Bob Rigby
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Rigby | ||
| Date of birth | July 3, 1951 | ||
| Place of birth | Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, United States | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1972 | East Stroudsburg University | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1973–1975 | Philadelphia Atoms | 54 | (0) |
| 1976 | New York Cosmos | 13 | (0) |
| 1977–1979 | Los Angeles Aztecs | 62 | (0) |
| 1979–1980 | Philadelphia Fury | 37 | (0) |
| 1979–1980 | → Philadelphia Fever(loan) | 12 | (0) |
| 1981–1982 | Montreal Manic | 47 | (0) |
| 1981–1982 | Montreal Manic (indoor) | 9 | (0) |
| 1982–1983 | Golden Bay Earthquakes (indoor) | 9 | (0) |
| 1983–1984 | Golden Bay Earthquakes | 4 | (0) |
| 1985 | Tacoma Stars (indoor) | 5 | (0) |
| 1985 | San Jose Earthquakes | ||
| National team | |||
| 1973–1975 | United States | 6 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Bob Rigby (born July 3, 1951 in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania) is a retired U.S. soccer goalkeeper. Rigby played twelve seasons in the North American Soccer League, three in the Major Indoor Soccer League, one in the Western Soccer Alliance and earned six caps with the United States men's national soccer team. Rigby was the color commentator with the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer.
Rigby, the son of school teachers, was born in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. He played soccer while a student at Ridley High School in Folsom, Pennsylvania and continued on the collegiate level at East Stroudsburg (PA) State University and was named a first team All-American in 1972.
In 1973, Philadelphia Atoms coach Al Miller, an alumnus of East Stroudsburg University, took Rigby as the first pick in the 1973 NASL college draft. Miller was building his team for the Atoms, which were an expansion franchise that year. Miller had watched Rigby play and was familiar with his excellent athleticism and technical ability. Rigby did not disappoint Miller. He set a league record of 0.62 goals allowed as a rookie that stood until the end of the league. That year, Philadelphia became the first U.S. professional team in any sport to win a championship their first year in existence. Rigby became a local and league hero and found himself on the cover of the September 3, 1973 Sports Illustrated. Rigby continued to provide positive exposure to the young NASL when he took fourth place in ABC's 1976 Superstars, a televised athletic competition pitting athletes from various sports. February 1974 saw Rigby involved in another significant first. The NASL was toying with the idea of indoor soccer and the Atoms hosted the Red Army of Moscow team in Philadelphia's Spectrum. This was one of the first indoor games to use the configuration familiar to future indoor leagues, an astroturf covered ice rink with small goals set into the far walls. While the Red Army team won, 6-3, its coach had high praise for Rigby who had stopped 33 of the Soviets' 39 shots.
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