Gregory Stewart Ion (born March 12, 1963, in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

retired

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Professional

The son of Gordie Ion, Ion graduated from Burnaby North Secondary School. In 1981, the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

selected him in the first round of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

draft. However, he lost the entire 1981 season with a knee injury. He came back in 1982 and played nine games, but the team folded at the end of the season. He then signed with the

Montreal Manic The Montreal Manic or the Manic de Montréal were a professional soccer team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, that played in the North American Soccer League. History "Le Manic" as they were called by the locals, were Montreal's first professi ...

, but that team collapsed at the end of the 1983 season. On November 10, 1983, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers purchased his contract from the Manic. The Strikers sent Ion to the Tulsa Roughnecks during the 1984 pre-season. When the NASL collapsed at the end of the season, Ion moved to the

Los Angeles Lazers The Los Angeles Lazers were an indoor soccer team that played in the Major Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) from 1982 to 1989. History Jerry Buss, the owner of California Sports, the parent company of the Los Angeles Lakers, Los ...

of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He remained with the Lazers until March 26, 1987, when the team traded him to the

Minnesota Strikers The Minnesota Strikers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1984 season and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. The team was based in Minneapolis/ St. Paul metrop ...

in exchange for Thompson Usiyan. He finished the season with the Strikers. On October 2, 1987, the Strikers traded him to the San Diego Sockers in exchange for draft picks and cash. On November 6, 1987, the Sockers waived Ion during the pre-season as part of a salary reduction move. The

Chicago Sting The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from ...

quickly signed him and he spent the 1987–1988 season in Chicago. The Sting, facing financial collapse, released Ion and ten other players on June 2, 1988. Ion then moved to the Kansas City Comets for two seasons. In 1990, he moved to the Tacoma Stars for two seasons. During the 1986 and 1989, Ion played for the

Vancouver 86ers Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The Met ...

of the Canadian Soccer League. He is inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame as member of the record setting 1989 team.

National team

Ion was part of the Canadian team that participated in the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

in 1986.

Post-playing career

Ion was soccer marketer for

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

and is Program Director of their ESP youth program. He currently runs his own marketing compan

He has also been Administrative Director of Club Development with youth soccer club Washington Premier Football Club, in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

. He is a USSF A licensed coach. Greg has three daughters Kelsey, Claire and Katelynn.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ion, Greg 1963 births Living people 1986 FIFA World Cup players American soccer coaches Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Canadian soccer coaches Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Canadian men's soccer players Canadian people of Scottish descent Chicago Sting (MISL) players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Men's association football midfielders Kansas City Comets (1979–1991) players Los Angeles Lazers players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Montreal Manic players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Soccer players from Tacoma, Washington Soccer players from Vancouver Portland Timbers (1975–1982) players Tacoma Stars players Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984) players Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen