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Ian Christopher Bridge (born 18 September 1959) is a soccer coach and former professional who played as a defender. A former player for the Canada national team, he has coached the Canada women's national team among other teams.

Club career

Bridge was born in Victoria, British Columbia. He began his pro career in 1977 and played in the NASL with the Seattle Sounders from 1979 to 1983 and with the Vancouver Whitecaps in 1984, and MISL indoor soccer with the Tacoma Stars. Over six NASL seasons, he played 124 games and scored 13 goals. Following the demise of the NASL Bridge played for Swiss club FC La Chaux-de-Fonds for two seasons when the club was in the Swiss league first division. Later in the Canadian Soccer League, he played for the Victoria Vistas (1990), Kitchener Kickers (1991), and North York Rockets (1991). Ian played his youth soccer with the Lakehill Soccer Association in Victoria BC, and has an annually awarded Youth Player "Inspirational" trophy named in his honour.

International career

A defender, Bridge made his debut for Canada in an October 1981 friendly match against Trinidad & Tobago and earned 34 caps, scoring 5 goals. He has represented Canada in 12 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and played all three of Canada's games at the 1986 FIFA World Cup finals, the country's first appearance at a World Cup finals. Bridge also played for Canada at the 1984 Olympics and at the 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship. He scored a goal in the first two 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifying games that he played in. His final international was a June 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup Finals match against Mexico.

Bridge was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003.

Managerial career

Bridge was head coach of the University of Victoria women's soccer team from 1990 to 2000. He became assistant coach of Canada women's national soccer team in 1997, a position he still has. He became U-19 national women's coach and chief national team assistant coach in March 2001. (The national youth women's team has since become U-20.) Bridge is also team chef of the Canada men's national youth soccer teams. On 10 January 2010, Bridge resigned as head coach of the U-17 Canadian women national team and is now coaching the Victoria Highlanders of the USL (United Soccer league) Premier Development League.

Career statistics

Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bridge goal.

List of international goals scored by Ian Bridge

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	12 November 1981	Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino, Tegucigalpa, Honduras	Honduras	1–1	1–2	1982 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	15 November 1981	Estadio Tiburcio Carías Andino, Tegucigalpa, Honduras	Mexico	1–1	1–1	1982 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	28 March 1984	Stade Sylvio Cator, Port-au-Prince, Haiti	Haiti	1–0	1–0	Friendly
4	25 May 1988	Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada	Chile	1–0	1–0	Matthews Cup
5	15 October 1988	Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, Canada	Guatemala	3–2	3–2	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification

References

1. "Switzerland - Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs". Archived from the original on 27 June 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
2. "CSL 1991 Media Guide w 92 season info and all-time records_HiQ.PDF".
3. Record at FIFA Tournaments – FIFA
4. "Ian Bridge named women's U-20 head coach". CBC News. 9 October 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
5. CANADA Under-17 National Team
6. "Ian Bridge out as women's U17 coach". Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2010.

External links

• Ian Bridge at the Canadian Soccer Association / Canada Soccer Hall of Fame
• Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame inductee page for Bridge
• NASL/MISL stats
• Ian Bridge at National-Football-Teams.com

Canada squads

v t e Canada squad – 1984 Summer Olympics 1 Lettieri 2 Lenarduzzi 3 Wilson 4 Moore 5 Bridge 6 Ragan 7 Norman 8 Gray 9 Garraway 10 Mitchell 11 Sweeney 12 Vrablic 14 De Luca 15 James 16 Catliff 17 Martin 22 Habermann Coach: Waiters v t e Canada squad – 1985 CONCACAF Championship winners (1st title) GK Dolan GK Habermann GK Lettieri DF Baird DF Bridge DF Lenarduzzi DF Moore DF Samuel DF Wilson DF Lowther MF De Luca MF Gray MF James MF Norman MF Ragan MF Sweeney FW Catliff FW Garraway FW Karpun FW Mitchell FW Pakos FW Valentine FW Vrablic Coach: Waiters v t e Canada squad – 1986 FIFA World Cup 1 Lettieri 2 Lenarduzzi 3 Wilson (c) 4 Ragan 5 Moore 6 Bridge 7 Valentine 8 Gray 9 Segota 10 Vrablic 11 Sweeney 12 Samuel 13 Pakos 14 Mitchell 15 James 16 Ion 17 Norman 18 Lowery 19 De Luca 20 Miller 21 Habermann 22 Dolan Coach: Waiters v t e Canada squad – 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup 1 Forrest 2 Yallop 3 Miller 4 Limniatis 5 Samuel 6 Bridge 7 Valentine 8 Lowery 9 Mitchell 10 Catliff 11 Majcher 12 Gilbert 13 Munson 14 Watson 15 Diotte 16 Gilfillan 17 Fletcher 18 Marini 20 Dolan Coach: Waiters

• 1959 births
• Living people
• Soccer players from Victoria, British Columbia
• Canadian people of British descent
• Men's association football defenders
• Canadian men's soccer players
• Canada men's international soccer players
• Canadian expatriate men's soccer players
• Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
• Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States
• Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics
• 1986 FIFA World Cup players
• 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
• CONCACAF Championship–winning players
• Seattle Sounders (1974–1983) players
• Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players
• Tacoma Stars players
• FC La Chaux-de-Fonds players
• Victoria Vistas players
• North York Rockets players
• North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players
• North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players
• Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players
• Swiss Super League players
• Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players
• Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland
• Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States
• Canadian soccer coaches
• Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees
• Olympic soccer players for Canada
• FC La Chaux-de-Fonds managers
• Canada men's youth international soccer players
• Kitchener Spirit players
• 20th-century Canadian sportsmen