bobby" Gould is an English former footballer and manager.-Playing career:Born in Coventry, Gould started his career at Coventry City, making his debut for the club whilst still an apprentice at the age of 16. He did not sign professional until June 1964...
) but within two days found himself shanghaied by former England International Tony Morley
Tony Morley
William Anthony Morley is an English former football player who played in the Football League for Preston North End, Burnley, Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City, as well as playing for other teams abroad. He also won six caps for England.-Football career:Morley was born in...
to test at Aston Villa where he trained under Ron Atkinson
Ron Atkinson
Ronald Ernest Atkinson, commonly known as "Big Ron" and "Bojangles" is an English former football player and manager. In recent years he has become one of Britain's best-known football pundits...
and Andy Gray during the winter of 1991 before heading back again to live and play behind the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
only this time with historically famous FC Dukla Prague in the Czechoslovakian’s top flight of football. There he contracted until 1995.
One of his teammates at Dukla, Pavel Nedved
Pavel Nedved
Pavel Nedvěd is a retired Czech football midfielder. He is one of the most successful Czech players to emerge from the newly formed Czech Republic, winning numerous accolades with Lazio and Juventus, including the last ever Cup Winners' Cup...
, went on to become one of the world’s most famous players in recent history winning the European and World’s Player of the Year Award while Mulholland seemed to drift on in relative obscurity in Eastern Europe rejecting offers from GAK Graz, Austria and other semi-well known clubs in Central Europe. Additional offers were made by FC Magdeburg of the former DDR (East Germany) and other notable Eastern European teams all rejected either by him or his club and so Mulholland never made it into Western Europe as expected and although being invited by Bora Milutinovic to the general player’s selection camp, disappointingly did not get selected to the US National Team roster for the 1994 World Cup.
Management career
Reportedly, a contract dispute over the US equivalent of $100,000. in Deutsch Marks with the Dukla Prague club officials was the career stall that ended in the court of FIFA, eventually winning the case in full, and releasing him in 1994 to sign anywhere as a pre-BosmanBosman ruling
Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association, and direct effect of article 39 of the EC Treaty...
transfer-free player. While the dispute was going through the courts, Mulholland went back to the US to revive his boyhood club, the Seattle Sounders
Seattle Sounders (NASL)
The Seattle Sounders were a U.S. professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1974, the team belonged to the North American Soccer League where it played both indoor and outdoor soccer. The team folded after the 1983 NASL outdoor season.-Stadium:The Sounders played at Memorial...
, formerly of the defunct league 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:...
(North American Soccer League).
Working along side Alan Hinton
Alan Hinton
Alan Thomas Hinton is an English former footballer who most notably played for Derby County and Nottingham Forest in the 1960s...
and his boyhood friend and former junior soccer and collegiate teammate Grant Gibbs
Grant Gibbs
Grant Gibbs is a former U.S. soccer defender who spent his professional career in clubs F.C. Portland, Seattle Storm and Miami Freedom.-Bio:Gibbs grew up in Federal Way, Washington where he attended Thomas Jefferson High School. After graduating from high school in 1982, Webber attended Warner...
, and accompanied by business manager Ken K. Nakamura, together they revived the club with the financial backing of Scott Oki
Scott Oki
Scott Oki is a former senior vice-president of sales and marketing for Microsoft who conceived and built Microsoft's international operations...
and C. Neil Farnsworth, both former Microsoft executives, and brought the club back from the graveyard of US soccer history where it has now flourished since 1994 mainly due to the solid foundation that they set up during the rebirth and reformation of that club. The current Seattle Sounders FC
Seattle Sounders FC
Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional soccer club based in Seattle, Washington. The club competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. Sounders FC was established in November 2007 as a MLS expansion team, making it the 15th team in...
now playing in the MLS
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
(Major League Soccer) have been in existence longer than the original NASL club which played from 1974-82. It has also been noted that Mulholland was the individual who coined the name of the A League which was the precursor of the MLS.
After nearly two seasons serving in management and officially as the Instructional Director for the Sounders, preparing the team and teaching 1,000’s of children the basics of soccer, Mulholland seemed to have had enough and his wanderlust sent him back to Europe apparently searching for one more big signing and a final club to settle and play but oddly he found himself in such teams and such places as Dinamo Zagreb
Dinamo Zagreb
GNK Dinamo Zagreb, commonly referred to as Dinamo Zagreb , or by their nickname Modri are a Croatian football club based in Zagreb. They play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Croatian football, having won thirteen Croatian championship titles, ten...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and Tero Sasana, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, and Hapoel Ramat Gan
Hapoel Ramat Gan
Hapoel Ramat Gan Giv'atayim F.C. is an Israeli football club from Ramat Gan and Giv'atayim. They play in an all-red strip, and are currently in the Israeli Premier League. Home matches are played at Winter Stadium, which has a capacity of around 8,000....
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
before finally settling down in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
where he has lived and worked in soccer at all levels for the past decade.
Coaching career
After a few more years traveling the world's football circuit with the famous and the obscure, Mulholland finally landed in Jakarta, Indonesia after being invited by the AFCAsian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football in Asia. It has 46 member countries, mostly located on the Asian continent. However, due to the disputed boundary of Europe and Asia, nations such as Russia and Turkey which are located mostly in geographic Asia are...
’s (Asian Football Confederation) top instructor, Bernhard Schumm
Selangor FA
The Football Association of Selangor , commonly referred to as FAS or simply Selangor, competes in Malaysian football competitions representing the state of Selangor Darul Ehsan. The team is based in Shah Alam city. They are currently playing in Malaysian Super League, the top-flight of Malaysian...
of Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, to try to settle down and make a career as a coach in the world’s most beautiful game. Schumm said that he thought Mulholland possessed an unbeatable enthusiasm and had developed outstanding organizational skills over the years combined with a unique perspective which together could serve as an asset for Asian soccer development and specifically Indonesia. "He was starting to work as a player’s agent offering and selling players when he contacted me and I said that that type of business is too unstable to last long. And so I got him into coaching."
He seemed to have taken Schumm’s advice, married a local Ambon Island
Ambon Island
Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of , and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of 2 territories: The main city and seaport is Ambon , which is also the capital of Maluku province and Maluku Tengah Ambon Island is part of the...
girl from the Spice Islands
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...
(Moluccan Islands), earned his complete set of AFC international coaching licenses in a two year accelerated program rather than the normally required three year period, graduating Magna Cum Laude and finally retired as a full-time professional player in 2000. In addition to receiving the AFC A, B, and C licenses, he holds ASEAN (The Association of South East Asian Nations) and the PSSI’s (Indonesian FA’s) highest coaching honours and qualifications as well.
Currently as of 2007
Currently, serving as the Director of Coaching / Head Coach for the Arsenal Soccer Schools franchise for Indonesia, Mulholland seems to have immigrated there, continues to enjoy actively running the local men’s league and playing and managing with his local men’s club, 6 times local champions, the Wanderers FC in the JIFL (Jakarta International Football League). Rumours abound that he has been seen to make some local cameo appearances in movies and television commercials in Indonesia usually playing various humorous characters. And it is reported that he often writes satirical soccer related articles under a pseudonym for specific news agencies/services.Some have referred to him as the Zelig
Zelig
Zelig is a 1983 American mockumentary film written and directed by Woody Allen, and starring Allen and Mia Farrow. Allen plays Zelig, a curiously nondescript enigma who is discovered for his remarkable ability to transform himself to resemble anyone he's near.The film was shot almost entirely in...
of Football (soccer) Americana blending in to which ever culture that he found himself. Former teammate and US international, Brent Goulet
Brent Goulet
Brent Goulet is a retired American soccer forward and later coached SV Elversberg from 2004 to 2008. He began his career in the United States before moving to England and Germany, and also earned eight caps with the U.S. national team. He was the 1987 U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year and was a...
, once referred to him as the human chameleon for his ability to mimic the style and quickly master the necessary skills of which ever land that he found himself. "Wherever he was or wherever he went he always seemed like he belonged there. He definitely was always the first guy to get offered a contract because his movements were so smooth and fluent. He was very skillful and moved more like a Brazilian than an American. I’m sure that he probably still does."
External links
- Dale Mulholland at Encyclopedia.com
- Dale Mulholland at Arsenal Soccer School Indonesia
- The Spokesman-Review, April 14 1990
- Photo gallery at Arsenal Soccer School Thailand
- Orlando Sentinel
- American Professional Soccer League 1992 Season
- American Professional Soccer League 1991 Season
- German Plus Indonesia
- Coaching activities in Indonesia
- Jakarta International Football League
- Player history