Gregory Simmonds (born 16 December 1975) is a

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

Jamaican

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 ...

player who played professionally in the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

. He is currently a men's soccer athletic trainer for

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

. Simmonds attended

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

, playing on the men's soccer team from 1995 to 1998. He graduated as the all-time leading scorer for the Bison. In 1999, Simmonds turned professional with the

Hershey Wildcats Hershey Wildcats were a professional soccer team, based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States, that played in the USL A-League between 1997 and 2001. The team was owned by Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company. The team played in Hersheypar ...

of the

USL A-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

. He scored sixteen goals that season and was selected as the A-League Rookie of the Year. His scoring touch led to

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Suppo ...

calling him up in January 2000 for two games in the

2000 CONCACAF Champions' Cup The 2000 CONCACAF Champions' Cup was the 36th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America and the Caribbean), the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. It determined that year's clu ...

. He came on for Jaime Moreno in a 17 January 2000 victory over

L.D. Alajuelense Liga Deportiva Alajuelense (LDA, ), commonly known as Alajuelense and nicknamed La Liga (), is a Costa Rican multisport club based in the borough of El Llano, Alajuela, Alajuela province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Ala ...

. Four days later, he started the game with

C.F. Pachuca Club de Fútbol Pachuca is a Mexican professional football team based in Pachuca, Hidalgo, that competes in Liga MX. Founded by Cornish miners from Camborne and Redruth in 1901, it is one of the oldest football clubs in the Americas, and was on ...

. Simmonds continued his scoring pace for the Wildcats in 2000, adding another sixteen goals to his total. In February 2001, the

Miami Fusion The Miami Fusion was a professional soccer team based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They played in Major League Soccer (MLS) for four seasons, from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one of the league's first two expansion teams, their best seas ...

selected Simmonds in the fourth round (thirty-eighth) overall of the

2001 MLS SuperDraft The 2001 Major League Soccer SuperDraft was held on February 5, 2001, at the Signature Grand in Davie, Florida. Player selection Any player whose name is marked with an * was contracted under the Project-40 program. Round 1 Round 1 trade ...

. He scored four goals for the Fusion, all in Open Cup games, but never scored in league play. When the Fusion folded following the 2001 season, Simmonds moved to the

Rochester Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos to ...

. In 2003, Simmonds moved to the

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

. On 19 February 2004, the

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are one of the oldest continuously operating professiona ...

of the

signed Simmonds. He led the team in scoring in both 2004 and 2005. In 2006, he joined the

Virginia Beach Mariners The Virginia Beach Mariners were an American football (soccer), soccer club, who formerly played in the USL First Division of the United Soccer Leagues, the second division in the US Soccer hierarchy behind Major League Soccer. On March 30, 2007 t ...

and lead the team with nine goals. He finished his career in 2007 with the

Puerto Rico Islanders Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places *El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines *Puerto Colombia, Colombia *Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela *Puerto Galera, Orient ...

in 2007. In November 2008, Simmonds joined Richmond United for the

Premier Arena Soccer League The Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL) is an indoor soccer league with mostly semi-professional teams; along with a number of amateur teams across North America. The PASL was previously known as the Federation of Sports Arenas (FSA). The PASL logo ...

season. He scored five goals in three games.

References

External links

Charleston Battery: Greg Simmonds
1975 births Living people Charleston Battery players D.C. United players Association football forwards Hershey Wildcats players Howard Bison men's soccer players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Jamaican footballers Major League Soccer players Miami Fusion players Sportspeople from Kingston, Jamaica Rochester New York FC players Richmond Kickers players USL First Division players Virginia Beach Mariners players Puerto Rico Islanders players A-League (1995–2004) players Miami Fusion draft picks {{Jamaica-footy-bio-stub