Charlie Fajkus (born March 4, 1957 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

) is a retired American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who spent six seasons in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

and five in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He also earned three

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with the U.S. national team between 1982 and 1985.

Youth and college

Fajkus grew up in

Cicero, Illinois Cicero (originally known as Hawthorne) is a suburb of Chicago and an Incorporated town#Illinois, incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was ...

, a suburb of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

where he attended Burnham Grade School. He attended Wheaton Central High School from 1973 to 1975. In his time on the Wheaton boys soccer team, he assisted on 56 goals in 43 games which places him fourteenth on the Illinois state high school career list.
/sup> As a senior, he also led the Tigers Varsity to 2nd Place in the 1974 Illinois State Soccer Tournament (IHSA), dropping the final to New Trier West 1-0 in 4 overtimes.
/sup> Fajkus also played for the Sparta F.C. youth teams growing up. After graduating from high school, Fajkus attended Indiana University (Bloomington), Indiana University where he played on the men's soccer team from 1975 to 1978. During his four seasons, he scored thirty-eight goals and assisted on thirty-eight other goals while the Hoosiers went to the 1976 and 1978

NCAA championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

games. Unofficially, the Hoosiers were the 1978 Champions because San Francisco later vacated the title due to the use of an ineligible player.
/sup>

NASL

In 1979, the

Chicago Sting The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from 1 ...

of the

(NASL) selected Fajkus in the NASL College Draft. He immediately stepped into the lineup, seeing time in nineteen games. Over the next five seasons, Fajkus was an integral part of the Sting as they went to the 1981 NASL championship. In 1984, Fajkus started the season with the Sting, but was traded on July 10, 1984, along with

Ricardo Alonso Ricardo Alonso was a soccer player who began as a forward before moving to defender later in his career. Alonso spent six seasons in the North American Soccer League, four in Major Indoor Soccer League, at least three in the American Indoor Socc ...

to the

Golden Bay Earthquakes Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershir ...

for

Manny Rojas Manuel Antonio "Manny" Rojas Zúñiga (born June 13, 1954) is a retired football midfielder from Chile, who represented his native country at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain. His professional career took him from his native Chile to Mexico a ...

and

Hayden Knight Hayden Knight (born March 15, 1957 in Port of Spain, Trinidad) is a retired Trinidad-American soccer defender and current high school soccer coach. He earned three caps with the United States men's national soccer team in 1984. Playing career ...

.
/sup>

MISL

At the end of the 1982 NASL season, the Sting entered the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) during the NASL off-season. Fajkus found himself back in MISL when the Kansas City Comets (1979–91), Kansas City Comets purchased his contract from the Earthquakes on September 19, 1985. Fajkus signed a two-year contract and stayed with the club through the 1986-1987 season.
/sup> At the end of that season, he moved back to the

for their last season in existence. Fajkus retired from playing professionally at the end of the season.

National team

The first game came in the only U.S. game of 1982 when the U.S. beat Trinidad and Tobago national football team, Trinidad Tobago on March 21, 1982. He did not play again until October 6, 1984, when the U.S. defeated the

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

. His last game came on May 15, 1985, another victory over Trinidad and Tobago national football team, Trinidad Tobago. Fajkus is a member of the Illinois Soccer Hall of Fame.
/sup>

External links

Hoosiers in the Pros

Hoosiers History

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fajkus, Charlie 1957 births Living people American men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players Men's association football midfielders North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Chicago Sting (NASL) players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Kansas City Comets (original MISL) players Chicago Sting (MISL) players Sportspeople from Wheaton, Illinois Soccer players from DuPage County, Illinois Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer players