USL founder and president Francisco Marcos was awarded the U.S. Soccer Werner Fricker Builder Award, which is presented annually to an individual who has worked tirelessly in furthering the interest of the sport of soccer.

The award is designed to honor those who have created or fostered programs that will outlast their own active involvement in the sport and that establish a lasting legacy in the history and structure of soccer in the United States.

Marcos played administrative roles with NASL clubs Philadelphia Atoms, Tampa Bay Rowdies, the Dallas Tornado and the Calgary Boomers. Just over a year after the collapse of the NASL, Marcos planted the seeds for what has become his biggest contribution to the sport in the USA -- the United Soccer Leagues.

Founded as a modest five-team indoor league in Texas and Oklahoma, the Southwest Indoor Soccer League eventually moved outdoors and grew into the USL, which includes 120 senior professional and amateur league teams and over 800 youth teams.

Werner Fricker served as U.S. Soccer president in 1984-1990, a tenure that included landing the 1994 World Cup and the USA's first qualification for the World Cup (1990) in 40 years.

WERNER FRICKER AWARD
Year Recipient
2002 Werner Fricker Sr.
2003 Sunil Gulati
2005 Gerhard Mengel
2006 Sal Rapaglia
2007 Francisco Marcos