LAFC head coach Bob Bradley will receive the 27th Walt Chyzowych Lifetime Achievement Award on Jan. 15 during the 2021 United Soccer Coaches Digital Convention, the Walt Chyzowych Fund has announced.
The award will be handed out at the Walt Chyzowych Fund’s Annual Award Ceremony, with the fund established after his passing in 1994 and designed to honor his formative role in the development of soccer in America.
“It is a great honor to receive this award from the Walt Chyzowych Fund,” Bradley said in a release. “I believe in the mission of the Fund and United Soccer Coaches Foundation to provide resources to aspiring American coaches, and I thank Dr. Joe Machnik, Gene Chyzowych Jr, and everyone involved with the Fund for continuing to grow soccer in this country.”
Bradley has steered LAFC since their expansion season in 2018, though he’s been part of Major League Soccer since the inaugural season in 1996, when he was an assistant coach under Bruce Arena at D.C. United. Bradley has also coached Chicago Fire FC (1997-2002), the MetroStars (2002-05) and Chivas USA (2005-07).
During his MLS coaching career, Bradley has won one MLS Cup, one Supporters’ Shield and two U.S. Open Cups. He’s won the Sigi Schmid Coach of the Year Award on three separate occasions, most recently in 2019 with LAFC.
But the 62-year-old has also paved the way overseas, coaching in Europe at Norwegian club Stabæk as followed by French side Le Havre and then Swansea City. At the latter post, Bradley became the first American to coach in England’s Premier League.
Bradley has an esteemed coaching career at the national team level, too, leading the United States on a memorable run at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He also led the USMNT to the Concacaf Gold Cup title in 2007 and a runner-up finish at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.
After leading the USMNT, Bradley led the Egyptian national team for several years. That coincided with the Egyptian revolution in 2011, a time period that was encapsulated by the "American Pharaoh" documentary.
“Representing the Walt Chyzowych Fund, I have been in communication with Bob Bradley for several years about our desire to recognize his accomplishments with a Lifetime Achievement Award,” Machnik said in a release. “However, Bob was always out of the country at the time of the United Soccer Coaches Convention and we believed it important to honor him in person in front of his peers.
“With the Convention scheduled in Anaheim, the perfect opportunity presented itself. How ironic it is that we now will have a virtual presentation. Regardless, this will be an incredibly special occasion recognizing one of the most successful coaches in U.S. Soccer history and one who has been deserving for an exceptionally long time.”
A New Jersey native, Bradley played for and later coached Princeton University. That jump-started a professional soccer career that’s now entering its fourth decade.
