Al Albert (soccer coach)
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| Sport(s) | Men's Soccer |
|---|---|
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
February 24, 1949 Baltimore, Maryland |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1971–2003 | William & Mary |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 401–187–64 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 29 Consecutive Winning Seasons (1976–2004), CAA Tournament Titles (1987, 1995, 1996, 1999 and 2000), CAA Regular Season Titles (1987, 1992, 1995, 1996 and 2002), NCAA Elite-8 Appearances (1980, 1996), NCAA Tournament Appearances (1983, 1987, 1992–93, 1995–2000, and 2002), ECAC-South Title (1983) | |
| Awards | |
| CAA Coach of the Year (1987, 1992, 1994 and 1996), South Atlantic Region Coach of the Year (1992, 1998 and 2002), DC-VA Soccer Hall of Fame 2005, NSCAA Honor Award 2012, Hampton Roads Sports Hall of Fame 2014 | |
Al Albert is an American college soccer coach. Albert is best known for his longstanding tenure as the head coach of the William & Mary Tribe men's soccer program in Williamsburg, Virginia.
As a young man, Albert attended Baltimore City College High School ('65). In those years, Albert was an avid sports fan passionately supporting Baltimore professional sports teams and playing neighborhood lacrosse. Albert left Baltimore to study at The College of William & Mary ('69) where he played lacrosse and soccer and majored in sociology.
In 1971 at the age of 21, Albert accepted an offer to be the full-time coach of the men's lacrosse and soccer programs at The College of William and Mary. Over time his love for lacrosse gave way to the world's game – soccer became increasing popular both on campus and across the country – by 1977 he was focusing exclusively on soccer at W&M.
Albert led the William and Mary "Tribe" men’s soccer team as head coach for 33 seasons before retiring from coaching in January 2004. He amassed a record of 401–187–64 (.664) during his tenure and became just the eighth coach in NCAA Division I history to reach 400 wins, and just the third to have earned all those wins at one school. Throughout the 1990s, the Tribe ranked as one of the top programs in the nation, placing eighth in wins (149) and 13th in winning percentage (.708).
Under his supervision, the Tribe strung together 29 consecutive winning seasons and 26 straight campaigns of 10 wins or more. This level of winning consistency has only been matched by a handful of elite soccer programs across the country: UCLA, Clemson, St. Louis, Indiana, SMU, and UVA.
Many of Albert's former players at William and Mary went on to have successful professional soccer careers; while many distinguished themselves in other ways outside the game. A great communicator, one of Al's trademarks at W&M was the way he connected personally with his players on and off the field – even after graduation.
In tribute to Albert's lasting impact on the landscape of sport at William and Mary, the university hosts all of its home soccer and lacrosse games at Albert-Daly Field, named after Albert and long-time women's soccer head coach John Daly.
In 2010 Al Albert authored the historical record William and Mary Men's Soccer (Images of Sports), published by Arcadia Publishing as part of their Images of Sports series. The book is a 45-year retrospective of the program, and contains a foreword written by Tribe soccer's most famous alumnus, Jon Stewart of the Daily Show.
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