Steve Ralston (born June 14, 1974) is an American retired

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 and manager who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He spent most of his playing career 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 Cana ...

with the Tampa Bay Mutiny and 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 compe ...

, retiring in 2010 as the league's all-time career leader in assists (135), appearances (378), starts (372), and minutes played (33,143). He also held the U.S. record for professional appearances (412) in 2010. He served as assistant manager at several teams, including the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establish ...

and

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 ...

, including a brief stint as the interim head coach at the Earthquakes in 2018.

Club career

Ralston was drafted 18th overall in the 1996 MLS College Draft by the Tampa Bay Mutiny out of

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...

, and proceeded to become the first MLS player to win the

Rookie of the Year Award A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

. Ralston played for the Mutiny for six years, leaving only after the team was contracted in 2002. He was Tampa Bay's all-time leader in games played (177) and points (130). he then joined the New England Revolution. In his first year with the Revolution, Ralston led the league in assists with 19. In thirteen years in the league, he scored 76 goals and had 135 assists in 378 regular season matches, and added three goals and five assists in 30 playoff matches. He also served as captain for several seasons with New England. Soon after leaving New England, Ralston became the first ever signing of new

USSF Division 2 The USSF Division 2 Professional League (D2 Pro League) was a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the 2010 season. The twelve-team league was formed as a compromise between the feuding Un ...

club AC St. Louis. Ralston was one of the team's starting midfielders, and an assistant coach to head coach Claude Anelka. After AC St. Louis ran in to financial difficulties, Ralston agreed to leave by mutual consent and immediately joined up with his former club

. In Ralston's first appearance back with the New England Revolution, he suffered a left elbow dislocation. In July 2010, he announced his retirement.

International career

Ralston appeared for the United States national team 36 times over an 11-year span and scored 4 international goals. His first cap came on January 17, 1997 against

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. His last was for the squad that won the

2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the ninth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean ( CONCACAF), and was won by the United States over Mexico. It was contested in the United States fr ...

. He was never selected to a World Cup roster. Ralston had a break out year for the [United States national team in 2005 by earning 15 caps. He scored the game-winning goal in a World Cup qualifying match against Mexico on September 3, 2005. The victory for the United States clinched qualification in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Due to a later injury, he was only listed as an alternate for the United States at the World Cup.

Coaching career

After his signing with AC St. Louis was named as the new assistant coach of the club. In July 2010, Raltson took an assistant coaching job at the

with his former teammate

Dominic Kinnear Dominic Kinnear (born July 26, 1967) is an American soccer coach and former player. On January 18, 2022, he was named an assistant coach by FC Cincinnati, his first coaching role since serving as the interim head coach of the LA Galaxy. As a p ...

from the Tampa Bay Mutiny. On January 6, 2015, the

announced Ralston would join Kinnear in San Jose and once again serve as his assistant coach.Quakes name Ralston, Russell, Hanley assistant coaches
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References

External links

*
Houston Dynamo staff profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ralston, Steve 1974 births Living people American soccer players Soccer players from St. Louis FIU Panthers men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Tampa Bay Mutiny players New England Revolution players AC St. Louis players USSF Division 2 Professional League players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Tampa Bay Mutiny draft picks Houston Dynamo FC non-playing staff San Jose Earthquakes non-playing staff Association football midfielders