Willy Roy

The year 1966 saw a series of events that had a major impact on Roy's future career. Three separate groups decided to form a professional league in the U.S. Through various negotiations, two of the groups merged to form the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). While the USSF and FIFA refused to recognize the NPSL, it gained a television contract with CBS, thereby guaranteeing some element of financial stability. Up to this point, Roy played almost exclusively with local Chicago minor league teams and the U.S. national team. Once again, external soccer events impacted Roy's career. The NPSL merged with the United Soccer Association in December 1967 to form the North American Soccer League. That year, the Spurs also moved to Kansas City. Roy moved with the team and spent one season there. Roy experienced a sophomore slump in 1968, playing 15 games, scoring 6 goals and assisting on 4 others. However, the team played well, losing to the Atlanta Chiefs in the playoff semifinals. Roy moved on to the Saint Louis Stars (NASL) in 1971. In his three seasons with the Stars, he scored 18 goals and assisted on 16 others. In 1972, the team made it to the NASL final, losing to the New York Cosmos 2–1. After retiring from the national team, Roy continued to play professionally for a few more years. In 1975, he moved to his last team, the expansion Chicago Sting. He would play a single season with the Sting, statistically the worst of his career. He scored no goals and made 3 assists…

In 1976, upon retiring from playing, Roy became an assistant coach for Chicago Sting. He spent two seasons in this position, before moving up to head coach in 1979. In 1981, Roy coached the Sting to a 23–9 record and a victory in the Soccer Bowl (the NASL championship game) and earned himself NASL Coach of the Year honors. The summer of 1984 saw Roy coach the Sting to its second NASL outdoor title. This would also be the last NASL championship as the league folded the following Spring. The Major Indoor Soccer League had commenced operations in 1978, and it proved its success in its first two years of operation as it gained teams and the NASL lost teams to financial failure. The NASL attempted to piggyback on the MISL success, by playing an indoor season beginning in the winter of 1979–1980, following its 1979 outdoor season. Roy's Sting did not do well in that first season indoors, but things improved drastically during the 1980–1981 indoor season. He guided them to a division title, the league's best regular-season record, and into the finals, where they lost to the Edmonton Drillers, two games to none. The following season (1981–82) saw another division title, but this time they made an early exit from the playoffs. The NASL did not hold a full indoor season in 1982–83, so the Sting played that winter in the MISL where it finished third in the Eastern Division. Roy got the Sting on track during the 1983–84 indoor season, back again in the NASL. They finished second in the…