Jonny Steele
Steele with the New York Red Bulls, talking to head coach Mike Petke, 2013
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jonathan Steele | ||
| Date of birth | 7 February 1986 | ||
| Place of birth | Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
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Current team
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Miami FC | ||
| Number | 22 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2002–2004 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2004 | Syracuse Salty Dogs | 9 | (1) |
| 2005–2006 | Rochester Raging Rhinos | 18 | (1) |
| 2006 | Ballymena United | 5 | (0) |
| 2007 | Carolina RailHawks | 19 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Puerto Rico Islanders | 49 | (7) |
| 2010 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 13 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | FC Tampa Bay | 10 | (1) |
| 2011 | → Carolina RailHawks (loan) | 26 | (0) |
| 2012 | Real Salt Lake | 29 | (2) |
| 2013–2014 | New York Red Bulls | 48 | (6) |
| 2014 | Newcastle Jets | 2 | (0) |
| 2015 | Minnesota United | 5 | (0) |
| 2016 | Ottawa Fury | 12 | (0) |
| 2016– | Miami FC | 17 | (2) |
| National team‡ | |||
| Northern Ireland U16 | 13 | (0) | |
| Northern Ireland U17 | 7 | (0) | |
| Northern Ireland U18 | 3 | (2) | |
| Northern Ireland U19 | 13 | (0) | |
| 2013–2014 | Northern Ireland | 3 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 November 2016. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2013 |
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Jonathan "Jonny" Steele (born 7 February 1986) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who currently plays for Miami FC in the North American Soccer League. He has also received three caps for the Northern Ireland national team.
Steele was raised in a Catholic family along with three brothers in the predominantly Protestant town of Larne, about 25 miles outside of Belfast. Steele often experienced religious violence and persecution resulting from The Troubles, including being attacked outside of a video rental store. Because of this violence, Steele's mother pleaded with him to leave home and the best opportunity to play football came from Wolverhampton Wanderers. After two years of not being able to make a breakthrough with Wolverhampton, Steele was released after the 2002–2003 season. At the age of 18, he then decided to try to earn a contract elsewhere in Europe or with Major League Soccer of the United States instead of returning home to Northern Ireland.
Steele started his career with Wolverhampton Wanderers in England between 2002–2004. Although he featured for the youth and reserve sides, never played a game for the senior team.
Steele moved to the United States in 2003, for an ultimately unsuccessful trial with the Dallas Burn of Major League Soccer. Instead, he signed with the Syracuse Salty Dogs of the USL First Division in 2004. and that fall, he joined the Kansas City Comets of Major Indoor Soccer League. 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. He returned to the United States in 2005 and spent the summer with the Rochester Rhinos. 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.
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