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 ...

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