Jeff Durgan
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jeffrey D. Durgan | ||
| Date of birth | August 29, 1961 | ||
| Place of birth | Tacoma, Washington, United States | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1980–1982 | New York Cosmos | 81 | (0) |
| 1981–1982 | New York Cosmos (indoor) | 13 | (3) |
| 1983 | Team America | 27 | (0) |
| 1983–1984 | New York Cosmos | 13 | (0) |
| 1984 | New York Cosmos (indoor) | 24 | (2) |
| 1984–1985 | New York Cosmos (MISL) | 14 | (0) |
| 1985 | F.C. Seattle | 4 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1983–1985 | United States | 7 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Jeffrey "Jeff" Durgan (born August 29, 1961 in Tacoma, Washington) 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, Durgan turned professional with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL), debuting in April 1980. In his first year in the league he started 28 of the Cosmos' 32 regular games. Showing what sportswriter George Vecsey called "a controlled aggressiveness characteristic of a player far beyond his years", he was named the league's Rookie of the Year, beating fellow Tacoma youth team mate Mark Peterson of the Seattle Sounders. In 1982, he was selected as a second team NASL All Star. Durgan won the Soccer Bowl, the NASL championship, with the Cosmos in 1980 and 1982, but they lost in 1981 to the Chicago Sting after a penalty shootout.
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, known as Team America. USSF then invited players from throughout the NASL, Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) and American Soccer League to leave their teams to play for Team America. Although he expressed doubts about the new team, Durgan left the Cosmos and signed with Team America, who he captained. Many top players stayed with their previous clubs, something Durgan criticised, saying "let them come and help. You have to get off the fence." Team America ended the season at the bottom of the league and when USSF pulled the national team from the NASL at the end of the 1983 season, Durgan rejoined the Cosmos. In May 1984, the Cosmos asked Durgan and two other players to take a 20% pay cut, and another to take a 45% pay cut. When they refused to accept the cuts the team waived them, and then re-signed Durgan and two other players for less pay after the other eight teams in the NASL declined to sign them under the terms of their original contracts.
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