Khari Stephenson (; born 18 January 1981) is a Jamaican 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 ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Youth and College

A product of the

Real Mona Real may refer to: Currencies * Brazilian real (R$) * Central American Republic real * Mexican real * Portuguese real * Spanish real * Spanish colonial real Music Albums * ''Real'' (L'Arc-en-Ciel album) (2000) * ''Real'' (Bright album) (2010) ...

youth system, Stephenson played

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 ...

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

from 2000 to 2003, where he was named a Division III first-team All-American his junior and senior seasons. In his senior year, Stephenson scored 15 goals for the team, and finished his career there with 40 goals and 18 assists. Before playing at Williams, he was a star of his prep school soccer team at

Choate Rosemary Hall Choate Rosemary Hall (often known as Choate; ) is a private, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, United States. Choate is currently ranked as the second best boarding school and third best private high ...

in Connecticut.

Club career

Kansas City Wizards (2004–2005)

Upon graduating, Stephenson was drafted 27th overall in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft by Chicago Fire. He did not make the Fire team, however, and was traded to

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 ...

for a third-round 2005 MLS SuperDraft pick. Stephenson played very little for the Wizards in his rookie season, finishing the year with no points, having played only 44 minutes over three games. He became a starter in the playoffs, playing in every game and even scoring a goal on the Wizards' run to the final.

Move to Scandinavia (2006–2010)

In 2006, Stephenson made his move to Scandinavia, starting in Sweden with GAIS, where he had an outstanding season as a midfielder. He then made a move to

AIK AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...

in 2007, where he had an inconsistent season for a team that finished in the top half of the league. In August 2008, Khari then moved to

Aalesunds FK Aalesunds Fotballklubb, commonly known as Aalesund or AaFK, is a Norwegian football club from the town of Ålesund, that competes in the Eliteserien, the first tier of the Norwegian football league system. The club was founded on 25 June 1914. A ...

in Norway, where he was joined by Jamaican international teammate Demar Phillips in the midfield. After not receiving significant playing time in early 2009, he gained a vital midfield role as the season progressed, eventually leading the team to the Norwegian Cup in 2009 and qualification for the 2010/11 Europa Cup.

San Jose Earthquakes (2010–2012)

Stephenson returned to the United States on loan from Aalesunds FK and signed with the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

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 ...

on 9 August 2010 until the remainder of the MLS season. Stephenson returned to Norway and then signed a permanent deal on 14 February 2011 with San Jose Earthquakes. Stephenson remained with San Jose through the 2012 season before being released following the 2012 season. He subsequently entered the 2012 MLS Re-Entry Draft and became a free agent after going undrafted in both rounds of the draft.

Real Salt Lake (2013)

On 22 February 2013, he was signed by Real Salt Lake. He played one season in Utah; however, he was not retained following the season.

Return to San Jose (2014–present)

Stephenson signed for his old club

on 11 March 2014. Stephenson scored 2 goals during the 2014 season.

San Antonio Scorpions (2015 loan)

On 6 August 2015, Stephenson was loaned from San Jose to

San Antonio Scorpions The San Antonio Scorpions were an American professional soccer team based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 2010, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2012. The Scorpions played at Toyota Field, a soccer specific stadiu ...

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 ...

International career

Stephenson appeared for the Jamaican U-20's in the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina and made his debut for the 'Reggae Boyz' in 2004 against

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. He has earned 32 caps (3 goals).

Personal life

Stephenson holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Jamaica's goal tally first.''

Honours

Aalesund *

Norwegian Football Cup The Norwegian Football Cup ( no, Norgesmesterskapet i fotball for herrer) is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

San Jose Earthquakes * Supporters' Shield:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Jamaica *

Caribbean Cup The Caribbean Cup was the championship tournament for national association football teams that are members of the Caribbean Football Union. The first competition, established by Shell and run by former England Cricket fast bowler Fred Rumsey, wa ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Khari 1981 births Living people Jamaican footballers Sportspeople from Kingston, Jamaica Association football midfielders Jamaica international footballers Jamaica youth international footballers 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Major League Soccer players Allsvenskan players Eliteserien players North American Soccer League players Williams Ephs men's soccer players Sporting Kansas City players GAIS players AIK Fotboll players Aalesunds FK players San Jose Earthquakes players Real Salt Lake players San Antonio Scorpions players Chicago Fire FC draft picks Jamaican expatriate footballers Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate footballers in Sweden Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate footballers in Norway