Members of the Chicago Fire Soccer Club were saddened to learn Tuesday (April 4) of the passing of Illinois Soccer Hall of Famer and Chicago soccer legend Tony Dallas.
Dallas was a fixture for many years at the Odeum Sports Center in Villa Park and the USA Amateur Coach of the Year in 1998-99. He was inducted into the Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame in a ceremony at Toyota Park on November 18, 2012.
After beginning his professional soccer career at the age of 15 in his home country of Greece, Dallas first arrived in Chicago when he was 16 and continued a lengthy playing career. In the 1980’s, Tony turned his focus to coaching and went on to enjoy a wealth of success as the coach of numerous club teams. At the time of his Hall of Fame induction, Tony’s club teams had claimed a remarkable 23 Indoor and 31 Outdoor championships under his stewardship.
Tony’s legacy and contributions to soccer and Chicago can best be understood with the help of this fitting tribute, authored by Lisa Molloy and published by the Chicago Tribune following his Hall of Fame induction, and by a small sampling of the Facebook messages shared in his honor since his passing (below).
The Chicago Fire Soccer Club will observe a moment of silence in Tony’s memory prior to Saturday’s home match against Columbus Crew SC.
