John Roeslein 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 ...

player who was a member of championship teams at the high school, junior college,

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

and professional levels. He played two seasons in the American Soccer League where he was the 1976 Rookie of the Year.

Youth

Roeslein grew up in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

playing for numerous notable youth teams. He attended St. Mary's High School which won the 1970 Missouri High School soccer championship. He attended

Florissant Valley Community College Florissant may refer to: * Florissant, Colorado, a census-designated place * Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, a United States National Monument, Colorado * Florissant, Missouri, a city * Florissant Township, St. Louis County, Missouri S ...

, playing for the school's soccer team in 1971 and 1972. He and his teammates won the 1971 National Junior College National Championships. In 1973, he transferred to St. Louis University where he won the 1973

NCAA Men's Soccer Championship The NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament, sometimes known as the College Cup, is an American intercollegiate soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I men's national champ ...

Professional

In 1976, Roeslein signed with the

New Jersey Americans New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

of the American Soccer League. He shared Rookie of the Year honors with

Steve Ralbovsky Steve Ralbovsky is a Yugoslav-American former soccer player. He was the 1975 Hermann Trophy winner as the outstanding collegiate soccer player of the year. He then had an extensive professional career including time in the North American Soccer L ...

. He also played briefly on loan with Welsh club

Tranmere Rovers F.C. Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

in 1976. In 1977, the New Jersey Americans won the ASL championship.

Amateur

He retired from professional soccer following the 1977 season and returned to St. Louis where he played the rest of his career with local amateur teams. In 1978, he was with Busch Gardens S.C. before moving to St. Louis Kutis S.C. in 1979. He has also coached extensively on the youth level in the St. Louis area. He was inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame in 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roeslein, John American soccer players American expatriate soccer players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players New Jersey Americans (ASL) players Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer players St. Louis Kutis players Soccer players from St. Louis Living people Association football forwards Association football midfielders Year of birth missing (living people) Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Expatriate footballers in England American expatriate sportspeople in England