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Jordan Small
WashingtonSpirit.com
Leesburg, VA., (03/29/21) – The Washington Spirit are proud to announce that Paul Crichton will join the club’s technical staff as the Goalkeeper Coach, effective immediately. Crichton joins the Spirit after serving most recently as the Head Goalkeeper Coach at Miami FC of the USL.
Crichton brings 14 years of professional coaching experience and holds a UEFA ‘A’ License for both goalkeeping and outfield players. Over the years, Crichton has coached 440 English Football League games across the various levels from the Championship to the National League.
Prior to beginning his career as a coach, Crichton played 532 games as a professional. He brings experience at the highest level of English Football after playing with Norwich City in the Premier League. Crichton later moved from player to player-coach in the late 2000s.
Crichton had this to say on joining the Spirit: “When I spoke with Richie [Burke], I was so impressed with the team and club, it was an easy decision for me to make and join. I am looking forward to working with Richie and his staff.”
As a member of the Miami FC coaching staff, Crichton helped lead Miami FC to the Sunshine Conference, South Region and NPSL Championships in 2019. The squad made the leap to the USL Championship in 2020 and finished 3rd in the Eastern Conference.
Spirit Head Coach Richie Burke said this on the appointment: “I’m over the moon to finally get Paul Crichton on board in our goalkeeper coaching role. I knew it would be a massive task replacing Ian McCaldon, but getting someone of Paul’s caliber, with his extensive playing and coaching background in the professional game is massive for our club. We were very specific about the qualities we were looking for in this position, with experience working with professional ‘keepers an absolute must. With Paul, we were very lucky to be able to prise him away from Miami FC and I believe we’ve got the best of what we were looking for in this hire. Watching him work yesterday with our GK’s was an indication that we made the absolute best choice bringing Paul to the club and I believe our ‘keepers are in very good hands.”
Crichton replaces former Spirit goalkeeper coach Ian McCaldon, who left the team at the end of the 2020 season to become the goalkeeper coach at WSL team Everton.
