Jonny Steele

Personal information
Full name	Jonathan Steele
Date of birth	February 7, 1986 (1986-02-07) (age 23)
Place of birth	Larne, Northern Ireland
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Puerto Rico Islanders
Number	22
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0	(0)
2004	Syracuse Salty Dogs	9	(1)
2004–2005	Kansas City Comets (indoor)	13	(8)
2005–2006	Rochester Raging Rhinos	18	(1)
2005–2007	Baltimore Blast (indoor)	39	(13)
2006	Ballymena United
2007	Carolina RailHawks	19	(0)
2007–2008	Philadelphia KiXX (indoor)	17	(7)
2008–	Puerto Rico Islanders	49	(6)
National team
	Northern Ireland U-19
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 October, 2009. † Appearances (Goals).

Jonathan "Jonny" Steele (born February 7, 1986 in Larne) is a Northern Irish soccer player who currently plays for Puerto Rico Islanders in the USL First Division.

[edit] Career

[edit] Club

Steele started his career with Wolverhampton Wanderers in England, but never played a senior game for the side, and came to the United States in 2003, for an (ultimately uncessful) trial with the Dallas Burn of Major League Soccer. Instead, he signed with the Syracuse Salty Dogs of the USL First Division in 2004^[1] and that fall, he joined the Kansas City Comets of Major Indoor Soccer League.^[2] He played thirteen games before the Comets placed him on the inactive roster to allow him to compete with the Northern Ireland U-19 national team.^[3]

He returned to the United States in 2005 and spent the summer with the Rochester Rhinos^[4]. As the Comets had folded at the end of the 2004-2005 season, the Baltimore Blast selected Steele with the 26th pick in the Dispersal Draft.

He returned home to Northern Ireland in August 2005 and had a short spell with Irish League side Ballymena United, before returning to America when his short-term contract expired. He won the 2006 MISL Championship with the Blast, and played for the Rhinos again in the summer of 2006.^[5] In the spring of 2007, he signed with the expansion Carolina RailHawks of the USL First Division. He was also the first pick of the expansion Orlando Sharks in the 2007 MISL Expansion Draft,^[6] but was traded to the Philadelphia KiXX in exchange for Gaston Pernia.^[7] Steele played seventeen games with the KiXX during the 2007-2008 MISL season, missing part of the season with a foot injury.^[8]

In the spring of 2008, he moved to the Puerto Rico Islanders of USL-1. He was a key part of a team which took the USL-1 championship and was named the 2008 USL-1 MVP.^[9]

[edit] International

Steele was a member of the Northern Ireland U-19 national team, but has never made an appearance for the senior side.

[edit] Honors

[edit] Puerto Rico Islanders

• USL First Division Commissioner's Cup (1): 2008

[edit] Individual

• USL First Division MVP: 2008

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Puerto Rico Islanders bio
• Philadelphia KiXX bio