.svg){kind=icon}
Ian Christopher Bridge... speaks English... enjoys photography... carried the British Columbia flag at the 1977 Canada Games closing ceremonies... as a footballer, took part in Read-a-Thon for Multiple Sclerosis...
honoured by the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2003... honoured by the Soccer Hall of Fame of British Columbia and the Victoria Sports Hall of Fame... part of the first Canadian team to reach the knock-out phase at the Olympic Games (Los Angeles 1984), recognised as a Canada Soccer Team of Distinction... part of the first Canadian team to play at the FIFA World Cup (Mexico 1986), recognised as a Canada Soccer Team of Distinction...
Concacaf champion (1985)... represented Canada at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games and 1986 FIFA World Cup Mexico... represented Canada in three cycles of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and one cycle of Olympic Qualifiers... represented Canada at the inaugural Concacaf Gold Cup in 1991... career 49 international appearances across 14 years from 1978 to 1991 with Canada Soccer's Men's National Team, including 35 international "A" appearances… when he left international football in 1991, he ranked tied for eighth all-time with 49 international appearances... represented Canada at one FIFA youth tournament (U-19 at Japan 1979)... was part of the first Canadian team to qualify for a FIFA youth tournament in 1978...
club career in Canada, USA, England and Switzerland... with Vancouver Whitecaps FC, an NASL playoff semifinalist in 1984... with British Columbia, a Canada Games gold medal winner in 1977...
was the first Canadian to feature both as a player and coach at multiple FIFA World Cups (centre back at the men’s 1986 FIFA World Cup and then as an assistant coach at the FIFA Women’s World Cups in 1999, 2003 and 2007)...
as noted by the Seattle Sounders in 1980, “very tall and good in the air along with being very strong”... as noted in a 1981 Canada Soccer program, "a very fine defender (and) also very dangerous moving forward into attacking positions"...
said Bridge on Soundersfc.com in 2008, at the club level, “the 1980 season with the Sounders, when we went 25-7, was probably my highlight as a season. We won practically every game that year at the Kingdome. It was a great bunch of guys to play with and with Alan Hinton as the coach. As a 20-year old player it was quite exciting because we were probably the biggest game in town at that time”...
represented Canada at the 1976 CONCACAF Youth Tournament in Puerto Rico... won a silver medal with Canada at the 1978 CONCACAF Youth Tournament in Honduras, falling 0:1 a.e.t. to Mexico in the final (Canada qualified for a FIFA tournament for the first time in Association history)... represented Canada at the FIFA U-20 World Cup Japan 1979... he was 22 years old when he made his debut for Canada at the national A level (12 October 1981)... represented Canada in 1980-81 CONCACAF / FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for Spain 1982 (helped Canada finish third in the 1981 CONCACAF Championship)... finished fifth with Canada at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Football Tournament... helped Canada win the 1985 CONCACAF Champions / FIFA World Qualifiers for Mexico 1986... represented Canada at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico (he featured in two matches)... represented Canada in 1988 CONCACAF / FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for Italy 1990... finished first with Canada at the 1990 Corona Three Nations Cup... represented Canada at the 1991 North American Nations Cup... represented Canada at the 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup...
served as a coach in Canada Soccer’s women’s national, women’s national youth and men’s national youth programs from 1997 to 2009... served on Canada’s coaching staff at the FIFA Women’s World Cup USA 1999... served on Canada’s coaching staff when the team finished second at the 2002 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup... served as Canada’s youth coach when the team finished second at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Canada 2002... served as Canada’s youth coach when the team finished second at the XIV Pan American Games Santo Domingo 2003 in women’s football (Canada lost 1:2 a.e.t. to Brasil in the final)... served on Canada’s coaching staff when the team finished fourth at the FIFA Women’s World Cup USA 2003... served on Canada’s coaching staff when the team finished third at the 2004 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament (Canada did not qualify for Athens)... served as Canada’s youth coach when the team won the 2004 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship (Canada qualified for Thailand 2004 before winning its first CONCACAF youth title)... served as Canada’s youth coach at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Thailand 2004... served as Canada’s youth coach when the team finished second at the 2006 CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship (Canada qualified for Russia 2006)... served as Canada’s youth coach at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Russia 2006... served on Canada’s coaching staff when the team finished second at the 2006 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup (Canada qualified for China 2007)... served on Canada’s coaching staff when the team won a bronze medal at the XV Pan American Games Rio 2007... served on Canada’s coaching staff at the FIFA Women’s World Cup China 2007... served on Canada’s coaching staff when the team finished second at the 2008 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualification Tournament (Canada qualified for Beijing 2008)... served on Canada’s coaching staff at the Beijing 2008 Women’s Olympic Football Tournament (Canada reached the quarter-final stage, but lost to 1:2 a.e.t. to eventual champion USA)... served as Canada’s youth coach at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Chile 2008... served on Canada’s coaching staff at the 2009 CONCACAF Men’s Under-17 Championship in Mexico...
