Jeffrey "Jeff" Durgan (born August 29, 1961, in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

) is a retired U.S.

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 ...

defender who played professionally for the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independe ...

and seven times for the U.S. national team.

NASL

Durgan was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, where he attended

Stadium High School Stadium High School is a public high school in Tacoma, Washington, and a historic landmark. It is part of Tacoma Public Schools, or Tacoma School District No. 10 and is located in the Stadium District, near downtown Tacoma. The original building ...

. After graduating, Durgan turned professional with the

of 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 ...

(NASL), debuting in April 1980. In his first year in the league he started 28 of the Cosmos' 32 regular games. Showing what sportswriter

George Vecsey George Spencer Vecsey (born July 4, 1939) is an American non-fiction author and sports columnist for ''The New York Times.'' Vecsey is best known for his work in sports, but has co-written several autobiographies with non-sports figures. He is also ...

called "a controlled aggressiveness characteristic of a player far beyond his years", he was named the league's Rookie of the Year, beating Tacoma youth teammate Mark Peterson of the

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club w ...

. In 1982, he was selected as a second team NASL All Star. Durgan won the

Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League, which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's founding ...

, the NASL championship, with the Cosmos in 1980 and 1982, but they lost in 1981 to 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 ...

after a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

. In 1983, the

U.S. Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

attempted to create a more successful U.S. national team by entering the team into the NASL as a franchise, known as Team America. USSF then invited players from throughout the NASL, Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) and American Soccer League to leave their teams to play for Team America. Although he expressed doubts about the new team, Durgan left the Cosmos and signed with Team America, who he captained. Many top players stayed with their previous clubs, something Durgan criticised, saying "let them come and help. You have to get off the fence." Team America ended the season at the bottom of the league and when USSF pulled the national team from the NASL at the end of the 1983 season, Durgan rejoined the Cosmos. In May 1984, the Cosmos asked Durgan and two other players to take a 20% pay cut, and another to take a 45% pay cut. When they refused to accept the cuts the team

waived A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege. Regulatory agencies of state departments or the federal government may issue waivers to exempt companies from certain regulations. For example, a United St ...

them, and then re-signed Durgan and two other players for less pay after the other eight teams in the NASL declined to sign them under the terms of their original contracts. When the league folded after the 1984 season, the Cosmos moved to the MISL, but did not make it through the end of the 1984–1985 season before folding.

F.C. Seattle

When the Cosmos collapsed, Durgan moved back to the Seattle area to sign with the semi-professional

F.C. Seattle FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

in the MISL on May 20, 1985, and he captained the team. Seattle coach

Bruce Rioch Bruce David Rioch (; born 6 September 1947) is a football manager and former player for the Scotland national team. His last managerial post was at AaB in the Danish Superliga in 2008. As a player, he made more than 550 appearances in the Fo ...

released Durgan from the team on July 29, 1985, after an incident involving a tackle with Canadian player

John Catliff John Terrence Catliff (born 8 January 1965) is a Canadian former professional soccer player, who played as a striker. He retired ranked second all-time on the Canadian national team with 18 international "A" goals between 1984 and 1994. In 20 ...

National team

Durgan earned seven

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 1983 and 1985. He scored one goal. He was also part of the

U.S. Olympic team United States of America (USA) has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern era Olympic Games, except for the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. American athletes have w ...

at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

in Los Angeles. Due to a leg injury he only played in the third match, against Egypt, and had to retire in the first half. The game was a 1–1 draw and ended the U.S.'s progression in the tournament. Durgan was named 46th of the top 50 athletes of the 20th century from Washington State by ''Sports Illustrated''.

Personal life

After retiring from soccer, Durgan earned a bachelor's degree from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. Durgan currently lives in Michigan with his wife and three children.

References

External links

1981 New York Times Profile of Durgan

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durgan, Jeff 1961 births Living people American soccer players Seattle Storm (soccer) players Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players New York Cosmos players New York Cosmos (MISL) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Olympic soccer players of the United States Parade High School All-Americans (boys' soccer) Team America (NASL) players United States men's international soccer players Western Soccer Alliance players Soccer players from Tacoma, Washington Association football defenders