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MLS New England Revolution

Revs Extend Steve Nicol's Contract; Re-Sign Jay Heaps and Chris Brown

January 14, 2004 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


Foxborough, MA - The New England Revolution announced today that the contract of Head Coach Steve Nicol has been extended through the 2005 season. The team also announced that both defender Jay Heaps and forward/midfielder Chris Brown have re-signed with Major League Soccer to continue playing with the Revolution through 2004 and beyond. Per MLS policy, the terms of the contracts were not released.

Nicol, 42, has a 23-18-10 career regular season record at the helm of the Revolution and is 4-3-3 in the playoffs. A star player for Liverpool FC in England for 13 seasons, Nicol moved to the United States with his family to pursue his coaching career. He took over as interim head coach of the Revolution on May 23, 2002 and led the Revs to within an overtime goal of the MLS title in 2002 and won the 2002 MLS Coach of the Year Award. As head coach in 2003, he took the Revs within an overtime goal of a repeat trip to the MLS Cup final. In addition to a successful two-year stint at the helm of the Boston Bulldogs of the United Soccer Leagues, Nicol also was interim head coach of the Revolution for two games at the end of the 1999 season.

"Kraft Soccer is very happy to be able to reward Steve for the job he has done coaching the Revolution," said Sunil Gulati, Managing Director of Kraft Soccer. "He has the team pointed in the right direction and this contract extension is a reflection of that."

Heaps is heading into his fourth season with the Revolution. In 2003, he cemented his claim to the right fullback position in Nicol's flat back four defensive system, logging a team-leading 2579 minutes. A native New Englander, Heaps was born in Nashua, NH and raised in Longmeadow, MA. He was a two-time All-America in soccer at Duke University, and also played varsity basketball for the Blue Devils. Heaps won MLS' Rookie of the Year honors in 1999 with the Miami Fusion. He came to the Revs from Miami on June 20, 2001 in the trade that sent defender Brian Dunseth to the Fusion.

Chris Brown had one of the most remarkable games in Revolution history on August 30, 2003 at Gillette Stadium in New England's 5-1 win over the Chicago Fire - posting a hat-trick in his first start in a Revs uniform. The Revs acquired Brown from the Kansas City Wizards on August 20, 2003 in a trade deadline deal that sent Wolde Harris and Jorge Vázquez to the Wizards in exchange for Brown and Dario Fabbro and a conditional SuperDraft pick. Brown sustained a stress fracture in his left foot in the September 28, 2003 game against the Columbus Crew, causing him to miss the remainder of the 2003 season. He starred collegiately at the University of Portland, and is entering his fifth season in MLS.

Nicol and the rest of the Revolution technical staff heads to Charlotte, NC tomorrow for Friday's 2004 MLS SuperDraft. The Revolution holds the 8th overall pick (first round) as well as the 18th pick (second round) in the SuperDraft. The Revolution also has two options resulting from the terms of the deal that was to bring Peter Nowak to the Revolution from the Fire in 2003, before Nowak decided to retire from playing due to personal reasons.

The Revolution may either: A. Claim the Fire's natural second round pick (19), and in doing so would thereby have the 8th, 18th and 19th picks in the draft. Since Chicago's natural second round pick falls in the bottom half of the round, as part of the terms of the Nowak deal, New England may, B. Deny the Chicago's second round pick and trade the Revolution's natural second round pick (18) for the Fire's natural first round pick (9). This would result in the Revolution having the 8th and 9th picks. The Revolution also begins the SuperDraft holding the 23rd, 56th , and 58th picks. The draft will air live on Fox Sports World at 10 a.m. ET on Friday, January 16.

Revolution season tickets are now available for purchase. Call 1-877-GET-REVS to buy Center Circle season ticket memberships today.

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