The #14 Notre Dame Men's Soccer team defeated #3 Louisville, 1-0, at Alumni Field on September 24.
Bobby Clark's formula for success and his reputation for assembling winning teams are evident after 10 seasons at Notre Dame. The charismatic and affable Irish leader has guided his teams to 10 consecutive NCAA Championship appearances (a program first), a BIG EAST tournament title in 2003 and three BIG EAST regular-season crowns (2004, 2007 & 2008). Notre Dame reached new heights within the program by advancing to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for the first time ever in 2006 and made a repeat appearance in 2007.
Since coming to Notre Dame in January of 2001, Clark, a native of Scotland, has engineered a great turnaround. In the two seasons prior to his arrival, the Irish suffered back-to-back losing seasons in 1999 and 2000 with a combined 15-17-5 record. Under Clark, Notre Dame is an impressive 127-59-30 (.657). The Fighting Irish have won at least 10 matches in every season of the Clark era. Clark, a two-time BIG EAST Coach of the Year honoree, ranks second on Notre Dame's all-time victory list, just one win behind Rich Hunter entering the 2011 campaign.
For his dedication and commitment to the Fighting Irish men's soccer program, the Notre Dame Monogram Club awarded Clark with an honorary monogram in June of 2011.
Winning has been synonymous with Clark wherever he has been. His 24-year resume has produced a glossy .673 winning percentage. Clark's teams have posted a 280-122-55 mark during his collegiate coaching tenure. Prior to becoming Notre Dame's fifth head coach, he had successful coaching stints at Dartmouth and Stanford.
Clark's penchant for developing talent is evident in the fact that Notre Dame has produced 57 all-BIG EAST selections from 32 different players. In addition, he has mentored six All-Americans with the Irish, including 2006 M.A.C. Hermann Trophy winner Joseph Lapira.
Lapira, a two-time All-America honoree, was the 2006 BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year. Bright Dike joined Lapira with that honor as he was named the league's offensive player of the year in 2009 under Clark's guidance.
The Fighting Irish have had 18 Major League Soccer (MLS) draft picks during Clark's 10 seasons at Notre Dame. In 2009, Matt Besler became the highest MLS draft pick in Notre Dame history as he was selected eighth overall by the Kansas City Wizards. Besler also was named the 2008-09 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Scholar-Athlete of the Year. That marked the first time an Irish player ever received that distinguished honor. Besler is one of four Fighting Irish players to have garnered Academic All-America honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) under the tutelage of Clark.
Another Academic All-American was 2007 graduate Ryan Miller, who also became the first current or former Notre Dame player to earn a spot on a United States Men's Senior National Team roster. Miller was one of 24 players on the U.S. squad that faced Chile in an international friendly in January of 2011. Miller currently plays professionally for Halmstads BK in the Swedish first division.
As of June 2011, 15 former Irish men's soccer players were competing professionally around the world. Ten are playing in the United States, while five are overseas. All 15 played for Clark at Notre Dame. Six former Fighting Irish student-athletes are part of Major League Soccer (MLS) teams, while four are in the United Soccer League (USL)/North American Soccer League (NASL). The foreign countries represented are England, Finland, India and Sweden.
Ryan Nelsen, who played for Clark at Stanford and captained New Zealand during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, plays for the Blackburn Rovers of the English Premier League. Another one of Clark's former Stanford players, Simon Elliott, joined Nelsen on the New Zealand World Cup squad and currently plays with Chivas USA in the MLS.
Nelsen and Elliott are just two of Clark's pupils that have competed in marquee international events. Current Notre Dame players Dillon Powers and Aaron Maund both were members of the United States Under-20 National Team that competed at the 2009 U-20 World Cup in Egypt. In August of 2010, Powers was named the MVP of the Milk Cup Tournament as he helped lead the U.S. Under-20 National Team to the title with a 3-0 record. Greg Dalby, a 2007 graduate, captained the U.S. squad as they won Group D during the 2005 U-20 World Cup. In May 2007, Lapira earned a cap with the Ireland Senior National Team during a friendly against Ecuador.
Regarded as one of the premier tacticians of the game, Clark has built a reputation of being a true players' coach; he's an individual who relates easily to the needs of his players both on and off the field. Clark also has shown that he is very capable of reloading talent without having his team miss a beat on the field. Clark and his staff have consistently brought in nationally-ranked recruiting classes that keeps the Fighting Irish in contention for league and national success year in and year out.
In 2010, Clark guided the Irish to their 10th straight NCAA Championship appearance. Notre Dame garnered the tournament's No. 9 seed, which marked the sixth time under Clark that the Fighting Irish have claimed one of the 16 national seeds and a first-round bye. Notre Dame fell to Dartmouth, 2-1 in overtime, during the second round to finish the season with a 10-6-4 record and a No. 21 national ranking in the final NSCAA poll. The Fighting Irish have been ranked in the final NSCAA top-25 rankings during nine of Clark's 10 seasons at Notre Dame.
The Irish went 6-2-1 in BIG EAST play in 2010 and advanced to the semifinals of the league tournament for the fourth straight season and for the sixth time under Clark.
Five Notre Dame student-athletes received all-BIG EAST accolades for the 2010 season. Headlining the Fighting Irish honorees were first-team selections Jeb Brovsky and Steven Perry. Perry led all BIG EAST players in goals with 12 and was tied for the points lead with 28. Maund and Powers were named to the all-BIG EAST second team, while Harrison Shipp was selected to the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team.
Brovsky and Perry continued to illustrate Notre Dame's success both on the pitch and in the classroom as they were named NSCAA Scholar All-Americans.
The 2009 season saw Clark notch his ninth NCAA Championship victory during his Notre Dame tenure with a 2-1 first-round win over Green Bay. The Irish suffered a 3-1 setback at Northwestern in the second round to conclude the campaign with an 11-8-4 mark.
The Irish finished in second place in the BIG EAST Blue Division with an 8-3-0 record. Notre Dame missed out on winning its second BIG EAST Championship title under Clark as the Irish were taken down in penalty kicks by St. John's, 5-3, following a scoreless draw in the final.
Six Notre Dame players garnered all-BIG EAST honors in 2009. Michael Thomas joined Dike, who led the league in points (26) and goals (11) en route to earning the league's offensive player of the year award, on the all-BIG EAST first team, while Justin Morrow was a second-team pick. Brovsky and Maund were selected to the third team and Powers was named to the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team.
In 2008, Notre Dame notched a 12-7-2 record, including a 7-2-2 mark in the BIG EAST to win the conference's Blue Division. That signified the first time in program history that the Irish had ever won back-to-back BIG EAST regular-season titles. A 3-0 victory at Cincinnati on Sept. 26, 2008, was Clark's 100th win during his Notre Dame tenure.
The Fighting Irish were seeded 12th for the 2008 NCAA Championship and fell to Northwestern, 2-1, in the second round. Notre Dame concluded the season ranked 16th in the NSCAA poll. It marked the eighth straight season, all under Clark, in which the Fighting Irish finished their season ranked in the top 20 nationally.
Accolades were in abundance for Notre Dame during the 2008 season. Besler earned the distinction of becoming the first player in program history to be named both a first-team All-American and first-team Academic All-American. Besler and Dike both were first-team all-BIG EAST selections and headlined a group of five Notre Dame players that copped all-league honors.
The 2007 campaign was arguably the greatest season in Notre Dame history. The Irish captured a share of the regular-season BIG EAST title as they tied for the Blue Division championship with Connecticut. The Irish went 7-0-4 in league play and were the only BIG EAST squad to go undefeated within the conference. Notre Dame advanced to the finals of the BIG EAST Championship before falling to Connecticut, 2-0. During the season, the Irish peaked at a program-best No. 2 in the national rankings.
Notre Dame opened the '07 season with a 2-1 overtime win against top-ranked UCLA at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington, Ind. That would be the first of five triumphs over ranked foes for the Irish on the year. Notre Dame garnered the 10th seed in the 2007 NCAA Championship and following a first-round bye, the Irish topped Oakland University 2-1. A 2-0 upset victory at No. 7 Santa Clara propelled Notre Dame into the `Elite Eight'. The season would come to an end as the Irish suffered a 1-0 overtime loss at eventual national champion Wake Forest in the NCAA quarterfinals to finish with a 14-5-5 record and a No. 6 ranking in the final NSCAA poll.
In what has become a common theme in the Clark era at Notre Dame, the Irish boasted two All-America honorees in 2007. Lapira earned first-team All-America accolades for the second straight season, while Miller was a second-team pick. Miller also earned Academic All-America honors. Lapira and Miller were unanimous first-team all-BIG EAST selections. The duo spearheaded a group of seven Fighting Irish players that copped all-conference accolades.
The Irish ended the '06 campaign ranked sixth nationally after compiling a 15-6-2 record and finishing third in the BIG EAST Conference's Blue Division with an 8-3-0 mark. After earning the No. 12 seed and a first-round bye in the NCAA Tournament, Notre Dame knocked off UIC 1-0 in the second round before taking down defending NCAA champion Maryland 1-0 in double-overtime to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time in program history. The win over the Terrapins marked the second straight season in which the Irish topped the defending national champion in postseason play. Notre Dame downed Indiana, the two-time defending national champion, 2-0 in the second round of the 2005 tournament.
Accolades were in store for the 2006 Irish squad following the unprecedented success. Lapira won the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy as the nation's top player according to the NSCAA. He became the first student-athlete in program history to win a national player of the year award. Lapira, who led all NCAA Division I men's players with 22 goals and 50 points, also captured player-of-the-year honors from Soccer America along with being Notre Dame's first-ever unanimous first-team All-American.
Lapira was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, while Dalby was selected as the league's midfielder of the year. In all, the Irish boasted five all-conference performers. Dalby earned first-team All-America honors for the second straight season.
The 2005 season presented some challenges for Clark as the Irish had to reload after losing a stellar senior class following the 2004 campaign. A difficult slate faced Notre Dame and the Irish responded with a 12-8-3 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament's Round of 16. The Irish had an impressive run as they posted back-to-back 2-0 shutouts in the first two rounds of the tournament. The Irish topped Western Illinois at home and then hit the road and took down the Hoosiers. The victory over Indiana marked the first time in nine tries that Notre Dame had ever knocked off a defending national champion in regular season or postseason play.
Dalby became the first player in program history to be named a first-team All-American on three separate lists (NSCAA, Soccer Times, College Soccer News). He also was a unanimous first-team all-BIG EAST selection and a M.A.C. Hermann Trophy semifinalist. Ian Etherington joined Dalby as a first-team all-league member.
In 2004, the Fighting Irish faced lofty preseason expectations despite losing key components to a squad that won the BIG EAST tournament the previous year. Notre Dame lost a valuable seven-member class, which contained five all-BIG EAST selections and 35 of the team's 38 goals in 2003, to graduation. The 2004 Irish still managed to post a 13-3-3 record that included an 11-game unbeaten streak and they peaked at No. 4 in the national polls.
The '04 squad was led by a stout defense that allowed just nine goals on the year en route to the program's first regular-season BIG EAST title with an 8-1-1 conference mark, which led to Clark and assistant coaches Brian Wiese and Mike Avery being named the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year. Six members of the Irish squad earned all-BIG EAST honors, including All-America goalkeeper Chris Sawyer, who received his second straight BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year award. Fellow seniors Kevin Goldthwaite and Jack Stewart joined Sawyer on the first-team all-conference team with Stewart winning the BIG EAST's Defensive Player of the Year.
A disappointing 2-1 loss to Ohio State in the second round ended the 2004 campaign for the Fighting Irish, yet the program continued to establish itself as one of the best in the nation. That trend has been evident since Clark took over the reigns in 2001 and it did not take him long to steer Notre Dame to unprecedented levels.
Poised with one of the most talented teams in Notre Dame men's soccer history, Clark and his staff chose `Making History' as the team motto for the 2003 season. The Irish followed that motto perfectly, claiming the program's second BIG EAST Championship (the first under Clark), rising as high as third in the national rankings, hosting two NCAA Championship matches at Alumni Field (including a Round-of-16 contest) and earning the program's highest-ever seed in the NCAA Championship (fifth overall). However the 2003 season ended with a tough-luck 1-1 tie against Michigan and the Wolverines advanced 4-3 on penalty kicks. Notre Dame still enjoyed a successful run, which featured regular-season wins over both teams that appeared in the NCAA title game (St. John's and Indiana).
The outstanding season was highlighted by a memorable run through the BIG EAST Championship. The Irish, behind tournament outstanding defensive player in Sawyer, shut out all three opponents during the championship to claim the program's second conference title and first since 1996.
The Irish program also received numerous individual accolades, including All-America honors for senior forward Justin Detter and Sawyer. A school-record eight Irish players earned all-BIG EAST honors while Detter joined classmate Kevin Richards as the first Clark-era Irish players to be drafted into the MLS.
The 2002 season saw Clark lead his team to an impressive 12-6-3 record and spend all but one week ranked in the top-25 (peaking at No. 5). The Irish ended the BIG EAST season with a 6-3-1 mark and finished fourth in the league's final regular-season standings. For the first time in school history, Notre Dame played host to an NCAA Championship match. The Irish advanced to the second round of the tournament for just the second time in school history following a 3-1 victory over Akron. During the '02 campaign, Notre Dame defeated four ranked opponents and three top-10 foes. Clark's squad finished the season 20th in the final Soccer America rankings.
Clark wasted little time in bringing the Notre Dame program back into the national forefront in his first season in 2001 as the Irish earned an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since the 1996 campaign. Clark's squad flourished under his guidance and leadership as the Irish registered a 12-7-0 record, which marked the most victories in five years.
He earned his sixth coach-of-the-year accolade when he was selected as the BIG EAST Coach of the Year after leading the Irish to a 7-3-0 conference mark. Notre Dame tied for second in the final regular-season standings and advanced to the semifinals of the conference championship. It marked the most wins and highest finish ever by an Irish team in seven seasons as a league member.
In addition, five players earned all-BIG EAST accolades, which included two first-team selections (Erich Braun and Detter). Sawyer was named to the 11-member Soccer America All-Freshman Team. Notre Dame also finished 18th in the final NSCAA and Soccer America rankings.
Prior to being named head coach at Notre Dame, Clark spent five seasons at Stanford where he produced the most successful era in the history of the Cardinal program. When he arrived on the Palo Alto, Calif., campus, he inherited a team that had produced consecutive 5-12 campaigns and had not posted a winning record in four years. In his five seasons at Stanford, Clark turned the program around, creating a consistent national powerhouse.
As Director of Soccer, Clark oversaw both the Cardinal men's and women's programs and specifically served as the head coach of the men's program. In his five seasons at the helm of the Cardinal men, Clark compiled a 71-21-12 (.740) record. Clark guided Stanford to the NCAA Tournament each of his last four years (1997-2000), and his 1998 squad was the national runner-up.
His final season with the Cardinal, the 2000 campaign, ranked as one of the most successful in Stanford history. The 18-3-1 record matched the school standard for wins in a season (tying the mark set by his '98 team). The final national rankings of fourth (Soccer America) and sixth (NSCAA) qualify as the second-highest ever at Stanford. His teams also spent two weeks ranked number one in the country, marking the first time Stanford had ever been atop a collegiate poll in men's soccer.
In 2000, the Cardinal broke nine school records and tied another, earned individual MVP honors at three in-season tournaments and saw 13 players win all-Pac-10 accolades. Included in that number was Nelsen, who was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year, as well as the NSCAA/adidas Collegiate Men's Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In NCAA play, Clark's team defeated Cal State Fullerton and Illinois-Chicago before falling in the quarterfinals to SMU.
Clark led Stanford to its third consecutive NCAA appearance in 1999, the sixth visit to the tournament in school history. The Cardinal ended the season with a first-round NCAA loss to Santa Clara; yet with a 12-4-3 overall mark, it finished with double-digit victories for the fourth consecutive year.
The 1998 season saw Clark direct the best season in the history of Stanford soccer. Not only did the Cardinal win its first NCAA Tournament match, it advanced three steps further to the NCAA championship game following wins against San Jose State, San Diego, Virginia and Maryland. Stanford fell to Indiana, 3-1, in the title game to finish with a No. 2 national ranking. The team won a school-record 18 matches, surpassing the mark of 16 wins recorded in 1978. Following the season, his son Jamie became the first Cardinal to be named an NSCAA first-team All-American.
In his first season at Stanford in 1996, Clark led the Cardinal to a 10-4-4 record, its first winning season since 1992, and was named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Mountain Division Coach of the Year.
The 1997 campaign was a break-out year for the program as Stanford posted a 13-5-2 record, earned its first MPSF Mountain Division title, its first top-10 ranking and its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in five years. Following the 1997 season, Clark was named NSCAA Far West Region Coach of the Year and garnered MPSF Mountain Division Coach-of-the-Year honors for the second consecutive season.
Prior to arriving at Stanford, Clark compiled an impressive soccer background as both coach and player. From 1994-96, as head coach of the New Zealand National Team, he produced a 21-12-3 mark while working with the Senior National Team and the Olympic squad along with the Under-20 and Under-17 teams. For his efforts, Clark was awarded the 1995 Jim McCullen Trophy, given by the New Zealand national media to the person who did the most for New Zealand soccer.
Clark began his collegiate coaching career as the head coach at Dartmouth College from 1985-93. In nine seasons, Clark compiled an 82-42-13 record (.646) and led the Big Green to three Ivy titles ('98, '90 and '92) and a pair of NCAA quarterfinal appearances. His `90 team defeated Vermont and Columbia in NCAA action before falling to eventual NCAA runner-up Rutgers. His '92 squad defeated St. John's and Seton Hall before losing to eventual champion Virginia. Clark's Dartmouth teams were ranked in the top-10 for four consecutive years, and he was twice named the NSCAA Region I Coach of the Year (1990, `92). His `90 team finished eighth in the final Intercollegiate Soccer Coaches Association of America poll.
Along with his international coaching experience in New Zealand, Clark also coached in Africa and in his native Scotland. In Zimbabwe, he was Director of Coaching with the Bulawayo Highlanders in the Zimbabwean Super League for the 1983-84 season. In Scotland, he was the Youth coach with Aberdeen F.C. in the Scottish Premier League. He was also one of the Scottish Football Association's staff coaches.
Prior to coaching, Clark enjoyed a distinguished professional career in the Scottish League. From 1962-82, he made more than 800 first-team appearances, 696 of which were with the Aberdeen Dons from 1965-1982. With the Dons, Clark won the 1970 Scottish Cup, the 1976 League Cup and the 1980 Premier League Championship. Clark, who represented Scotland at every level of professional soccer, was involved in three of Scotland's World Cup campaigns as a player in 1970, 1974 and 1978, contributing to the Scottish squad that advanced to the finals of the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.
Clark's success in Aberdeen is legendary. In '02, he was honored by the team as one of its top-25 members of all-time. In two Scottish off-seasons, Clark played professionally for the Washington Whips of the United Soccer Association (1967), and the San Antonio Thunder of the North American Soccer League (1976).
In February of 2009, Clark saw his 38-year British record for consecutive scoreless minutes snapped by Manchester United's Edwin Van der Sar. Clark went 1,155 minutes without allowing a goal while playing with the Aberdeen Dons during the 1970-71 Scottish first division season.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Clark graduated from Jordanhill College in 1967. He and his wife Bette, have three children: Tommy, Jennifer and Jamie.
Tommy, a 1992 graduate of Dartmouth, earned a bachelor's degree in English. He was a regional All-American while playing with the Big Green - and played professional soccer in Zimbabwe, New Zealand and New Mexico. He and his wife are graduates of the Medical School at Dartmouth. They have two children, Hugh and Annabell. Tommy is the founder and CEO of Grassroot Soccer, an international AIDS awareness and education organization that reaches youth in Africa through soccer clinics.
Jennifer, a 1994 Dartmouth graduate, served as an assistant for three years to former Stanford women's soccer head coach Steve Swanson. She is married to former Notre Dame assistant men's tennis coach Mike Morgan. The couple has three children, Tamhas, Rory and Mhairi.
The Clark's youngest son, Jamie, graduated from Stanford in 1999. A two-time All-American, he played professionally for the San Jose Earthquakes (MLS) and Raith Rovers in Scotland. After serving as an assistant coach under his father for two years at Notre Dame (2006 & 2007), Jamie accepted the head coaching position at Harvard University. Following two successfull seasons with the Crimson, he was at the helm of the Creighton University program during the 2010 campaign before taking the head coaching spot at the University of Washington in January of 2011.
Jamie is just one of the coaches who has worked under the elder Clark that is now at the helm of their own program. Wiese currently is the head coach at Georgetown University, while Avery has the same position at Valparaiso University. University of Rhode Island head coach John O'Connor worked under Clark at Dartmouth as did Geoff Wheeler, who is the head coach at Wesleyan University.
The Bobby Clark File
Coaching Expeience
Year
1977-82
Youth Coach, Aberdeen F.C. Scottish Premier League
1983-84
Director of Coaching, Bulawayo Highlanders, Zimbabwe Super League
