Jean Willrich
Jean Wilhelm Willrich is a German-American soccer player who played as a forward. He played in his native Germany, then two seasons in the Netherlands, eight in the North [American Soccer League |North American Soccer League] and twelve in the Major Indoor Soccer League.
Playing career
Europe
Willrich, born in Koblenz, Germany, to a German mother and a French father, began playing club soccer at TuS Neuendorf and later joined Andernach before heading to Sportfreunde Eisbachtal. In 1976, he was signed by Dutch First Division club PSV Eindhoven. During the 1976–77 season, he saw action in only four games and was loaned to MVV Maastricht for the 1977–1978 season.San Diego Sockers
In 1978, Willrich moved to the United States and signed with the San Diego Sockers of the North American Soccer League. The Sockers had played the 1977 NASL season as the Las Vegas Quicksilvers before moving to San Diego and changing its name to the Sockers. In September 1978, he was loaned by German 2. Bundesliga side Holstein Kiel. In 1979 and 1980, the Sockers negotiated a deal with the Mexican Primera Division club UNAM Pumas to exchange players during the offseason. The Mexican league played in the fall, winter and early spring while the NASL played in the spring and summer. As part of this exchange, Willrich spent time with UNAM in 1979 and 1980.During its years playing outdoor soccer in the NASL, the Sockers were a decent, but not dominant team. The NASL introduced an indoor soccer season in 1979–80, however, San Diego did not participate. The following indoor season 1980–81, was the Sockers' first. That year they failed to qualify for the playoffs but the next year where it again won the Major Indoor Soccer League season|1982–83 MISL] championship. The next year, the NASL ran its last indoor season and the Sockers took that title as well. Willrich was named MVP of the 1984 Indoor Championship Series having scored 7 goals in the three-game sweep of New York. At the end of the 1984 outdoor season, the NASL collapsed and the Sockers moved permanently to MISL.
Willrich remained with the Sockers through all this, growing into a powerful and reliable forward. In his first season with the team, he scored nine goals in thirty games. While that was a decent number, he blossomed when playing indoors. During the Sockers run to the 1980–1981 NASL indoor title, Willrich was second in team scoring with sixteen goals. He continued to enjoy a scoring touch as he helped the Sockers to 6 consecutive indoor titles through the 1987–88 season. The San Diego Sockers inducted Willrich into their Hall of Fame.