Randy Ragan


Randolph "Randy" Lee Ragan is a former Canadian elite professional soccer player, who was considered one of the top midfield players in Canada in the 1980s.

Professional

Ragan attended Simon Fraser University where he played on the men's soccer team. In 1980, the Toronto Blizzard of the North American Soccer League drafted Ragan. He played for the Blizzard from 1980 to 1984, including one indoor NASL season. In 1986, he played with the Blizzard during their 1986 season in the National Soccer League. In 1987, he again played for the Blizzard in the Canadian Soccer League where he was a 1987 First Team All Star. In 1991, he spent one season with the North York Rockets.

National team

In 1976, Ragan played for the Canada U-20 men's national soccer team during its unsuccessful qualification campaign for the 1977 FIFA World Youth Championship. He went on to play 40 times for the Canadian national team. His first game was a 4–0 win over New Zealand on September 15, 1980. His last was a 1–0 loss to China on August 31, 1986. His greatest achievement came when he played all three games for Canada during the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Ragan also played nine games with the Canadian Olympic team and was a member of the 1984 Olympic Canadian soccer team which went to the quarterfinals of the 1984 Olympic soccer tournament.
In April 2002, Ragan was inducted into the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame.

Coach

He is now a contracts manager in Guelph and coaches the Guelph Royals 1994 Boys A team who play in the Western Ontario Youth Soccer League. In 2007, he served as an assistant with the University of Guelph men's soccer team. On May 16, 2008, the university hired Ragan as the head coach of the Gryphons Women's team.