John Thorrington

Personal information
Full name	John Gerard Thorrington
Date of birth	October 17, 1979 (1979-10-17) (age 30)
Place of birth	Johannesburg, South Africa
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current club	Chicago Fire
Number	11
Youth career
1997–1999	Manchester United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1999–2001	Bayer Leverkusen	0	(0)
2001–2003	Huddersfield Town	67	(7)
2004	Grimsby Town	3	(0)
2005–	Chicago Fire	54	(7)
National team‡
2001–	United States	4	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 October, 2009. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 March, 2009

John Thorrington (born October 17, 1979 in Johannesburg) is a South African-born American soccer player who currently plays for Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer.

[edit] Career

[edit] Professional

At the age of 17, Thorrington signed with Manchester United in 1997. He then transferred to Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. After a short spell on trial with Bolton Wanderers in the 2000–01 season, Thorrington signed with Huddersfield Town, then in the second tier of English football; however, the team was relegated before he was eligible to play. At the end of a promising first season there, he developed a hamstring injury, which led to chronic leg troubles. He transferred to Grimsby Town in March 2004 but was sidelined again after only three games for the club. Next, Thorrington signed with the Chicago Fire in early 2005, but injury problems continued. In mid-2006, during the team's inaugural training session in its new stadium, Thorrington suffered a knee injury. On April 8, 2007, he made an appearance with Chivas USA's reserves against Toronto, although it is unclear in what capacity.

Thorrington scored his first goal of the season on 21 October 2007, netting a stoppage-time strike for the Chicago Fire against the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Since 2007 Thorrington has become an integral part of the Chicago Midfield, In 2008 he scored 5 goals and had 2 assists. Although normally a winger in the 2009 season he has played defensive midfield and attacking midfield in the absences of Logan Pause and Cuauhtemoc Blanco.^[1]

[edit] International

Thorrington has earned four caps for the U.S. national team — his first as a substitute against Ecuador on June 7, 2001, his second seven years later as a substitute against Barbados on 22 June 2008, and his third (his first start) against Guatemala in the last game of the Semifinal round, and a friendly against Sweden.

As well as playing 4 times for the U.S. national team he is seen as a fringe player and has been called up to multiple National Team camps including one in January and one before the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup but did not make the roster.^[2]

[edit] See also

• List of current MLS players

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• MLS player profile