Jonathan Steele (born 7 February 1986) is a Northern Irish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He has also received three caps for the

Northern Ireland national team The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. From 1882 to 1920, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Foo ...

Early life

Steele was raised in a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family along with three brothers in the predominantly

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

town of

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight Roll-on/ro ...

, about 25 miles outside of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

. Steele often experienced religious violence and persecution resulting from

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

, including being attacked outside of a video rental store. Because of this violence, Steele's mother pleaded with him to leave home and the best opportunity to play football came from

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. After two years of not being able to make a breakthrough with Wolverhampton, Steele was released after the 2002–2003 season. At the age of 18, he then decided to try to earn a contract elsewhere in Europe or with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

of the United States instead of returning home to Northern Ireland.

Club

England

Steele started his career with

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

between 2002 and 2004. Although he featured for the youth and reserve sides, never played a game for the senior team.

United States

Steele moved to the United States in 2003, for an ultimately unsuccessful trial with the

Dallas Burn Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. Instead, he signed with the Syracuse Salty Dogs of 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 ...

in 2004. and that fall, he joined the Kansas City Comets of Major Indoor Soccer League. He played thirteen games before the Comets placed him on the inactive roster to allow him to compete with the Northern Ireland U-19 national team. He returned to the United States in 2005 and spent the summer with 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 ...

. As the Comets had folded at the end of the 2004–2005 season, the

Baltimore Blast The Baltimore Blast is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The team is a part of the Major Arena Soccer League. The team has won 10 championships since it was founded in 1980. Beginning with t ...

selected Steele with the 26th pick in the Dispersal Draft.

Return home

He returned home to Northern Ireland in August 2005 and had a short spell with Irish League side

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds which is owned by the Mi ...

, before returning to America when his short-term contract expired.

Return to the United States

He won the 2006 MISL Championship with the Blast, and played for the Rhinos again in the summer of 2006. In the spring of 2007, he signed with the expansion

Carolina RailHawks North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games a ...

of the

. He was also the first pick of the expansion

Orlando Sharks The Orlando Sharks were a professional American indoor soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, United States. Founded in 2007, by Buena Vista Corporation the Chairman Mr. Sham Maharaj acquired the franchise early 2006. the first game was played ...

in the 2007 MISL Expansion Draft, but was traded to the

Philadelphia KiXX The Philadelphia KiXX was a professional indoor soccer team based in Philadelphia, USA. The team competed as an NPSL expansion franchise and then played in the Major Indoor Soccer League. History The team's original owner was Ed Tepper, also pr ...

in exchange for Gaston Pernia. Steele played seventeen games with the KiXX during the 2007–2008 MISL season, missing part of the season with a foot injury. In the spring of 2008, he moved to 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 ...

of USL-1. He was a key part of a team which took the USL-1 championship and was named the 2008 USL-1 MVP. On 23 December 2009, Steele signed a one-year contract with

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

. Steele, along with Whitecaps teammate Ricardo Sánchez, was transferred to league rivals

FC Tampa Bay The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Champions ...

on 21 July 2010.

, now in the second division

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 ...

, re-acquired Steele on a season-long loan from FC Tampa Bay on 24 February 2011. Steele signed with

Syracuse Silver Knights Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Misso ...

of Major Indoor Soccer League for the 2011–12 indoor season on 23 September 2011. He was released from the team mid-season.

Major League Soccer

On 23 February 2012 Steele tweeted that he had joined

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

, a club from which he spurned a contract offer two years earlier in favour of joining the

. The signing was official on 24 February 2012. During his first season with the club, Steele made 28 appearances, including 11 starts, tallying two assists and scoring two goals including a stoppage-time game winner against

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

on 28 April 2012. Steele's option was declined by Salt Lake on 3 December 2012 as part of a salary cap issue, along with the trade and release of six other players, including starters

Jamison Olave Jamison may refer to: People with the surname Jamison: *Jamison (surname) In places: * Jamison, California * Jamison, Nebraska, US * Jamison City, Pennsylvania, US * Jamison, Pennsylvania, US * Jamison Valley, New South Wales, Australia Other: * J ...

Fabian Espindola Fabian may refer to: People * Fabian (name), including a list of people with the given name or surname * Pope Fabian (died 250), Catholic saint * Fabian Forte (born 1943), 1950s American teen idol, singer and actor, known by the mononym Fabian * ...

, and Will Johnson. After being released by RSL, Steele trained with

Cliftonville F.C. Cliftonville Football & Athletic Club is a Northern Irish, semi-professional association football club playing in the NIFL Premiership – the top division of the Northern Ireland Football League. The club was founded in September 1879 by John ...

of the

IFA Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and colloquially as the Irish League or Irish Premiership, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northe ...

and was reportedly days away from signing for an unnamed

League 2 The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club before being contacted by New York Red Bull's head coach

Mike Petke Mike Petke (born January 30, 1976) is an American former soccer player and coach who was most recently head coach of Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. Prior to his tenure with Real Salt Lake, he was head coach of the New York Red Bulls, l ...

. Steele signed with the

club on 20 February 2013 and solidified his spot in the starting line-up. Steele scored his first goal for the Red Bulls on 20 April 2013 in a 4–1 victory over the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

. In the same match, Steele tallied his second assist of the season on a goal by

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, and former player who is an assistant coach for the Belgium national team. Considered one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best players ...

. Steele ended his first season with New York making 36 official appearances and scoring 6 goals, while the team finished with the best overall record in MLS, winning the Supporter's Shield, the first major honor in club history. In 2014, Steele made 16 appearances, scoring one goal and recording 2 assists, but only started 7 matches. He and the Red Bulls mutually agreed to part ways on 10 July 2014.

Newcastle Jets

Three days after parting ways with the Red Bulls, it was confirmed that Steele had signed for the

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

of the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

in Australia. Steele and Newcastle Jets mutually agreed to terminate his contract on December 23, 2014.

Minnesota United FC

On January 8, 2015,

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American Socc ...

announced the signing of Jonny Steele. After a disappointing showing due to injuries, Steele was released by United on July 1, 2015.

Ottawa Fury

Steele signed a contract with

Ottawa Fury FC Ottawa Fury Football Club was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competed in the North American Soccer League and USL Championship and played its home games at TD Place Stadium. The Ottawa Fury FC were diss ...

on January 12, 2016.

Miami FC

Steele moved again on July 14, 2016, this time to NASL side

Miami FC The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 se ...

Ramsgate

At the end of May 2019 it was announced that Steele had joined

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

. He was released by Ramsgate on 21 October 2019.

International

Steele represented Northern Ireland from the Under-15 to the Under-19 level. In 2001, he was part of the Under-16 side that competed in the

Victory Shield The Victory Shield is an annual football tournament competed for by the under-16 teams of Scotland, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The Victory Shield had traditionally been competed for by the four Home Nations, but the Football A ...

tournament against the other British nations. Steele earned three caps for the Under-19 side in the

2005 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The 2005 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was held in Northern Ireland between 18 and 29 July 2005. Venues Qualifications There were two separate rounds of qualifications held before the Final Tournament. 1. 2005 UEFA European Under-19 ...

against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Serbia and Montenegro Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

, and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

in Group A. The tournament was held in his native Northern Ireland but the hosts did not advance past the group stage. Steele was also a member of the U19 squad that competed in the 2005

Milk Cup SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youth football tournament held annually in Northern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area of ...

and scored a goal against 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 ...

during a 4–2 loss in the final. In April 2013, following Steele's impressive performances with New York, Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill stated that he was monitoring Steele's progress and that he could receive his first call up as early as the next squad selection. Seven months later, Steele received his first call up to the senior squad for a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

to be played on 15 November 2013 in

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana Province, Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart ...

after originally being left out of the squad again because of expected club commitments. This call up was the first time Steele was called into camp for Northern Ireland at any level since the 2005 Milk Cup. Steele made his senior international debut for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

in the match against

, coming on as a 67th-minute substitute for

Niall McGinn Niall McGinn (born 20 July 1987) is a Northern Irish professional footballer, who plays for Scottish Championship club Dundee. McGinn has also played for Dungannon Swifts, Derry City, Celtic, Brentford, Aberdeen (two spells) and South Korea ...

as Northern Ireland lost 1–0. In May 2014, Steele was again called up for the friendly away matches against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

on 30 May and 4 June respectively as the opposition prepared for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

International career statistics

Honours

Puerto Rico Islanders * Commissioner's Cup:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

New York Red Bulls *

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 1 ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Individual *

MVP:

Gallery

File:Steele-NYRB-2013.jpg File:Jonny Steele.jpg File:JonnySteele.jpg

References

External links

* *
Profile
at Irish FA {{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Jonny 1986 births Living people Baltimore Blast (2001–2008 MISL) players North Carolina FC players Expatriate men's footballers in Puerto Rico Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Tampa Bay Rowdies players Men's association football midfielders Kansas City Comets (2001–2005 MISL) players Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players Major League Soccer players Minnesota United FC (2010–2016) players New York Red Bulls players Newcastle Jets FC players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers Association footballers from County Antrim Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Expatriate men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in the United States Sportspeople from Larne Philadelphia KiXX (2001–2008 MISL) players Puerto Rico Islanders players Real Salt Lake players Rochester New York FC players Syracuse Salty Dogs players Syracuse Silver Knights players A-League (1995–2004) players USL First Division players USSF Division 2 Professional League players Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Ballymena United F.C. players NIFL Premiership players Northern Ireland men's international footballers Ottawa Fury FC players Miami FC players Ramsgate F.C. players National Premier Soccer League players Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Canada Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Puerto Rico