| Intro | English professional footballer |
| Is |
Athlete Football player Association football player |
| From | Kenya |
| Type |
Sports |
| Gender | male |
| Birth |
Nairobi |
Roger Verdi (born c. 1953) is a retired English professional footballer who spent his entire career in North America, making over 100 league appearances in the North American Soccer League.
Early life
Verdi was born as Rajinder Singh Virdee in Nairobi, Kenya, to Indian Sikh parents. He moved to England at the age of seven, and changed his name due to racism.
Career
England
Verdi played with the youth teams of both Wolverhampton Wanderers and Ipswich Town, but failing to get a professional contract with either team, moved to North America.
North America
In the United States, Verdi played in the NASL between 1972 and 1978 for the Montreal Olympique, Miami Toros, St. Louis Stars and San Jose Earthquakes., making a total of 103 league appearances.
Coaching career
After his playing career ended he moved into coaching, holding assistant coaching positions with Athlone Town FC, Stockport County, Phoenix Inferno and Cleveland Cobras. Other coaching positions include Co-director for Hubert Vogelsinger Soccer Academy in Texas, Connecticut and California and has been the Technical Director for youth clubs in Washington, New Mexico. He joined DFW Tornados as a coach in 2010.
He Is also the owner of the Roger Verdi International Soccer Academy.