FC Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock announced today that the club has elected to extend the contract of Head Coach Colin Clarke for the 2006 season. This past season Clarke led the club to a 13-10-9 record, good for 48 points which was the second highest point total in the team's 10-year history and its first postseason appearance since 2002. Per club policy, details of the contract were not disclosed.
"When we are making personnel decision as an organization, we always ask the question 'Does this person help us reach the goals that we have set for the franchise?' Our primary goal is to win championships, and we feel that Colin is the right man to lead FC Dallas to a championship," Hitchcock said. "Colin has done a good job in building a strong team here and I have the utmost confidence that he will not only create a great team in 2006 but that he'll create a championship team."
The 2006 season will be the third full season for the Hoops under Clarke's direction. After replacing Mike Jeffries for the final six games of the 2003 campaign, Clarke was named the third Head Coach in team history on December 4, 2003 and has since led the team to a 23-24-15 record, including 13 wins this season, the most for a Dallas team since 2000, plus a trip to the 2005 U.S. Open Cup Final.
"I'm very excited to be coming back for a third season as the Head Coach of FC Dallas," Clarke said. "I thought that we did well this past season, but as is always the case we are looking to get better going into next season and I fully believe that we will. It is our ultimate goal of bringing an MLS Cup here to Dallas and I look forward to the challenge of doing so in 2006."
Clarke, 43, joined the Dallas staff as an assistant coach under Mike Jeffries in 2001, a position that he held until being promoted to Interim Head Coach on September 15, 2003. Prior to coming to the Lone Star State, Clarke had spent three years as a head coach in the A-League with the San Diego Flash and the Richmond Kickers, compiling a 54-27-3 record.
The Newry, Northern Ireland native also had an extensive and successful playing career, making 38 appearances for the Northern Ireland National Team and scoring 13 goals, a mark that had been a National Team record until it was broken by David Healy last year. Clarke's club career began in 1981 and saw him play 361 league games for six different clubs, including Portsmouth, Queens Park Rangers and Southampton, tallying 146 career goals.
