Steve Jolley

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Steve Jolley
Personal information
Date of birth October 15, 1975 (age 31)
Place of birth Virginia Beach, VA, United States
Height 6'1
Position defender
Youth clubs
1993-96 William & Mary
Professional clubs*
Years Club Apps (goals)
1997-2000
2000-03
2004-05
2006
Los Angeles Galaxy
MetroStars
Dallas Burn/FC Dallas
Red Bull New York
66 (4)
104 (7)
41 (1)
16 (0)

* Professional club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 24 November 2006.
** National team caps and goals correct
as of 24 November 2006.

This article is about the soccer player. For the record producer, see Jolley & Swain.

Steve Jolley (born October 15, 1975 in Virginia Beach, Virginia) is an American soccer defender, who last played for Red Bull New York in Major League Soccer.

Jolley led Kempsville High School to back-to-back Virginia state championships. After playing college soccer at College of William and Mary, Jolley was drafted by the Los Angeles Galaxy with the ninth overall pick of the 1997 MLS College Draft. He spent the next three years in Los Angeles, switching from the midfield into defense as time went on. The lowlight of his Galaxy career came in the 1999 MLS Cup, when Jolley had to come into the game just nine minutes from the start for the injured Robin Fraser. He was subsequently burned on a D.C. United goal as Los Angeles lost 2-0. Jolley scored four goals during his time with the Galaxy.

He was traded to the MetroStars for a second-round draft pick after playing just four minutes for the Galaxy in 2000. He combined with Mike Petke and Daniel Hernandez on an excellent three-man backline that helped the Metros rise in the MLS standings. Jolley would play every possible Metro minute of the 2000 and 2001 seasons. He finished his Metro career in 2003 with 104 league games and 129 in all competitions (both numbers third in team history), seven goals (eight in all competitions) and six assists. He also became prominent in the community and earned MLS Humanitarian of the Year honors in 2002 in part for his effort for 9/11 related charities.

Jolley was traded to the then-Dallas Burn before the 2004 season for Tenywa Bonseu. He became a regular for Dallas, scoring one goal and starting almost every game, but also had a dubious distinction of scoring two own goals in one game (thankfully for Jolley, only one of those was attributed to him). After losing his starting job with the club in 2005, he was traded back to the MetroStars before the 2006 season. At the end of the year, he was waived by the team, which had become known as Red Bull New York.