Len Oliver

Coming from Scottish immigrants, Oliver had early successes in winning National Junior Titles with Lighthouse Boys Club (1947-48), Philadelphia Amateur League titles with Kensington Blue Bells, citywide high school titles with Northeast High School, NCAA titles (1951, 1953) with Temple University, and American Soccer League titles with the Philadelphia Uhriks (1955-56).

Oliver, an artful midfielder known for his dribbling and high work rate, won honors at every level, including three-time Collegiate All-American (1951,1953, 1954), captaining Temple in its 1952 Soccer Bowl victory over USF, captaining the Philadelphia Uhriks, and making the ASL All-Stars (1960). A "soccer ambassador," Oliver used his military career and travels to make All-Star teams in San Francisco and Southern Germany, and played with CISM in Portugal, Belgium, Germany (1958-59). He also played with Ludlow Luisitano and the Baltimore Pompeii (ASL) and in Washington, DC. He has faced national teams from Bermuda and Turkey and club teams Nuremberg, Augsberg, Karlsruhe, and Glascow Celtic. Oliver’s story is one of perseverance. At 17, he was the youngest player ever in the Olympic tryouts (1952), broke his leg in an ASL pro game and missed the 1956 games, caught Mononucleosis before the 1959 Pan American Games, but finally made the 1963 U.S. Pan American Team to Brazil and the 1964 U.S. Olympic Team to Mexico. Returning to soccer through coaching in the 1980s, Oliver attained his USSF’A’ Coaching License and USSF Referee Certification, became Director of Coaching and Board Member for DC Stoddert Soccer with 5,000 players, and serves on the Virginia Youth Soccer Association’s State Coaching Staff. He had trained 4,000 coaches from 72 countries by 2008. Oliver’s long commitment to soccer has been recognized with his induction into the Temple University Athletic Hall of Fame (1981), the USSF National Soccer Hall of Fame (1996), the Philadelphia Old Timers Soccer Hall of Fame (1998), and the Virginia-DC Soccer Hall of Fame (2001) whose selection committee he now Chairs. He also received VYSA’s "Exemplary Service Award" (1997) and the NSCAA’s "Youth Long-Term Achievement Award" (2000) whose selection committee he also now chairs. He continues to coach, train coaches, write, and lecture about the game. Oliver, a former six-year member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame Board, also serves on the NSCAA Editorial Board and the DC SCORES Board.
Updated: 12/07/07

Where Are They Now: Len found success early as a soccer player. He won National Junior Titles with the Lighthouse Boys Club (1947-48) and a Philadelphia Amateur League title with the Kensington Blue Bells, and citywide high school titles with Northeast High School. more>