Jimmy McAlister (born May 4, 1957) is a U.S.

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 ...

defender during the 1970s and 1980s. He was the 1977 NASL Rookie of the Year and earned six

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with the U.S. national team.

Player

Professional

McAlister was born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

where he attended John F. Kennedy High School. When he graduated in 1976, the

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club w ...

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 ...

immediately signed him to play left back. McAlister saw time in only two first team games in 1976, spending most of his time in the reserve team. In 1977, he became an integral part of a strong Sounders team which went to the NASL

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

only to lose to the

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; born 23 October 1940), known as Pelé (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and labelled "the greatest" by FIFA, ...

-led

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 ...

. McAlister's defensive abilities led to Pelé trading his jersey with McAlister at the end of the game. His outstanding season led to McAlister receiving NASL Rookie of the Year. McAlister spent one more season with Seattle before being traded to

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

. Before moving to Toronto, he spent the 1979–1980 Major Indoor Soccer League season with the

Buffalo Stallions The Buffalo Stallions were a soccer team based out of Buffalo, New York, that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1979 to 1984. Their home arena was Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. It was the last professional club for which the Portugues ...

. After one year in Toronto, he moved, this time to 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 ...

. While in San Jose, he played in both the NASL and the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) as the Earthquakes jumped between the two leagues. When the Tacoma Stars was established as an MISL franchise in 1983, McAlister moved back home. He remained with the Stars through the 1985–1986 season.

National team

McAlister earned six

with the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ha ...

between 1977 and 1979. His success with the Sounders brought McAlister to the attention of the national team. He earned his first cap in a September 18, 1977 loss to

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 then played only sporadically over the next two years with his last cap coming in a February 11, 1979 loss to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Coach

McAlister retired from the Tacoma Stars in 1986. He then became the team's Special Events Manager. On February 23, 1988, McAlister was named head coach after the Stars fired

Alan Hinton Alan Thomas Hinton (born 6 October 1942) is an English former footballer who played at the top level of English football from 1961 to 1975. He famously wore white football boots. Playing career Wolverhampton Wanderers Hinton started his career ...

. McAlister took the Stars to the playoffs where they fell in the first round to the

San Diego Sockers San Diego Sockers may refer to: *San Diego Sockers (1978–1996), a soccer team in the North American Soccer League *San Diego Sockers (2001–2004), a soccer team in the World Indoor Soccer League and second Major Indoor Soccer League *San Diego S ...

. New ownership took over the team during the 1988 off-season and brought Hinton back in as coach. In 2000, McAlister became the head coach of the Decatur High School boys soccer team. The next season, he coached them to an undefeated season and the Washington State 4A championship. McAlister was head coach of professional club Hibernian Saints in 2006. He also served on the coaching staff of Washington Premier Football Club in Tacoma, Washington where alongside

Gary Heale Gary John Heale (born 15 July 1958) is a former English professional footballer who played for teams in England, the Netherlands, and the United States. Heale began his career in 1975 with Canvey Island. In 1978, he moved to Luton Town. After o ...

, he took the club's United States Soccer Development Academy team to the USSF national finals, taking 5th place. In January 2010, he returned to the city where he made his mark as a professional player, becoming the Director of Coaching of the Seattle United youth soccer club, as part of a coaching leadership team that also includes Technical Director and ex-Seattle Sounder

Jason Farrell Jason Farrell (born December 31, 1970 in Seattle, Washington) is a former U.S. soccer midfielder who spent four seasons in Major League Soccer, two in the American Professional Soccer League, one in the A-League, three in the National Profess ...

."Jason Farrell Selected as Technical Director for Seattle Youth Soccer's Unified Advanced Development Club"
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McAlister, Jim 1957 births Living people American soccer coaches American soccer players American expatriate soccer players Buffalo Stallions players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Seattle Storm (soccer) players Association football defenders Golden Bay Earthquakes (MISL) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) coaches Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Seattle Sounders (1974–1983) players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players Soccer players from Seattle Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players Tacoma Stars players United States men's international soccer players Western Soccer Alliance players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) commentators American expatriate sportspeople in Canada High school soccer coaches in the United States Tacoma Stars coaches