View source for Brian Bliss

{{Short description|American soccer player (born 1965)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2012}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Brian Bliss
| image = 
| fullname = Brian Boyer Bliss
| height = {{height|ft=5|in=8}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1965|9|28}} 
| birth_place = [[Webster, New York]], United States
| position = [[Defender (association football)|Defender]]
| currentclub = Sporting Kansas City (Director of Player Personnel)
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| collegeyears1 = 1983–1986
| college1 = [[Southern Connecticut Owls]]
| years1  = 1987–1988
| clubs1  = [[Cleveland Force (1978–88)|Cleveland Force]] 
| caps1   = 51
| goals1  = 4
| years2  = 1989
| clubs2  = [[Albany Capitals]]
| caps2   = 5
| goals2  = 0
| years3  = 1990
| clubs3  = [[Boston Bolts (1988–1990)|Boston Bolts]]
| caps3   = ?
| goals3  = ?
| years4  = 1990–1991
| clubs4  = [[FC Energie Cottbus|Energie Cottbus]]
| caps4   = 13
| goals4  = 1
| years5  = 1991
| clubs5  = [[Chemnitzer FC]]
| caps5   = 12
| goals5  = 0
| years6  = 1992–1996
| clubs6  = [[FC Carl Zeiss Jena]]
| caps6   = 83
| goals6  = 1
| years7  = 1996–1997
| clubs7  = [[Columbus Crew SC|Columbus Crew]]
| caps7   = 31
| goals7  = 2
| years8  = 1997
| clubs8  = [[New York Red Bulls|MetroStars]]
| caps8   = 16
| goals8  = 0
| years9  = 1998
| clubs9  = [[Sporting Kansas City|Kansas City Wizards]]
| caps9   = 3
| goals9  = 0
| years10 = 1999
| clubs10 = [[Connecticut Wolves]]
| caps10  = 22
| goals10 = 0
| totalcaps = 236
| totalgoals = 8
| nationalyears1 = 1984–1995
| nationalteam1  = [[United States men's national soccer team|United States]]
| nationalcaps1  = 33
| nationalgoals1 = 2
| manageryears1 = 1999
| managerclubs1 = [[Connecticut Wolves]]
| manageryears2 = 2000–2006
| managerclubs2 = [[Sporting Kansas City|Kansas City Wizards]] (assistant)
| manageryears3 = 2006
| managerclubs3 = [[Sporting Kansas City|Kansas City Wizards]] (interim)
| manageryears4 = 2012–2013
| managerclubs4 = [[United States men's national under-20 soccer team|United States U20]] (assistant)
| manageryears5 = 2013
| managerclubs5 = [[Columbus Crew SC|Columbus Crew]] (interim)
| manageryears6 = 2015
| managerclubs6 = [[Chicago Fire Soccer Club|Chicago Fire]] (interim)
}}
'''Brian Boyer Bliss''' (born September 28, 1965) is a retired American [[association football|soccer]] defender and front office executive. He also serves as an assistant coach for the [[United States men's national under-20 soccer team|United States U-20 national team]].

Bliss played professionally in Europe and the United States, including the original [[Major Soccer League|Major Indoor Soccer League]], [[American Soccer League (1988–89)|American Soccer League]], and [[American Professional Soccer League]]. He earned forty-four [[cap (sports)|caps]], scoring two goals, with the [[United States men's national soccer team|U.S. national soccer team]] and was part of [[1990 FIFA World Cup]] squad.

==Playing career==

===Early career===
Bliss attended [[Webster Schroeder High School]] in Webster, New York. After high school, he attended [[Southern Connecticut State University]] from 1983 to 1986. On December 2, 1984, Bliss earned his first [[Cap (sports)|cap]] in a 2–2 tie with [[Ecuador national football team|Ecuador]]. He would not play again until 1987 when he would play two of the three U.S. games. That year, the [[Cleveland Force (1978–88)|Cleveland Force]] of the [[Major Soccer League|Major Indoor Soccer League]] drafted Bliss with the top pick. He would play a single season with the Force in 1987–1988. In 1988, he played in the [[Football at the 1988 Summer Olympics|Summer Olympics]]. In 1989, Bliss played five games with the [[Albany Capitals]] of the [[American Soccer League (1988–89)|American Soccer League]]. However, by that time he was a regular with the national team, playing nearly every game in the team's qualification campaign for the [[1990 FIFA World Cup]]. He played only one of the team's three games in that cup, as a substitute in the loss to [[Austria national football team|Austria]]. In 1990, he was on the roster of the [[Boston Bolts (1988–1990)|Boston Bolts]] of the [[American Professional Soccer League]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://a-leaguearchive.tripod.com/1990/statsasl90.htm1990|title=ASL 1990 Season|access-date=March 17, 2012|publisher=a-leaguearchive.tripod.com|date=January 27, 2007|archive-date=March 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200330144821/http://a-leaguearchive.tripod.com/1990/statsasl90.htm1990|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===European career===
After the World Cup, Bliss went to Germany to play with [[FC Energie Cottbus|Energie Cottbus]] of the [[1990–91 NOFV-Oberliga]]. He later went on to play for [[Chemnitzer FC]] and then [[FC Carl Zeiss Jena]]. Bliss was one of the last cuts from the final [[1994 FIFA World Cup]] roster when he tore cartilage in his knee.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/02/sports/us-roster-selected-for-the-world-cup.html | title = U.S. Roster Selected For the World Cup | date = June 2, 1994 | work=[[The New York Times]] | access-date = March 17, 2012}}</ref>

===Major League Soccer===
As [[Major League Soccer]] prepared for its first season, it began a process of equitably distributing known players to each of the league's teams. As part of this process, Bliss was [[1996 MLS Inaugural Allocations|allocated]] to the [[Columbus Crew SC|Columbus Crew]]. He played a season and a half for Columbus, being traded 12 games into the 1997 season to the [[New York Red Bulls|MetroStars]] for [[A.J. Wood]]. Bliss finished the 1997 season with the MetroStars, but was traded by the team to the [[Sporting Kansas City|Kansas City Wizards]] for a first round college draft pick during the 1998 off-season. He played only three games of the 1998 season. In 1999, he finished his career with the [[Connecticut Wolves]].

==Coaching career==
After retirement, he went on to coach the [[Connecticut Wolves]] of the [[A-League (American)|A-League]] in 1999. The next year, Gansler selected him again, this time to be the assistant coach for the Wizards. On July 19, 2006, Gansler stepped down as head coach, allowing Bliss to become interim head coach for Kansas City. In March 2007, [[Curt Onalfo]] replaced Bliss as the Wizards head coach, and Bliss joined Kansas Youth Soccer as State Director of Coaching. He also coached the JV squad at Olathe Northwest Highschool where he coached Andy Cockrum who went on to play for La Masia, which is FC Barcelona's academy team.

Bliss served as the technical director of the Columbus Crew for six seasons, helping the Crew earn two [[Supporters' Shield]] and one [[MLS Cup]]. He served as interim head coach for part of the 2013 season following the dismissal of [[Robert Warzycha]], but he was not retained as head coach and departed for Chicago following the hiring of [[Gregg Berhalter]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/12/06/chicago-fire-name-longtime-columbus-crew-fixture-brian-bliss-new-technical-d |title=Chicago Fire name longtime Columbus Crew fixture Brian Bliss as new technical director |publisher=[[MLSsoccer.com]] |date=December 6, 2013 |access-date=December 6, 2013 |archive-date=December 5, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205200950/http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/12/06/chicago-fire-name-longtime-columbus-crew-fixture-brian-bliss-new-technical-d |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On September 20, 2015, Bliss was named interim coach of the Chicago Fire, while retaining his technical director duties at the club.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2015/09/20/chicago-fire-part-ways-head-coach-frank-yallop-announce-nelson-rodriguez-new |title=Chicago Fire part ways with head coach Frank Yallop |publisher=MLSsoccer.com |date=September 20, 2015 |access-date=September 20, 2015 |archive-date=September 23, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923060422/http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2015/09/20/chicago-fire-part-ways-head-coach-frank-yallop-announce-nelson-rodriguez-new |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He joined [[Sporting Kansas City]] as Director of Player Personnel in January 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportingkc.com/post/2016/01/05/sporting-kc-names-brian-bliss-director-player-personnel|title=Sporting KC names Brian Bliss Director of Player Personnel|publisher=MLS|date=January 5, 2016|access-date=December 4, 2017}}</ref>

==Career statistics==

{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
! # !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Goals !! Result !! Competition
|-
| 1 || December 2, 1984 || [[Miami, Florida]] || {{fb|ECU}} || - || 2-2 || Friendly
|-
| 2 || June 8, 1987 || [[Seoul, South Korea]] || {{fb|EGY}} || - || 1-3 || Friendly
|-
| 3 || June 16, 1987 || [[Chongju, South Korea]] || {{fb|THA}} || - || 1-0 || Friendly
|-
| 4 || June 12, 1988 || [[Fort Worth, Texas]] || {{fb|ECU}} || - || 0–0 || Friendly
|-
| 5 || July 13, 1988 || [[New Britain, Connecticut]] || {{fb|POL}} || - || 0–2 || Friendly
|-
| 6 || July 24, 1988 || [[Kingston, Jamaica]] || {{fb|JAM}} || - || 0-0 || [[1989 CONCACAF Championship qualification|1990 World Cup Qualifying]]
|-
| 7 || August 13, 1988 || [[St. Louis, Missouri]] || {{fb|JAM}} || 1 || 5–1 || [[1989 CONCACAF Championship qualification|1990 World Cup Qualifying]]
|-
| 8 || April 16, 1989 || [[San Jose, Costa Rica]] || {{fb|CRC}} || - || 0–1 || [[1989 CONCACAF Championship qualification|1990 World Cup Qualifying]]
|-
| 9 || April 30, 1989 || [[St. Louis, Missouri]] || {{fb|CRC}} || - || 1–0 || [[1989 CONCACAF Championship|1990 World Cup Qualifying]]
|-
| 10 || June 4, 1989 || [[East Rutherford, New Jersey]] || {{fb|PER}} || 1 || 3-0 || Friendly
|-
| 11 || June 17, 1989 || [[New Britain, Connecticut]] || {{fb|GUA}} || - || 2-1 || [[1989 CONCACAF Championship|1990 World Cup Qualifying]]
|-
| 12 || June 24, 1989 || [[Miami, Florida]] || {{fb|COL}} || - || 0–1 || Friendly
|-
| 13 || August 13, 1989 || [[Los Angeles, California]] || {{fb|KOR}} || - || 1-2 || Friendly
|-
| 14 || September 17, 1989 || [[Tegucigalpa, Honduras]] || {{fb|SLV}} || - || 1–0 || [[1989 CONCACAF Championship|1990 World Cup Qualifying]]
|-
| 15 || October 8, 1989 || [[Guatemala City, Guatemala]] || {{fb|GUA}} || - || 0–0 || [[1989 CONCACAF Championship|1990 World Cup Qualifying]]
|-
| 16 || November 5, 1989 || [[St. Louis, Missouri]] || {{fb|SLV}} || - || 0–0 || [[1989 CONCACAF Championship|1990 World Cup Qualifying]]
|-
| 17 || November 14, 1989 || [[Cocoa Beach, Florida]] || {{fb|BER}} || - || 2-1 || Friendly
|-
| 18 || November 19, 1989 || [[Port of Spain, Trinidad]] || {{fb|TRI}} || - || 1-0 || [[1989 CONCACAF Championship|1990 World Cup Qualifying]]
|-
| 19 || March 30, 1990 || [[Budapest, Hungary]] || {{fb|HUN}} || - || 0-2 || Friendly
|-
| 20 || April 22, 1990 || [[Miami, Florida]] || {{fb|COL}} || - || 0-1 || Friendly
|-
| 21 || May 5, 1990 || [[Piscataway, New Jersey]] || {{fb|MLT}} || - || 1-0 || Friendly
|-
| 22 || May 30, 1990 || [[Eschen, Liechtenstein]] || {{fb|LIE}} || - || 4–1 || Friendly
|-
| 23 || June 19, 1990 || [[Florence, Italy]] || {{fb|AUT}} || - || 1–2 || [[1990 FIFA World Cup Group A|1990 FIFA World Cup]]
|-
| 24 || July 28, 1990 || [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]] || {{fb|GDR}} || - || 1–2 || Friendly
|-
| 25 || September 15, 1990 || [[High Point, North Carolina]] || {{fb|TRI}} || - || 3–0 || Friendly
|-
| 26 || November 18, 1990 || [[Port of Spain, Trinidad]] || {{fb|TRI}} || - || 0–0 || Friendly
|-
| 27 || November 21, 1990 || [[Port of Spain, Trinidad]] || {{fb|URS}} || - || 0-0 || Friendly
|-
| 28 || December 18, 1993 || [[Palo Alto, California]] || {{fb|GER}} || - || 0–3 || Friendly
|-
| 29 || May 25, 1994 || [[Piscataway, New Jersey]] || {{fb|SAU}} || - || 0–0 || Friendly
|-
| 30 || June 11, 1995 || [[Foxborough, Massachusetts]] || {{fb|NGA}} || - || 3-2 || Friendly
|-
| 31 || June 25, 1995 || [[Piscataway, New Jersey]] || {{fb|COL}} || - || 0-0 || Friendly
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120705085702/http://ussoccerplayers.typepad.com/ussoccerplayers/bliss-brian.html Brian Bliss] at USSoccerPlayers.com 
* {{FIFA player|174408}}

{{Navboxes
|title= United States squads
|bg= #002868
|fg= white
|bordercolor= #BF0A30
|list1=
{{United States football squad 1988 Summer Olympics}}
{{United States squad 1990 FIFA World Cup}}
{{United States squad 1995 Copa América}}
}}
{{Kansas City Wizards managers}}
{{Columbus Crew managers}}
{{Chicago Fire managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bliss, Brian}}
[[Category:1965 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1990 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:1995 Copa América players]]
[[Category:2. Bundesliga players]]
[[Category:Albany Capitals players]]
[[Category:American expatriate men's soccer players]]
[[Category:American expatriate men's soccer players in Germany]]
[[Category:American Professional Soccer League players]]
[[Category:American soccer coaches]]
[[Category:American Soccer League (1988–89) players]]
[[Category:American men's soccer players]]
[[Category:Boston Bolts (1988–1990) players]]
[[Category:Chemnitzer FC players]]
[[Category:Cleveland Force (original MISL) players]]
[[Category:Columbus Crew players]]
[[Category:Columbus Crew head coaches]]
[[Category:Connecticut Wolves players]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in East Germany]]
[[Category:FC Carl Zeiss Jena players]]
[[Category:FC Energie Cottbus players]]
[[Category:Men's association football defenders]]
[[Category:Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Sporting Kansas City head coaches]]
[[Category:Sporting Kansas City players]]
[[Category:Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players]]
[[Category:Major League Soccer players]]
[[Category:New York Red Bulls players]]
[[Category:Olympic soccer players for the United States]]
[[Category:People from Webster, New York]]
[[Category:Soccer players from Monroe County, New York]]
[[Category:Southern Connecticut Owls men's soccer players]]
[[Category:United States men's international soccer players]]
[[Category:A-League (1995–2004) players]]
[[Category:Columbus Crew non-playing staff]]
[[Category:Major League Soccer head coaches]]
[[Category:Sporting Kansas City non-playing staff]]
[[Category:DDR-Oberliga players]]
[[Category:Chicago Fire FC head coaches]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]