John Diffley (born January 11, 1967, in New City, New York) is a retired American soccer player who is currently the Senior Associate Athletic Director for Administration at St. John's University.

Youth and college

Diffley attended Albertus Magnus High School of Rockland, New York where he played on the soccer team from 1981 to 1984. He was a '' Parade'' High School All-American and was inducted into the Albertus Magnus Hall of Fame in 1998. In 1985, he entered American University. He spent four seasons as a midfielder with American. During Diffley's freshman year, American went to the NCAA title game where the Eagles fell to the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

in eight overtimes. Diffley graduated in 1989 with honors and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.

Professional

In 1989, Diffley began his professional career with the

Albany Capitals The Albany Capitals joined the third incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1988. The team joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the ASL merged with the Western Soccer League. The club played in Albany, New York. Afte ...

of the American Soccer League (ASL). At the conclusion of the ASL season, Diffley signed with the expansion indoor team Atlanta Attack of the

American Indoor Soccer Association American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

(AISA). The Attack finished second in the league 1989-1990 standings and went to the playoff semi-finals before losing to the

Dayton Dynamo The Dayton Dynamo was a professional indoor soccer team from Dayton, Ohio. The team played in the American Indoor Soccer Association (AISA). Founded by former University of Dayton and Central State University coach Jerry Butcher, the Dynamo jo ...

. In the 1990 off-season, the AISA renamed itself the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). The Attack again finished second in the standings, but fell to Dayton again in the first round of the playoffs. That summer, Diffley moved to the

Penn-Jersey Spirit Penn-Jersey Spirit played in the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 and 1991. The team's home stadium was Lions Stadium in Ewing, New Jersey, on the campus of Trenton State College (today known as the College of New Jersey). The team ...

of the American Professional Soccer League (APSL). Diffley then decided to try a career in Europe. He signed with Dutch

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club HFC Haarlem and spent the 1992–1993 season in the Netherlands. In 1994, Diffley joined the North Jersey Imperials of

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

, where he was captain and was named to the USISL All-Star team. The next season, 1995, he signed with the

Long Island Rough Riders The Long Island Rough Riders are an American association football, soccer team based in South Huntington, New York, United States. Founded in 1994, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays i ...

. That year, Long Island won the USISL national championship. Diffley was named to the Championship All-Tournament team. The

Tampa Bay Mutiny Tampa Bay Mutiny was a professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. They were a charter member of Major League Soccer (MLS) and played from 1996 to 2001. They played their home games at Tampa Stadium and then at Raymond James Stadium. The ...

of Major League Soccer (MLS) drafted Diffley in the third round (twenty-seventh overall) of the 1996 Draft. He saw time in thirteen games before being traded to the Kansas City Wizards for the 1997 season. When the Wizards released him, Diffley became a full-time coach but continued to play for the Staten Island Vipers in 1998 and 1999. In 2003, Diffley was a player-assistant coach with the New York Freedom.

Coaching

In 1995, Diffley became the head coach for the Dominican College men's soccer team. In 1997, he moved to St. John's University where he served as an assistant coach with the men's soccer team while working on his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in business administration.

Administration

In 2001, Diffley gained his master's degree and left St. John's to work in the financial industry. On January 1, 2004, Diffley returned to St. John's when the school hired him as its Senior Associate Athletic Director for Administration.

National team

Diffley 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 Ja ...

with the U.S. national team in 1988. He earned his first cap as a substitute for Jeff Agoos in a 1–0 loss to Guatemala on January 10, 1988. Earned eight caps for the U.S. in 1988 when he contended for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. His last game came six months later as a substitute for

Brian Bliss Brian Boyer Bliss (born September 28, 1965) is a retired American soccer defender and front office executive. He also serves as an assistant coach for the United States U-20 national team. Bliss played professionally in Europe and the United S ...

in a June 12 tie with

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

. At the time the national team was preparing for the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. Diffley was selected as an alternate for the 1988 for the U.S. Olympic Team. American University inducted Diffley into its Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.

References

External links

St. John’s University profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diffley, John 1967 births Living people Albany Capitals players American Eagles men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands American Professional Soccer League players American soccer coaches American Soccer League (1988–89) players American men's soccer players Atlanta Attack players Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players Eerste Divisie players HFC Haarlem players Long Island Rough Riders players Major League Soccer players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players New York Freedom (soccer) players North Jersey Imperials players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' soccer) Penn-Jersey Spirit players People from New City, New York Sportspeople from Rockland County, New York Staten Island Vipers players Soccer players from New York (state) Sporting Kansas City players Tampa Bay Mutiny players USISL players USL Second Division players United States men's international soccer players People from Rockland, New York