Steve Wegerle (born 15 May 1953) is a former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a winger. Wegerle was born in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

. He was voted Player of the Year is South Africa in 1974. He then joined

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

in 1975, but made no first team appearances. Steve Wegerle played 5 times for

Feyenoord Rotterdam Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after it ...

in 1975–76, finishing 2nd with Feyenoord in the Dutch competition, with 88 goals for and 40 goals against. His brother Geoffrey also played for Feyenoord Rotterdam in that 1975/1976 season. After June 1976, Steve Wegerle starred for the

Tampa Bay Rowdies 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 ...

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 ...

for five seasons from 1977 to 1981. While with the Rowdies, Wegerle played in

Soccer Bowl '78 Soccer Bowl '78 was the North American Soccer League's championship final for the 1978 season. It was the fourth NASL championship under the Soccer Bowl name. The match was played at Giants Stadium in the New York City suburb of East Rutherfor ...

and

Soccer Bowl '79 Soccer Bowl '79 was the championship final of the 1979 NASL season. The National Conference champion Vancouver Whitecaps played the American Conference champion Tampa Bay Rowdies. The match was played on September 8, 1979, at Giants Stadium, in Eas ...

(both defeats), as well as the 1979–80 NASL indoor finals, which Tampa Bay won. He joined the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independe ...

during the 1981 season at age 28. He played in

Soccer Bowl '81 Soccer Bowl '81 was the championship final of the 1981 NASL season, between the Chicago Sting and the New York Cosmos. The match was played on September 26, 1981 at Exhibition Stadium, in Toronto, Ontario. Following regulation and 15 minutes of ...

and '82 with the Cosmos, winning the latter. Wegerle played 1983 with the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

before returning in 1984 to finish his NASL career with the Rowdies. Wegerle's 152 points in 196 career games ranks him as the league's 27th all-time leading scoring. His 88 assists rank him 4th in that category. Wegerle played for the Rowdies during the 1986–1987

American Indoor Soccer Association American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

season. He later played for the team in the American Soccer League in 1988 and 1989 and then in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

in 1990.1990 Tampa Bay Rowdies
/ref> Wegerle is the father of

Bryce Wegerle Bryce may refer to: People *Bryce (given name) *Bryce (surname) Places *Bryce Canyon National Park *Mount Bryce *Bryce, Utah *Bryce, Arizona Other *Bryce (software) *Bryce Hospital Bryce Hospital opened in 1861 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United ...

. His brother

Roy Wegerle Roy Wegerle (born March 19, 1964) is a former United States men's national soccer team, United States international association football, soccer player who appeared for the national team 41 times between 1992 and 1998. Born and raised in South Afr ...

is a former American international and

MLS 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 ...

star, while his brother

Geoff Wegerle Geoff Wegerle (born 9 June 1954) is a South African former football (soccer) forward who played professionally in Europe, South Africa and the North American Soccer League. Wegerle scored 20 goals when his club Arcadia Shepherds won the Sout ...

played in the NASL for the 1978 season with

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

and 1983 with

Toronto 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 ...

. Steve and Roy were on the Rowdies together in 1984. Steve and Geoff played together on the post-NASL Rowdies from 1986 to 1988. Steve's mother is Scottish and his father is German.

References

External links

Profile at Voetbal International
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wegerle, Steve 1953 births Living people Association football wingers American Indoor Soccer Association players American Professional Soccer League players American Soccer League (1988–89) players Arcadia Shepherds F.C. players Eredivisie players Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate soccer players in the United States Feyenoord players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983) players Leyland Motors F.C. players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players New York Cosmos players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Sportspeople from Pretoria South African expatriate soccer players Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players South African soccer players South Africa international soccer players South African expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands South African expatriate sportspeople in the United States White South African people South African people of Scottish descent South African people of German descent Wichita Wings (MISL) players National Football League (South Africa) players