Bruce Savage

{{Short description|American soccer player and coach}} {{About|the soccer player|the former U.S. Public Housing Authority Commissioner|Bruce Charles Savage|the sailor|Bruce Savage (sailor)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Use American English|date=November 2023}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Bruce Savage | fullname = William Bruce Savage | image = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|12|21}} | birth_place = [[Hollywood, Florida]], United States | height = {{height|ft=5|in=9}} | position = [[Defender (association football)|Defender]] | youthyears1 = 1978–1979 | youthclubs1 = [[Miami Dade College|Miami-Dade North Junior College]] | years1 = 1980–1981 | years2 = 1980–1981 | years3 = 1982–1983 | years4 = 1983 | years5 = 1983–1984 | years6 = 1984–1992 | clubs1 = [[Atlanta Chiefs]] | clubs2 = [[Atlanta Chiefs]] ''(indoor)'' | clubs3 = [[Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–83)|Fort Lauderdale Strikers]] | clubs4 = → [[Team America (soccer)|Team America]] ''(loan)'' | clubs5 = [[Phoenix Pride]] ''(indoor)'' | clubs6 = [[Baltimore Blast (1980-92)|Baltimore Blast]] ''(indoor)'' | caps1 = 64 | caps2 = 18 | caps3 = 29 | caps4 = 30 | caps5 = 35 | caps6 = 347 | goals1 = 0 | goals2 = 3 | goals3 = 0 | goals4 = 1 | goals5 = 5 | goals6 = 38 | totalcaps = 524 | totalgoals = 47 | nationalyears1 = 1983–1992 | nationalteam1 = [[United States men's national soccer team|United States]] | nationalcaps1 = 16 | nationalgoals1 = 0 | manageryears1 = | managerclubs1 = [[Gulf Breeze High School]] | medaltemplates = {{Medal|Country|{{USA}}}} {{Medal|W|[[CONCACAF Gold Cup]]|[[1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup|1991]]}} {{MedalSport|Men's [[Association football|Soccer]]}} }} '''William Bruce Savage''' is an American former [[Association football|soccer]] player who played as a [[defender (football)|defender]]. He played four seasons in the [[North American Soccer League (1968–1984)|North American Soccer League]], nine in [[Major Soccer League|Major Indoor Soccer League]] and earned sixteen [[cap (sports)|caps]] with the [[United States men's national soccer team|U.S. national team]] between 1983 and 1992. On March 12, 2014, it was announced that he would be a 2014 inductee into the Indoor Soccer Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indoorsoccerhall.com/ |title=Home |website=indoorsoccerhall.com}}</ref> He currently coaches youth soccer in Florida.

==Player== ===Youth=== Savage grew up in Florida and graduated from [[Miami Norland High School]] in 1978. He attended [[Miami Dade College|Miami-Dade North Junior College]] where he played soccer in 1978 and 1979.

===Professional=== He joined the [[Atlanta Chiefs]] of the [[North American Soccer League (1968–1984)|North American Soccer League]] in 1980 and played two seasons with the team. The Chiefs folded at the end of the 1981 season and the [[Portland Timbers (NASL)|Portland Timbers]] purchased Savage's contract from the Chiefs.<ref>{{cite web |title=TRANSACTIONS; BASKETBALL (Published 1981) |website=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 22, 1981 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812234858/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/22/sports/transactions-basketball.html |archive-date=2021-08-12 |url-status=live |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/22/sports/transactions-basketball.html}}</ref> However, the Timbers traded Savage to the [[Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–83)|Fort Lauderdale Strikers]] where he played the 1982 season. In 1983, the [[United States Soccer Federation|U.S. Soccer Federation]] attempted to create a more successful [[United States men's national soccer team|U.S. national team]] by entering the team into the NASL as a franchise. As a result, the Strikers loaned Savage to [[Team America (soccer)|Team America]] for the 1983 season. However, the team stumbled to a 10–20 record and the bottom of the league standings in 1983 and USSF pulled it from the NASL at the end of the year. Savage returned to the Strikers who sold his contract to the [[Phoenix Pride]] of the [[MISL I|Major Indoor Soccer League]].<ref>''PATIENT SAVAGE HAS A FEW KICKS COMING'' Miami Herald, The (FL) - Sunday, July 22, 1984</ref> In July 1984, the Pride sold Savage's contract to the [[Baltimore Blast (1980-92)|Baltimore Blast]] of [[Major Soccer League|Major Indoor Soccer League]] (MISL). Savage remained with the team through the 1991–1992 season when the MISL folded and the Blast moved to the [[National Professional Soccer League II|National Professional Soccer League]]. Since Savage joined the Blast in 1981, he bounced between the outdoor NASL and indoor MISL until the end of the 1983 season when he devoted himself to the indoor game. Savage became a regular in the All Star games, being named the 1986-1987 MISL Defender of the Year and was a first team MISL All Star in 1986-1987 and 1988–1989. In February 2005, the Baltimore Blast inducted Savage into the team's Hall of Fame.<ref>[http://www.misl.net/news/?cat=1&id=3817 Baltimore will induct Wittman, Savage and Foreman into Hall] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204100128/http://www.misl.net/news/?cat=1&id=3817 |date=2005-02-04 }}</ref>

===National team=== In 1983, Savage earned his first [[cap (sports)|cap]] with the [[United States men's national soccer team|national team]] in the team's only game that year, a 2–0 victory over Haiti. In 1984, Savage was an integral part of the [[United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics|U.S. Olympic team]] which competed at the [[1984 Summer Olympics]] in Los Angeles. He played all three games as the team ran to a 1-1-1 record and failed to qualify for the second round. In 1991, [[Bora Milutinović]], recently hired as the national team coach, called Savage back into the team for the first time since 1984. Savage then played most of the national team games through the end of 1992. He earned a total of 16 caps.

==Coach== He coaches the [[Gulf Breeze High School]] boys team. In February 2008, Savage led Gulf Breeze to the FHSAA State Final Four for the fifth time in the school's history. In the semi-finals the Dolphins defeated top-ranked Meritt Island 1–0 in overtime from a goal by Brad Parrish, marking the first time GBHS has ever played in a state championship game. In the finals, they lost to Nease (Ponte Vedra Beach) 2–1. This 4A state runner-up team produced three all-state players from the Class of 2008. He is also a coach at Bayside Soccer Club.

His son, [[Keith Savage]], was drafted by Chivas USA in 2008.<ref>[https://archive.today/20130125110443/http://www.gulfbreezenews.com/news/2008/0703/sports/037.html Five questions with boys soccer coach Bruce Savage]</ref> Keith played for the [[Tampa Bay Rowdies]].

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [http://nasljerseys.com/Players/S/Savage.Bruce.htm NASL stats]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savage, Bruce}} [[Category:1960 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American soccer coaches]] [[Category:American men's soccer players]] [[Category:Soccer players from Broward County, Florida]] [[Category:Atlanta Chiefs players]] [[Category:Baltimore Blast (1980–1992) players]] [[Category:Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics]] [[Category:Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983) players]] [[Category:Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players]] [[Category:Miami Dade College alumni]] [[Category:North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players]] [[Category:North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players]] [[Category:Olympic soccer players for the United States]] [[Category:Team America (NASL) players]] [[Category:United States men's international soccer players]] [[Category:1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup players]] [[Category:CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players]] [[Category:Men's association football defenders]] [[Category:Miami Norland Senior High School alumni]] [[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Hollywood, Florida]]