Rick Titus (soccer)

Rick Titus (born March 10, 1969) is a retired Trinidadian Canadian football (soccer) defender who played the majority of his career as a journeyman in North America competing in all levels of the American and Canadian soccer pyramid system.

Originally beginning in his native country in the Canadian National Soccer League, soon after to the USL A-League, and eventually reaching the highest level of soccer in North America with the Major League Soccer. After reaching the MLS, Titus would shift between various United Soccer Leagues clubs, until returning to the MLS on a loan deal and appeared in a single match at the age of 39. He would finish off his outdoor career in the Canadian Soccer League. Titus also played with various indoor clubs and played internationally with Trinidad and Tobago, and also served as a player/assistant coach for the Toronto Lynx.

Player

Professional career

After playing college soccer with the University of Toronto, Titus signed for the Toronto Italia in 1988 of the National Soccer League playing with Italia until 1995. During his time with Italia he played against the likes of Lazio, Inter Milan, A.C. Milan, Benfica, Parma, Cosenza, Palermo, and Cesena. In 1994. Titus went on trial with Aberdeen, playing exhibition games against Hearts and Celtic. Titus also went on trial with Dinamo Zagreb, but was unable to secure a work permit. Midway through the 1995 season he was traded to the Scarborough Astros, and during his tenure in Scarborough he helped the club reach the Umbro Cup finals against St. Catharines Wolves, but lost the penalty shootout by a score of 3-0.^[1]

In 1996, Titus signed with St. Catharines Wolves where he claimed the Umbro cup by finishing first in the cup standings. In the regular season the Wolves finished second in the standings allowing them to clinch a postseason berth. Titus featured in the two game finals match against his former club Toronto Italia, but where defeated by a score of 11-0 goals on aggregate.^[2]

In 1996, Titus joined the Toronto Shooting Stars of the National Professional Soccer League. The Shooting Stars sent him to the Edmonton Drillers midway through the season. In the spring of 1997 Titus signed for the newly established Toronto Lynx of the American A-League. In his two seasons with Toronto, he was the 1997 and 1998 Lynx Defensive Player of the Year. During this time, he continued to play indoor soccer during the winter. In 1997, he joined the Montreal Impact, but was again traded mid-season, this time to the Buffalo Blizzard.

In 1998, he moved to the Edmonton Drillers. He played eleven games, then left the team in December 1998 to play for Quan Li, a team managed by ex-Lynx team mate Gong Lei, in China.^[3] He lasted only a month in China before attempting to return to the Drillers. When the Drillers refused to allow him to return to the team, he signed with the Philadelphia KiXX where he finished the end of the 1998–1999 indoor season.

In 1999, Titus moved to the Hershey Wildcats for the summer A-League season, but was traded midway through the season to Staten Island Vipers for cash and a first round draft pick. During this time, Titus was part of an indoor trade as the KiXX sent him back to the Drillers in exchange for Domenic Mobilio. He played the 1999–2000 season with Edmonton and began the 2000–2001 season there. However, the team folded in November 2000 and on December 5, the Buffalo Blizzard selected Titus in the dispersal draft.^[4] The Blizzard folded at the end of the season and the Milwaukee Wave selected Titus in the August 2001 dispersal draft.^[5] He never played for the Wave.

On June 13, 2000 Titus signed for the Vancouver 86er, where he was named Vancouver's 2000 Defensive Player of the Year and Second Team All A-League.^[6] When the 2000 A-League season came to a conclusion Titus was loaned out to the Toronto Olympians of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. He made his debut for the club in the Open Canada Cup semi-final match against the Toronto Croatia, which resulted in 3-2 victory for the club in penalties.^[7] He appeared in the Open Cup tournament final against his former club St. Catharines, and won the cup in a 1-0 victory.^[8] In the postseason he scored the lone goal in the semi-final match against Glen Shields, which advanced Toronto to the finals.^[9] In the finals the Olympians where defeated by Toronto Croatia by a score of 2-1.^[10] Titus remained with the team, renamed the Whitecaps, in 2001. That season, he was the USL First Division Defender of the Year and First Team All A-League.^[11] During his two seasons with Vancouver, Titus played every minute of each game, compiling a streak of 50 consecutive games and 4,630 minutes which remain club records.

This brought Titus to the attention of Major League Soccer scouts and he signed with the Colorado Rapids as a Discovery Player for the 2002 season. He started all 25 games in which he played. At the end of the season he was awarded the ADT Defensive Player of the Year award, an award voted on by local media, and given to the player deemed to be the best defensive player during the Major League Soccer regular season. The Rapids released him in October 2002.

On March 12, 2003, Titus signed a two-year contract with the Charleston Battery of the USL First Division, helping them win the 2003 USL First Division Championship. At the end of the season, he requested a release from his contract to join the Edmonton Aviators. On April 4, 2004, the Aviators signed him to a three-year contract.^[12] He quickly clashed with team executives and other players, including numerous disagreements with team president Wylie Stafford over the direction the club was heading. The conflicts culminated with a full-out attack directed at team management, including head coach Ross Ongaro. Titus said, "This has been a Mickey Mouse organization from the beginning. I don't know if they're very serious about winning." He also criticized how the club ran press conferences saying, "A pro team can't train at O'Leary (high school) and we can't have a press conference on the lawn of O'Leary. We had guys coming from playing with Colo-Colo in Chile and we're having a press conference at a high school." After playing only six games, the team released him from his contract on June 11, 2004.

On June 19, 2004, Titus signed with the Toronto Lynx while the Aviators were eventually taken over by the league and folded at the end of the season.^[13] But after less than a week with the Lynx, he fell out with the management which led his release from his contract by mutual consent on July 7.^[14] He then rejoined the Charleston Battery where he was named captain. On April 20, 2005 Titus returned to the Lynx for a third playing stint.^[15] During the season, the Lynx finished poorly, finishing last and winning just three games. In 2006, Titus became team vice-captain, and finished runner-up to Ottawa St. Anthony Italia in the 2006 Open Canada Cup. Titus was named the 2006 Toronto Lynx Most Valuable Player,^[16] and was a four-time member of the United Soccer League's team of the week. When the 2006 season ended the Lynx organization decided for financial reasons to drop two divisions to the Premier Development League. Titus was one of few seniors players to remain with the Lynx for the 2007 season, where he was named player assistant coach for the Toronto Lynx. He helped the Lynx finish the season with a 6–6–4 record, good for fourth place in the division and only 6 points short of a playoff berth. In 2008 Titus helped the Lynx reach the playoffs for the first time since 2000, but unfortunately for the Lynx, the Cleveland Internationals scored a late winner to take the game 2–1, sending the Lynx home early.

Titus went on loan to the Toronto FC for one game against Chivas USA in Major League Soccer. This was due to Toronto missing nine first-team players due to international duty. He was signed along with Chief Scout Tim Regan. Titus was unpaid for his Toronto FC appearance to protect his amateur status.^[17]After the conclusion of the PDL season he returned to the Canadian Soccer League and signed with the York Region Shooters. During his tenure with York Region he helped clinch the International Division title in 2008, and the regular season title in 2010. He was also awarded the CSL Defender of the Year award in 2010.^[18][19]

International

He played in four Gold Cup qualifier games for the Trinidad and Tobago national team in 2002.

Coach

In 2007 was named as Assistant Coach by Toronto Lynx and became later the Head Coach of the Winstars Soccer Academy.^[20] Rick Titus was the head coach of NSSC elite academy. He is currently the Head Coach of the TFC Academy U14s.

Personal life

Though born in Canada, Titus is of Trinidadian heritage.

References

External links

• MLS: Rick Titus
• 1996–2000 NPSL stats