John Diffley (soccer)

Last updated
John Diffley
Personal information
Full name John Diffley
Date of birth (1967-01-11) January 11, 1967 (age 56)
Place of birth New City, New York, United States
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1985–1988 American University
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1989 Albany Capitals
1989–1991 Atlanta Attack (indoor)
1991 Penn-Jersey Spirit 17 (0)
1992–1993 Haarlem
1994 North Jersey Imperials
1995 Long Island Rough Riders
1996 Tampa Bay Mutiny 13 (0)
1997 Kansas City Wizards 6 (0)
1998–1999 Staten Island Vipers 32 (0)
2003 New York Freedom 6 (0)
International career
1988 United States 7 (0)
Managerial career
1995–1996 Dominican College
1997–2001 St. John's University (assistant)
2003 New York Freedom (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Diffley (born January 11, 1967, in New City, New York) is a retired American soccer player who is currently the Senior Associate Athletic Director for Administration at St. John's University.

Contents

Youth and college

Diffley attended Albertus Magnus High School of Rockland, New York where he played on the soccer team from 1981 to 1984. He was a Parade High School All-American and was inducted into the Albertus Magnus Hall of Fame in 1998. In 1985, he entered American University. He spent four seasons as a midfielder with American. During Diffley's freshman year, American went to the NCAA title game where the Eagles fell to the University of California, Los Angeles in eight overtimes. Diffley graduated in 1989 with honors and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006.

Professional

In 1989, Diffley began his professional career with the Albany Capitals of the American Soccer League (ASL). [1] At the conclusion of the ASL season, Diffley signed with the expansion indoor team Atlanta Attack of the American Indoor Soccer Association (AISA). The Attack finished second in the league 1989-1990 standings and went to the playoff semi-finals before losing to the Dayton Dynamo. In the 1990 off-season, the AISA renamed itself the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). The Attack again finished second in the standings, but fell to Dayton again in the first round of the playoffs. That summer, Diffley moved to the Penn-Jersey Spirit of the American Professional Soccer League (APSL). [2] Diffley then decided to try a career in Europe. He signed with Dutch Second Division club HFC Haarlem and spent the 1992–1993 season in the Netherlands. [3] In 1994, Diffley joined the North Jersey Imperials of USISL, where he was captain and was named to the USISL All-Star team. The next season, 1995, he signed with the Long Island Rough Riders. That year, Long Island won the USISL national championship. Diffley was named to the Championship All-Tournament team. The Tampa Bay Mutiny of Major League Soccer (MLS) drafted Diffley in the third round (twenty-seventh overall) of the 1996 Draft. He saw time in thirteen games before being traded to the Kansas City Wizards for the 1997 season. When the Wizards released him, Diffley became a full-time coach but continued to play for the Staten Island Vipers in 1998 and 1999. [4] In 2003, Diffley was a player-assistant coach with the New York Freedom.

Coaching

In 1995, Diffley became the head coach for the Dominican College men's soccer team. In 1997, he moved to St. John's University where he served as an assistant coach with the men's soccer team while working on his master's degree in business administration.

Administration

In 2001, Diffley gained his master's degree and left St. John's to work in the financial industry. On January 1, 2004, Diffley returned to St. John's when the school hired him as its Senior Associate Athletic Director for Administration.

National team

Diffley earned seven caps with the U.S. national team in 1988. He earned his first cap as a substitute for Jeff Agoos in a 1–0 loss to Guatemala on January 10, 1988. Earned eight caps for the U.S. in 1988 when he contended for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. His last game came six months later as a substitute for Brian Bliss in a June 12 tie with Ecuador. At the time the national team was preparing for the 1988 Summer Olympics. Diffley was selected as an alternate for the 1988 for the U.S. Olympic Team.

American University inducted Diffley into its Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006. [5]

Related Research Articles

Michael Sweeney is a Canadian former soccer player. In 2012, as part of the Canadian Soccer Association's centennial celebration, he was named to the all-time Canada XI men's team.

Bruce Edward Murray is an American former professional soccer player who at the time of his retirement was the all-time leading scorer for the U.S. National Team. His standout college career led to his selection by Soccer America Magazine to its College Team of the Century. He then played professionally in both Europe and the United States, including the American Soccer League and American Professional Soccer League. Concussion syndrome forced him to retire in 1995, Murray had earned 86 caps, scoring 21 goals, including one at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He was also a member of the U.S. national futsal team which placed third at the 1989 FIFA Futsal World Championship. Murray is the Direct of Coaching at Accelerator School DC Metro. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Winston DuBose is an American former soccer goalkeeper who spent eight seasons in the North American Soccer League, four in the American Professional Soccer League and one in the American Indoor Soccer Association. He also earned fourteen caps with the United States men's national soccer team.

Dan Donigan is a retired United States soccer forward and former coach who played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League. Following his playing career he coached at the collegiate level as an assistant coach for Connecticut and Saint Louis, and subsequently as a head coach for Saint Louis and Rutgers.

Janusz Michallik is a retired professional soccer player, coach, and current television sports commentator. Born in Poland, he represented the United States national team.

James Michael Gabarra is an American retired soccer forward who coached the Washington Spirit National Women's Soccer League team, and previously coached Sky Blue FC and the Washington Freedom women's soccer teams. He played professionally in the American Soccer League, United Soccer League, American Indoor Soccer Association, Major Indoor Soccer League and Western Soccer Alliance.

Michael Brady is a retired soccer player who is an assistant coach for the Duke University men's soccer team. He previously coached the American University women's soccer team. He played professionally, both indoors and out, in the United States. He also earned three caps with the U.S. national team in 1984 and 1985.

Jorge Acosta is a Colombian-born American retired soccer forward. He spent most of his career in the lower U.S. divisions, as well as four in the Colombian first division. He also earned twelve caps with the U.S. national team in 1991 and 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Masters</span> American soccer player (born 1967)

Michael Masters is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He is the first American to score a goal in Wembley Stadium. He played one season in the American Soccer League, three season in its successor, the American Professional Soccer League, and the end of the 1991-1992 English season during which his team, Colchester United, won the FA Trophy final. Masters also earned one cap with the U.S. national team in 1992.

Vojislav "Scoop" Stanisic is a retired Serbian-born American soccer goalkeeper who was most recently the goalkeeping coach for Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer. He spent most of his career playing indoor soccer in the United States, but also played five outdoor seasons in the American Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League and USISL. He earned one cap with the US national team in 1993.

Paul Holocher is a former U.S. soccer midfielder who played in Austria and Major League Soccer. He also earned one caps with the U.S. national team in 1996. He was the Academy Director for MLS club Houston Dynamo.

Ted Gillen is a former U.S. soccer defender who currently coaches men’s high school soccer. Gillen played one season in Major Soccer League, two in the American Professional Soccer League, one in USISL and one in Major League Soccer. He earned three caps with the U.S. national team in 1988. He has also served as an assistant soccer coach at several universities.

Dave Smyth is a retired U.S. soccer defender who spent two seasons in the American Soccer League and two in the American Professional Soccer League. He also earned one cap with the U.S. national team.

Mark Semioli is a retired American soccer defender who played six seasons in Major Soccer League, four in American Professional Soccer League and three in USISL. He won the 1994 U.S. Open Cup with the San Francisco Greek-Americans.

Jim McGeough is a retired Irish-American soccer defender. His career spanned over a dozen teams in seven leagues including the American Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League, Major Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League.

John Dolinsky is a retired German-American soccer player who played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, American Soccer League, United Soccer League and American Indoor Soccer Association. He also coached in the American Indoor Soccer Association where he was the 1989 Coach of the Year.

David Masur is a retired American soccer midfielder who played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League and USISL. He is the head coach of the St. John's University men's soccer team. He was the 1996 NCAA Division I Coach of the Year and led the Red Storm to the 1996 NCAA national championship.

Kevin Sloan is a retired American soccer player who played professionally in the American Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League. He has also coached professionally and is the former head coach of the Neumann College men's soccer team. Kevin took on a bigger role in 2015, when he resigned from Neumann to take on a new challenge as a scout for Manchester City

Scott Cook is a retired American soccer player who played professionally in the American Professional Soccer League, National Professional Soccer League and USISL.

Jeff Nattans is a retired American soccer defender who played professionally in the American Professional Soccer League and USISL Pro League.

References

  1. ↑ "ASL 1989 Season".
  2. ↑ "APSL 1991 Season".
  3. ↑ http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/SoccerAmerica/2002/sa1542m.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  4. ↑ SOCCER SUNDAY / LOCAL SCENE / Diffley IsThriving, But Busy
  5. ↑ "Official Athletic Site of American University". Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.