DAYTON, OH - The Dayton Dutch Lions FC are excited to announce the appointment of Ian Richardson as the new Head Coach for the Women’s team. Richardson, former assistant coach, will replace Gavin MacLeod, who left the club to pursue new opportunities, after being in charge of the W-League team for the past two seasons. The Dayton Dutch Lions FC organization wants to thank MacLeod for his leadership with the women’s program.
“We believe Ian is a logical choice to take over the reigns of our Women’s team” said Director of Soccer Sid van Druenen, “Ian and Gavin worked closely together the past 2 years so Ian knows the expectations and history of this program and we are very excited to have him lead the team.”
Ian Richardson, is a current assistant coach with Urbana University’s Men’s soccer team joining the program before the 2014 season. Urbana achieved several milestones this past season, winning 9 consecutive games and receiving national recognition, culminating with a first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
Previous to his time at Urbana, Richardson spent one season as an Assistant Coach with the University of Dayton Women’s Soccer team, helping the Flyers capture a conference championship in 2013. In addition, he spent two seasons with NCAA Division II National Finalist Carson-Newman University and started his coaching career at his alma mater, Lincoln Memorial University.
As a player for LMU, Richardson’s Railsplitters received numerous honors and awards including an NCAA Final Four and Championship appearance. He also has extensive playing experience in Scotland with the Airdrie, Kilmarnock and Rangers Football Clubs.
"I'm delighted to be announced as the new Head Coach of the Dayton Dutch Lions.” Richardson said. “We had a fantastic group of players in the summer and I hope to have many return in our pursuit of a playoff spot. The coaching staff worked extremely hard over the past two seasons to establish a quality soccer environment and I plan to build on that foundation. I can’t wait to get started working with the players.”
The Lions will be playing in a new league this summer, joining the Women’s Premier Soccer League, with an 8 game schedule. The WPSL is a national women's soccer league in the United States and Puerto Rico, and it sits atop women's soccer in the United States amateur soccer pyramid.
Try outs and more information about the 2016 WPSL season will be announced soon on the Dayton Dutch Lions FC website soon.