Steve Jolley (born October 15, 1975) is a retired American
soccer defender, who spent ten seasons in
Major League Soccer and one in the
Premier Development League. Today, Jolley provides color commentary for the New York Red Bull’s games on Red Bulls Radio. Additionally, he works for a very successful wealth management firm, Walsh & Nicholson Financial Group.
Career
Jolley led Kempsville High School to back-to-back Virginia state championships. After playing
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 K ...
at
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...
, Jolley was drafted by the
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 pla ...
with the ninth overall pick of the
1997 MLS College Draft The 1997 Major League Soccer College Draft was held on February 1 and 2, 1997 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The draft was held in conjunction with the Umbro Select College All-Star Classic. The first round of the draft took place at halftime of th ...
. He spent the next three years in Los Angeles, switching from the midfield into defense as time went on. The lowlight of his Galaxy career came in the 1999
MLS Cup
The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...
, when Jolley had to come into the game just nine minutes from the start for the injured
Robin Fraser
Robin may refer to:
Animals
* Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae
* Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including:
**European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'')
**Bush-robin
** Forest r ...
. Jolley scored four goals during his time with the Galaxy.
He was traded to the
MetroStars for a second-round draft pick after playing just four minutes for the Galaxy in 2000. He combined with
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, ...
and
Daniel Hernández on an excellent three-man backline that helped the Metros rise in the MLS standings. Jolley would play every possible Metro minute of the 2000 and 2001 seasons. He finished his Metro career in 2003 with 104 league games and 129 in all competitions (both numbers third in team history), seven goals (eight in all competitions) and six assists. He also became prominent in the community and earned
MLS Humanitarian of the Year honors in 2002 in part for his effort for
9/11 related charities.
Jolley was traded to the then-
Dallas Burn
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...
before the 2004 season for
Tenywa Bonseu
Tenywa "T-Bone" Bonseu (born October 28, 1976 in Kampala) is a retired Ugandan footballer, who played nine years of professional soccer in the United States.
Career
Amateur and college
Bonseu began his career playing for Horizon FC in his nati ...
. He became a regular for Dallas, scoring one goal and starting almost every game, but also had a dubious distinction of scoring two
own goal
An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...
s in one game (for Jolley, only one of those was attributed to him). After losing his starting job with the club in 2005, he was traded back to the MetroStars before the 2006 season. At the end of the year, he was waived by the team, which had become known as
New York Red Bulls
The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...
.
After a brief retirement from soccer, he returned in 2007 to play for 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 ...
in the
Premier Development League.
Jolley now works as an analyst on Red Bulls radio broadcasts.
References
External links
No more bleeding: Steve Jolley retires*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jolley, Steve
1975 births
Living people
American soccer players
LA Galaxy players
New York Red Bulls players
FC Dallas players
Long Island Rough Riders players
William & Mary Tribe men's soccer players
USL League Two players
Major League Soccer players
Major League Soccer All-Stars
Soccer players from Virginia
LA Galaxy draft picks
Association football defenders