Kevin Souter (born 7 January 1984) is a Scottish former 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 ...

Club career

Early career in Scotland

Kevin graduated from the Grant Smith Soccer Academy in Portsoy before heading to play for the Westhill boy's club, and was a member of

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) Th ...

team

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

's youth setup, making four first team league appearances for them between 2002 and 2003. He joined Scottish non-league side Buckie Thistle in 2004, and played for them in the

Highland Football League The Scottish Highland Football League (SHFL, commonly known as the Highland League) is a senior football league based in the north of Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system The Scottish football league syst ...

for one year prior to his move across the Atlantic.

College and Amateur

Souter moved to the United States in 2005 to play

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

for

Graceland University Graceland University is a private university with campuses in Lamoni, Iowa, and Independence, Missouri. The university offers degree completion and master's degree programs at satellite campuses in Centerville and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Trento ...

, where he was named 2nd Team NAIA All-American in 2007 and was an Honorable-Mention All-American choice when his team won the 2006 NAIA National Championship. During his college years he also played with

Des Moines Menace Des Moines Menace is an American soccer team based in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1994, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The Menace have had sustained success in USL League Two duri ...

in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

Professional

Souter was signed as a

developmental player In Major League Soccer, in addition to the senior roster, each team can carry a developmental roster of a certain number of young players whose contracts do not count against the salary cap. The allowable size of developmental rosters has varied th ...

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse and ...

in May 2008 after impressing head coach

Curt Onalfo Curt Onalfo (born November 19, 1969) is an American former soccer player and coach who currently serves as technical director of Major League Soccer club New England Revolution. As a player, he played two seasons in France, two in the USISL, ...

during a two-day open tryout. He made his debut for them on 13 September 2008, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Herculez Gomez Herculez Gomez (born April 6, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He currently works as a commentator in both English and Spanish for ESPN. Early life Gomez, the oldest of five children, was born in ...

against

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

. He scored his first

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 ...

goal 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 ...

in the 79 minute.

Josh Wolff Josh Wolff (born February 25, 1977) is an American soccer coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of Austin FC in Major League Soccer. Playing career College Born in Stone Mountain, Georgia, Wolff played three years of colle ...

gave him the goal through an assist. Souter was waived by Kansas City during the 2010 pre-season, and initially was selected by

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

off the waivers list, but was not offered a contract by the MLS club because their front office was targeting other international players.

Coaching career

Having failed to secure a professional contract elsewhere, Souter moved to Canada to be a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

for the

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

men's soccer team in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, under head coach Ivan Joseph (his former coach at

). Having taken some classes at the university to allow him to play in 2010, Souter became the head coach of the women's team for the 2011 season, with Joseph staying on as an assistant until 2012. In March 2015, Souter stepped down as head coach citing fatigue and a desire to move closer to family in Scotland.

References

External links

*
MLS player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Souter, Kevin 1984 births Living people Association football midfielders Scottish footballers Aberdeen F.C. players Des Moines Menace players Graceland University alumni Sporting Kansas City players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players USL League Two players Scottish Premier League players Major League Soccer players Serbian White Eagles FC players Scottish expatriate footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate soccer players in the United States Buckie Thistle F.C. players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Highland Football League players