John Roeslein is a retired American

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 who was a member of championship teams at the high school, junior college,

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

and professional levels. He played two seasons in the American Soccer League where he was the 1976 Rookie of the Year.

Youth

Roeslein grew up in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

playing for numerous notable youth teams. He attended St. Mary's High School which won the 1970 Missouri High School soccer championship. He attended Florissant Valley Community College, playing for the school's soccer team in 1971 and 1972. He and his teammates won the 1971 National Junior College National Championships. In 1973, he transferred to St. Louis University where he won the 1973 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship.

Professional

In 1976, Roeslein signed with the

New Jersey Americans New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

of the American Soccer League. He shared Rookie of the Year honors with

Steve Ralbovsky Steve Ralbovsky is a Yugoslav-American former soccer player. He was the 1975 Hermann Trophy winner as the outstanding collegiate soccer player of the year. He then had an extensive professional career including time in the North American Soccer L ...

. He also played briefly on loan with Welsh club Tranmere Rovers F.C. in 1976. In 1977, the New Jersey Americans won the ASL championship.

Amateur

He retired from professional soccer following the 1977 season and returned to St. Louis where he played the rest of his career with local amateur teams. In 1978, he was with Busch Gardens S.C. before moving to St. Louis Kutis S.C. in 1979. He has also coached extensively on the youth level in the St. Louis area. He was inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame in 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roeslein, John American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players New Jersey Americans (soccer) players Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer players St. Louis Kutis S.C. players Soccer players from St. Louis Living people Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders Year of birth missing (living people) Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in England American expatriate sportspeople in England