Bold FC signs Thompson to play goalkeeper and coach the position
Austin kills two birds with one signing, adding Ryan Thompson as GK and GK coach
On Monday morning, Austin Bold FC announced its decision to appoint seasoned goalkeeper Ryan Thompson as the club’s inaugural goalkeeping coach as well as signing him to play in goal.
Over the years, Thompson has made appearances playing in the USL for Saint Louis FC and the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, as well as the Tampa Bay Rowdies when they were in the NASL and seven other teams in the United States, Central America, and Europe. His first major signing was at the end of 2010 when he joined the Shamrock Rovers in the League of Ireland Premier Division. In 2011, he played in the UEFA Champions League’s third qualifying round, becoming the first Jamaican to play in the Champions League, and later helped the Rovers advance into the group stages of the 2011-12 Europa League.
He has been called up to play for the Jamaican senior national team a total of 12 times, including playing in the 2005 and 2014 Caribbean Cups, 2015 Copa América and 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and appeared on the Jamaican U-20 and U-23 teams more than 20 times.
Thompson is a USSF licensed coach, currently holding a Class B coaching license. Before accepting this position with Bold FC, he had served as the goalkeeping coach for the University of South Florida and the University of Tampa as well as the director of goalkeeping for the West Florida Flames Development Academy. Head coach Marcelo Serrano was quoted in the club’s press release saying, “Over the past year [Thompson] has been transitioning from player to coach and we are able to provide him with the unique opportunity in which he can still play but also prepare for his coaching career.”
Before playing professionally, Thompson played both collegiately for the University of Tampa Spartans as well as in the USL League Two, formally the Premier Development League, for IMG Academy Bradenton in Florida and GPS Portland Phoenix in Maine.
So far, ABFC has announced a total of 11 other players, including Faris Abdi from FC Lausanne-Sport in the Swiss Challenge League, Xavier Báez from Club Necaxa in Liga MX, Edson Braafheid from FC Utrecht in the Eredivisie, Darío Conca from Shanghai SIPG F.C. in the Chinese Super League, Kléber Gladiator from Coritiba in the Brasileirão Série B, Sonny Guadarrama from San Antonio FC in the USL Championship, Promise Isaac from Georgia Revolution FC in the NPSL, Sean McFarlane from Miami FC in the NASL, Marcelo Saragosa from Tampa Bay Rowdies in the NASL, Valeri Saramutin from FC Veles Moscow in the Russian PFL, and Kris Tyrpak from Nashville SC in the USL Championship.
This gives the team three forwards, six midfielders, two defenders, and now with Thompson, one goalkeeper. The club already boasts an array of players from around the world, including two Austin natives in Guadarrama and Tyrpak and they plan to be announcing more signings in the coming weeks.
When the club announced the signings of Guadarrama and Tyrpak in their respective press releases, Serrano was quoted saying, “We are thrilled to have Kris return home – he’ll bring a lot of excitement to both the pitch and the community” and “[Guadarrama] is respected in the Central Texas soccer community and I know that he will help us win games.” Both players also expressed excitement at the idea representing their hometown.
ABFC has held one open tryout earlier this month at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin and a second open tryout is scheduled for Dec. 15 and 16 at the TBK Bank Sports Complex in Bettendorf, Iowa.
