John Klein is a retired American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

who played professionally 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. ...

, Major Indoor Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League. He currently coaches the Southeast Missouri State women's soccer team.

Player

Klein graduated from

Saint Louis Priory School The Saint Louis Priory School is a Catholic secondary day school for boys on a 150-acre campus in Creve Coeur, Missouri, within the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The school is run by the Benedictine monks of Saint Louis Abbey. History The school ...

in 1983. In 1983, Klein began his collegiate career with the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the N ...

. He then transferred to

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

after the 1984 season where he finished his college career. He was inducted into the

Saint Louis Billikens The Saint Louis Billikens are the college athletics in the United States, collegiate athletic teams that represent Saint Louis University, located in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri. The Billikens compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Natio ...

Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995. In 1987, Klein played for the independent F.C. Washington. Klein also played for St. Louis Kutis. In October 1989, Klein signed with the

St. Louis Storm The St. Louis Storm was a soccer team based out of St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992), Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). They played from 1989 to 1992. Their home arena was the St. Louis ...

of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He played four games before being moved to the developmental squad in December. When Klein refused to move to the developmental squad, the Storm released him. In the summer of 1990, Klein played for the

Colorado Foxes The Colorado Foxes were a professional men's soccer club originally based in Commerce City, Colorado, that played in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and USL A-League. Founded in 1990, the club moved to San Diego, California in ...

of the

. That fall, he signed with the Kansas City Comets of MISL where he played the 1990–1991 indoor season. In October 1991, he returned to the Storm. In the summer of 1992, he played for the

Miami Freedom The Miami Sharks were an inaugural franchise of the third incarnation of the American Soccer League (1988–89), American Soccer League in 1988. The team was renamed the Miami Freedom and joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when ...

. In 1992, he joined the St. Louis Ambush of the National Professional Soccer League. Klein is a member of the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame.

Coach

On February 11, 2000, Columbia College hired Klein as head coach of the men's soccer team. On January 21, 2025, Southeast Missouri State hired Klein as head coach for their women’s soccer team.

Personal

Klein has 3 children, John, Molly, and Emily.

John Klein III John David Klein III (born November 7, 1999) is an American professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a midfielder for USL Championship club Charleston Battery. Career Youth, college, and amateur Born in Kansas City, Missou ...

played on the St. Louis City 2 team in the 2023

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

. Molly played for Klein's Columbia College women's team from 2016 to 2019, and has also coached alongside her father at Columbia College as a graduate assistant.

References

External links

MISL stats

Columbia College coaching profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, John 1965 births Living people American soccer coaches American men's soccer players American Professional Soccer League players Colorado Foxes players Duke Blue Devils men's soccer players Kansas City Comets (1979–1991) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Miami Freedom players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer players Soccer players from St. Louis St. Louis Ambush (1992–2000) players St. Louis Kutis S.C. players St. Louis Storm players Alumni of Le Cordon Bleu Men's association football midfielders Columbia College (Missouri) faculty College men's soccer coaches in the United States College women's soccer coaches in the United States 20th-century American sportsmen