Steve Klein (born May 11, 1975) is an American

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 ...

coach and former professional player, who spent one season in

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 ...

and eleven in the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

and its predecessors. On January 20, 2010, he was ranked 24th in the

Top 25 of the Decade, which announced a list of the best and most influential players of the previous decade.

Player

Youth

Klein was born in

Evansville Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in S ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, and attended Brentwood High School in

Brentwood, TN Brentwood is a city in Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 45,373 as of the 2020 United States census.Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, where he started all four years and earned first team All-American honors his senior year. He is still BGSU's all-time leading point scorer with 45 assists and 37 goals. His play led BGSU to the "Sweet Sixteen" of the NCAA Championships in both his junior and senior years. In 2006, Klein was inducted in the BGSU Athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional

Klein was drafted by the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

in the third round 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 the ...

but saw limited action due to injury. During the season, he played six games on loan to the

Worcester Wildfire Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

. In 1998, he spent the season with the

Nashville Metros The Nashville Metros were an American soccer team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1989, the team most recently played in the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the South A ...

. In 1999, he moved to the

Hershey Wildcats Hershey Wildcats were a professional soccer team, based in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States, that played in the USL A-League between 1997 and 2001. The team was owned by Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company. The team played in Hersheypar ...

for two seasons. On December 19, 2001, he signed with the

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are one of the oldest continuously operating professiona ...

, where he played for three seasons.Charleston Battery: Steve Klein
In 2005, Klein made the cross-country move to the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

, where he started 26 of 27 games and was second on the team in scoring with 18 pts (7 goals, 4 assists). He earned first team USL for his efforts. In the 2006 campaign, he moved into a more defensive midfield role, starting all games eligible (27) and leading the team in minutes played during the regular season. While not producing the scoring totals of 2005, his hard work in the trenches earned him second team USL honors. He helped the Whitecaps win their first

championship by beating the

Rochester Raging Rhinos Rochester New York FC, formerly known as the Rochester Rhinos, are an American professional soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. Founded in 1996, as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, they changed their name to Rochester Rhinos to ...

3–0.

Coaching career

In 2008, Klein was the head coach of the now-defunct Lancaster Inferno in the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially ...

Honors

Charleston Battery

Championship: 2003

Vancouver Whitecaps

Championship:

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

Cascadia Cup The Cascadia Cup is the name of the trophy created in 2004 by supporters of the Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders, and Vancouver Whitecaps, which is awarded each season to the best soccer team in the Pacific Northwest. The cup is named for the ...

: 2005

References

External links

USL bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Steve 1975 births Living people American soccer coaches American soccer players Soccer players from Indiana Bowling Green Falcons men's soccer players Association football midfielders Major League Soccer players New England Revolution players Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players USL First Division players Nashville Metros players Hershey Wildcats players Charleston Battery players Sportspeople from Evansville, Indiana Worcester Wildfire players A-League (1995–2004) players New England Revolution draft picks All-American men's college soccer players