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Coach's Corner
Meet the Coach: Tom Liner
 Head Coach Tom Liner grew up in San Carlos, CA and attended Sequoia High School where he is now in the school's Hall of Fame. He was a two- sport athlete at Sequoia (tennis and soccer). In his senior season he played for the California State Team (under 17) and was recruited by several different colleges, Foothill being one of them. Tom went to California State University, Chico where he started in goal for the Wildcats all of his four seasons. In his sophomore season he earned Regional All- America honors. He still holds a few records at Chico. He is the youngest starting goalkeeper in the programs history at 17 years old, has the most single season shutouts (13) and most career shutouts (32). After his senior season he signed his first professional contract in Salzburg, Austria. In 1992 Tom returned to Chico State where he was an assistant coach on the Men’s Soccer Team for two seasons. In 1994 phone call from a former Austrian teammate changed his professional career forever. He had been asked to come back to Austria and play for P.S.V. Swartz Weiss in the 2nd division. He spent years playing in the snow and rain before returning back to California. In 1996, Tom signed with Major League Soccer’s San Jose Clash (Earthquakes/ Houston Dynamo). He recorded the first shutout in league history April 6, 1996 against D.C. United. At that time, 36,000 fans was the largest crowd for a sporting event in San Jose, CA. He started 20 games in 1996 and had a G.A.A. of 1.73, sixth among all M.L.S. goalkeepers. At the end of 1996 he was a member of the M.L.S. All-Star Team that spent three weeks playing in China. This was the first American soccer team to play in China. In 1997, he spent one month training with Manchester United of the English Premier League. He trained with such players as David Beckham, Peter Schmeichel, Roy Keane, and Eric Cantona. In 1997, the second season of M.L.S. he played against Chivas Atlas, and Pumas of the Mexican First Division. He also played arguably one of his best games (1-1) against Aston Villa of the English Premier League. A series of injuries forced Tom to retire from playing in 1997.
Only several days after his last game Tom accepted the job as Women’s Soccer Coach at Foothill College. In 2000, he was hired full-time. In the past 10 seasons at Foothill he has a record of 96- 68-39 and has been named “Coach of the Year” twice (2001,2006). Two of his teams won the “Scholastic Award” which is an award given to the team with the highest combined G.P.A. in California. In 2006 his team was 14-4-2 but lost 2-0 in the Northern California Playoffs. Vanessa Krause was voted “Player of the Year” and Judy Ocampo was voted “Goalkeeper of the Year”. He made the decision at the end of his tenth season coaching the Women’s Soccer Team, to coach the Men’s Soccer Team. He looks forward to this opportunity and continuing the great tradition of Foothill Soccer.
Tom also teaches tennis, badminton, golf, mountain biking, and weight training at Foothill College. Hi is married to his wife, Allison and they have two boys, Jack (5) and Luke (3).
“My goal as the Head Coach of the Men’s Soccer Program is to provide rich environment where our young men grow as students, athletes and people. I love coaching and know our players will love playing”. Coach Tom Liner
Coach Tom Liner
c/o Athletic Department
Foothill College
12345 El Monte Rd.
Los Altos Hills, CA. 94022-4599
Phone: (650) 949-7464
LinerThomas@foothill.edu
How to join the Foothill College Soccer Team, go to recruiting page.
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