Jeff Parke (born March 23, 1982) is an American former

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 ...

player. He played 11 seasons in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

, appearing in over 250 matches.

Youth

Parke played for powerhouse youth club FC Delco. He then played four years of

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

Drexel University Drexel University is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony Joseph Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel, a financier ...

Professional

New York

Parke was drafted by the MetroStars with 60th and last overall pick of the

2004 MLS SuperDraft The 2004 MLS SuperDraft, held in Charlotte, North Carolina on January 16, 2004, was the fifth incarnation of the annual Major League Soccer MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft. The draft was most notable at the time for the selection of one of the younge ...

. He played in the 2005 pre-season, scoring the game-winning goal against Norway's

Viking FK Viking Fotballklubb, commonly known as Viking or Viking Stavanger internationally, is a Norwegian professional football club from the city of Stavanger. The club was founded in 1899. It is one of the most successful clubs in Norwegian football, ...

in the 2005 La Manga Cup, which helped him earn a starting spot on the MLS team. He remained an important part of the team's defense in 2005 and 2006, quickly becoming one of the team's stalwarts on the back line. In 2006, he started a career-high 31 games, was named Red Bulls' Ironman of the Year for logging in a team-high 2,771 minutes, and was named Co-Unsung Player of the Year by members of the soccer media, sharing that honor with Seth Stammler. In 2007 Parke continued to be a fixture in the Red Bull lineup, appearing in 28 matches including 27 starts. In 2008, he appeared in 24 league matches for

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

Other MLS clubs

On November 26, 2008, Parke was selected by

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

in the third round of the 2008 MLS Expansion Draft, but he chose not to sign with Seattle. Instead, on March 31, 2009, Parke signed a one-year contract with the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

of the

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

. In May 2010, Parke did sign with Seattle. He remained with the club for three seasons and was voted Seattle's defender of the year in both 2011 and 2012. In December 2012, Parke was traded to his hometown side

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

in exchange for a 2013 MLS Supplemental Draft pick and allocation money. JeffParke defending Patrick Nyarko

On January 14, 2014, Parke was traded to D.C. United in exchange for Ethan White. Parke played only 13 games for the club, before a combination of foot injuries and migraines requiring inner-ear surgery sidelined him for the rest of the season.

International

On January 5, 2012, Parke was called into camp for the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT), officially recognized as USA by FIFA, represents the United States in men's international Association football, soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation, which is ...

in preparation for friendly matches against

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. He made his international debut against Panama, coming on in the 55th minute for Chris Wondolowski after Geoff Cameron received a red card.

Drug controversy

On October 16, 2008, Parke, along with goalkeeper Jon Conway, was suspended for 10 matches each and fined 10 percent of their annual salaries after testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug. Parke and Conway tested positive for

androstenedione Androstenedione, or 4-androstenedione (abbreviated as A4 or Δ4-dione), also known as androst-4-ene-3,17-dione, is an endogenous weak androgen steroid hormone and intermediate in the biosynthesis of estrone and of testosterone from dehydroe ...

(ATD) and boldenone

metabolite In biochemistry, a metabolite is an intermediate or end product of metabolism. The term is usually used for small molecules. Metabolites have various functions, including fuel, structure, signaling, stimulatory and inhibitory effects on enzymes, c ...

s, two banned performance-enhancing steroids, after taking an over-the-counter supplement they purchased at The Vitamin Shoppe. The suspensions are currently the longest in MLS history.

Career statistics

Honors

New York Red Bulls

Western Conference Championship (1):

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Seattle Sounders FC

* Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (2):

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parke, Jeff 1982 births Living people American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players Drexel Dragons men's soccer players New York Red Bulls players Vancouver Whitecaps (1986–2010) players Seattle Sounders FC players Philadelphia Union players D.C. United players Men's association football defenders New York Red Bulls draft picks Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Major League Soccer players USL First Division players United States men's international soccer players Doping cases in association football Sportspeople from Downingtown, Pennsylvania Soccer players from Chester County, Pennsylvania