Jeff Durgan

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Personal information
Jeff Durgan
Full name	Jeffrey D. Durgan
Date of birth
Place of birth	Tacoma, Washington, United States
Height	5 ft 10 in
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Retired
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1980-1982 1983 1984 1985	New York Cosmos Team America New York Cosmos F.C. Seattle	81 (0) 27 (0) 13 (0) 4 (0)
National team²
1983-1985	United States	7 (1)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:33, 3 january 2007 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 7 December 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Jeff Durgan is a retired U.S. soccer defender who played professionally for the New York Cosmos and seven times for the U.S. national team.

Durgan was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington where he attended Stadium High School. After graduating from high school, Durgan elected forego college and turn pro with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League. In 1980, his first year in the league, he won Rookie of the Year, beating out fellow Tacoma youth team mate Mark Peterson of the Seattle Sounders. In 1982, he was selected as a second team NASL All Star. In 1983, the U.S. Soccer Federation attempted to create a more successful U.S. national team by entering the team into the NASL as a franchise. USSF held several tryouts for U.S. players in the NASL, MISL and ASL. Durgan left the Cosmos and signed with Team America. However, the team stumbled to a 10-20 record and the bottom of the league standings. Additionally, Durgan became an outspoken critic of U.S. players who preferred to remain with their original clubs. The targets of his vitriol included Mark Peterson who joined Team America on loan from the Sounders for seven games. When USSF pulled the national team from the NASL at the end of the 1983 season, Durgan rejoined the Cosmos. However, in May 1984, the Cosmos requested that he take a 20% pay cut. When he refused, the team waived him then resigned him for the lower pay after no other league team expressed an interest in signing him. The Cosmos won the NASL championship in 1980 and 1984. When the league folded after the 1984 season, the Cosmos moved to Major Indoor Soccer League but did not make it through the end of the 1984-1985 season before folding.

When the Cosmos collapsed, Durgan moved back to the Seattle area to sign with F.C. Seattle on May 20, 1985. However, Seattle coach Bruce Rioch released Durgan from the team on July 29, 1985 after he was ejected for commiting several flagrant in an exhibition match with the Canadian national soccer team.^[1]

Durgan earned seven caps with the U.S. national team between 1983 and 1985. He scored one goal. He was also a member of the U.S. Olympic team at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He played all three matches for the U.S. which ran to a 1-1-1 record and failed to qualify for the second round.