Bill Lean

Bill was born in Sedgefield, Durham England and began his soccer career playing as an elementary and junior high school first team player, and had his first professional tryout with Middlesborough F.C. of the English 2nd Division in 1968. In 1969, Bill signed with two top amateur soccer clubs. In the 1971 – 1973 time period, Bill was playing on the Middlesborough Police Team in a National Police league.

Bill moved to B.C. in 1974 and lived in Delta for 26 years. Having started working for Scotland Yard in England, he worked in Canada with the Vancouver Police Department where the last 14 years were involved with major crimes. He played for 1st and 2nd divisions Lobbans, St. Andrews, Richmond Labatts, W.I.S.E. and others. In 1976 he joined the Vancouver Police Team and was part of the 5 time North American Championships between 1976 – 1986. He retired in 1987 after two serious injuries.

Bill’s greatest contribution to soccer has been his coaching and influence on developing players. This coaching career began in 1976 and continued for 28 years, ending in 2004! Over this period of time, Bill has coached 22 different teams! These include both boys and girls teams.

Some of the levels that were fortunate to have Bill as their coach reached a high level of success. He has coached Delta Cup Champions, Provincial Cup finalists, Conference Cup Finalists, District Champions, Provincial Most-Sportsmanlike Team, Provincial Coastal Champions, Western Cup Nike Champions, B.C. Summer Games Teams, and Provincial “A” cup Champions.

During his coaching years, Bill had continuously upgraded his coaching credentials and completed his Level 3 Theory and Technical and became a fully certified “C” licensed coach. He also was an Administrator on the North Delta Youth Soccer Club Board from 1988 – 2001, serving as President for two terms, Divisional Coordinator, Assistant Head Referee and Statistician.

As Head Coach of North Delta Youth Soccer Club, Bill introduced six programs in 3 years including:
The Summer Soccer School
The Mentors Program
The Coaching Videos
The Coaches Introductory Course
The Goalkeeping Clinic
Tracking coaching levels within the club

Today, he is retired and working for Cruise Ship Centers on Scott Road. His hobbies are, naturally, cruising and English Soccer. The people of Delta congratulate you on being selected to the Delta Sports Hall of Fame and thank you for your many years of dedication to the youth of our community.