Chicago Storm Head Coach Frank Klopas Nominated for National Soccer Hall of Fame

Published on January 28, 2005 under Major Indoor Soccer League 2 (MISL 2)
Chicago Storm News Release


Chicago, IL (Friday, January 28, 2005) – The National Soccer Hall of Fame announced today the 2005 Ballot for election to the Hall of Fame includes Chicago Storm Head Coach and General Manager Frank Klopas. A total of 53 former players have been nominated and Klopas appears on the ballot for the second consecutive year. The announcement was made live on national television as Hall of Famer Eric Wynalda, Class of 2004, presented and discussed this list on ESPNEWS' "The Hot List."

The 38-year-old Klopas established himself as one of Chicago's most successful homegrown talents during a professional career that spanned 16 years. Born Fotios Klopas on September 1, 1966, Frank immigrated to America with his family from Athens, Greece as a child and would hone his playing skills in Chicago, where he starred for Mather High School on the city's Northwest side. Klopas helped lead the Rangers to its first Chicago Public League championship in 1983.

Nicknamed "The Kid," Klopas began his professional career at the age of 17 after signing on with the hometown Chicago Sting of the North American Soccer League upon his graduation from Mather High School. A broken leg kept him from playing with the Sting during its final season as an outdoor club, but Klopas stayed with the club upon its move to the Major Indoor Soccer League and scored an impressive 110 points (62 goals, 48 assists) during his four seasons with the squad, which included an appearance in the MISL All-Star Game during the 1986-87 season.

Klopas would move back to Greece to continue his professional career in 1988, when he joined famed Greek First Division powerhouse AEK Athens. Klopas scored six goals in 49 career matches with AEK Athens and would help the side to two appearances in the European Cup and a pair of berths in the UEFA Cup in 1989 and 1991 during his four seasons of play. Klopas then signed with Major League Soccer to play in America's new top-flight league.

Klopas spent his first two seasons in MLS with the Kansas City Wizards, where he scored 25 points (7g, 11a) in 49 games during the 1996 and 1997 seasons. After the expansion Chicago Fire was born in 1998, Klopas was signed by the club and given a chance to end his professional career in where it began -- his hometown. "Kid" Klopas would play 40 games and score 17 points on six goals and five assists for the "Men in Red" during the 1998 and '99 seasons. Klopas ended the Fire's inaugural season in dramatic fashion with what still ranks as one of the club's most memorable moments on October 30, 1998, as his "golden goal" in overtime gave Chicago a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Crew in front of a rabid hometown crowd at Soldier Field. The victory gave the Fire its first of three Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Championships in addition to capping off a historic "double" for the squad in its first campaign.

Klopas also enjoyed success at the international level for the U.S. National Team, with whom he made 40 career appearances from 1987-1998. Klopas scored 12 career goals for the "Stars-and-Stripes," which ranks him in 10th place on the U.S.A.'s all-time scoring chart. Klopas would register one of the most productive years in U.S. MNT history when he scored 10 goals in 13 matches in 1994 and was named to the U.S. World Cup squad, which qualified for the Round of 16 at USA ‘94.

Klopas spurred the U.S. Senior side to a surprising run to the semifinals of the 1995 Copa America tournament in Uruguay by notching the game-winning goal in a 3-0 victory over Argentina - in what was then considered one of the biggest wins in team history – and followed up that performance by tallying the game-winning penalty kick for the Americans over Mexico after a 0-0 draw. Klopas was also a member of the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team, which competed at the Seoul Games in Korea.

On June 5, 2004, Klopas was formally inducted into the Chicago Fire's annual tribute, "Ring of Fire," which was created in 2003, honoring members of the Fire, who have made the club a successful organization while displaying the qualities of leadership, dedication and integrity.

Other players on the ballot with Chicago ties are Zak Ibsen (Chicago Storm), Pato Margetic (Chicago Sting, Power), Peter Nowak (Chicago Fire), Francis Okaroh (Chicago Fire), Mark Simpson (Chicago Power), Mike Sorber (Chicago Fire) and David Vaudreuil (Chicago Fire).

Election Policy:

The election policies of the Hall of Fame state that two (2) players will be elected to the Hall of Fame from this ballot as long as each receives a minimum of 50% of the vote. A third player may be elected if that individual receives a minimum of 80% of the vote.

Voters:

The following individuals are eligible to vote in the process:

1) Media selected by the National Soccer Hall of Fame in conjunction with U.S. Soccer, Major League Soccer, and the Women's United Soccer Association

2) All current and past U.S. National Team Coaches

3) MLS coaches with at least 4 years tenure as a head coach in the League

4) Hall of Famers

5) The Secretary General of U.S. Soccer and the Commissioner of MLS.

Eligibility Criteria:

In order to be eligible for election, a player must meet No. 1 and either No. 2 or No. 3 of the following three criteria.

No. 1. He or she must have been retired as a player for at least three years, but for no more than 10 years (for the 2005 election, this means that he or she must have retired no later than 2002 and no earlier than 1995).

No. 2. He or she must have played at least 20 full international games for the United States. This 20-game requirement is reduced to 10 games if the games were prior to 1990.

No. 3. He or she must have played at least five seasons in an American first-division professional league, and won the league championship, or won the U.S. Open Cup, or been a league all-star at least once.

Players who have met either No. 2 or No. 3 but who retired more than 10 years ago are eligible for election to the Hall of Fame through the Veterans Committee election process.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL SOCCER HALL OF FAME

Soccer in America entered a new era with the enshrinement of FIFA Women's Player of the Century Michelle Akers, U.S. and LA Galaxy Star Paul Caligiuri, 1990 U.S. National Team Captain Michael Windischmann, and All Time U.S. Goal Scorer and MLS Star Eric Wynalda on October 11, 2004. "The induction opens the Hall of Fame door to the stars of MLS and to a new generation of players whose playing careers soccer fans have been able to follow on national television," Will Lunn, President/CEO of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, stated.

Located in Oneonta, NY, the National Soccer Hall of Fame opened a 30,000 square foot, state-of-the-art museum in 1999. The Hall of Fame tells the story of soccer in America through artifacts, photographs, and video clips. The new Hall features an extensive interactive, youth oriented Kicks Zone where visitors have fun kicking, heading and playing computer trivia stations and video soccer games. The VideoWall portrays some of the greatest moments and the greatest goals in history as well as live soccer action with World Cup, MLS, and U.S. Soccer matches. Unique and rare artifacts on exhibit range from the world's oldest soccer ball to the FIFA Women's World Cup trophy won by the USA in 1999, Pele's and Mia Hamm's uniforms, Kristine Lilly's golden shoes, NASL championship rings, the original MLS championship trophy, MLS gallery – it's all at the National Soccer Hall of Fame. In addition to the interactive Museum, the National Soccer Hall of Fame complex boasts the Kicks Hall of Fame Museum Shop, a research library, four world-class soccer fields and office/meeting facilities. The Hall plans to add a stadium, an indoor soccer arena and housing facilities in the future.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Major Indoor Soccer League 2 Stories from January 28, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central