Kevin Souter (born 7 January 1984) is a Scottish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

Club career

Early career in Scotland

Kevin graduated from the Grant Smith Soccer Academy in Portsoy before heading to play for the Westhill boy's club, and was a member of

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

team

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

's youth setup, making four first team league appearances for them between 2002 and 2003. He joined Scottish non-league side Buckie Thistle in 2004, and played for them in the

Highland Football League The Scottish Highland Football League (SHFL, commonly known as the Highland League) is a senior football league based in the north of Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Scott ...

for one year prior to his move across the Atlantic.

College and amateur

Souter moved to the United States in 2005 to play

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 ...

for

Graceland University Graceland University is a private university with campuses in Lamoni, Iowa, and Independence, Missouri. The university offers degree completion and master's degree programs. It also offers undergraduate and graduate programs online. The univers ...

, where he was named 2nd Team NAIA All-American in 2007 and was an Honorable-Mention All-American choice when his team won the 2006 NAIA National Championship. During his college years he also played with

Des Moines Menace Des Moines Menace is an American soccer team based in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1994, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the United States soccer league system. The Menace have had sustained success in USL Lea ...

in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

Professional

Souter was signed as a developmental player by

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The administrative offices are located in downtown K ...

in May 2008 after impressing head coach

Curt Onalfo Curt Onalfo (born November 19, 1969) is an American former association football, soccer player and coach who currently serves as sporting director of Major League Soccer club New England Revolution. As a player, he played two seasons in France ...

during a two-day open tryout. He made his debut for them on 13 September 2008, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Herculez Gomez Herculez Gomez (born April 6, 1982) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He currently works as a commentator in both English and Spanish for ESPN. Early ...

against

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

. He scored his first

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 ...

goal against

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

in the 79 minute.

Josh Wolff Joshua David Wolff (born February 25, 1977) is an American soccer coach and former player. Playing career College Wolff was born in Stone Mountain, Georgia. He played three years of college soccer at the University of South Carolina, where he ...

gave him the goal through an assist. Souter was waived by Kansas City during the 2010 pre-season, and initially 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 ...

off the waivers list, but was not offered a contract by the MLS club because their front office was targeting other international players. In 2011, he played in the southern Ontario-based

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

with the

Serbian White Eagles Serbian White Eagles Football Club (/''Fudbalski klub Srpski beli orlovi'') is a Canadian semi-professional Association football, soccer team. The team is a member of the Canadian Soccer League, a Non-FIFA international football, non-FIFA sanct ...

Coaching career

Having failed to secure a professional contract elsewhere, Souter moved to Canada to be a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for the

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District in downtown Toronto, although i ...

men's soccer team in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, under head coach Ivan Joseph (his former coach at

). Having taken some classes at the university to allow him to play in 2010, Souter became the head coach of the women's team for the 2011 season, with Joseph staying on as an assistant until 2012. In March 2015, Souter stepped down as head coach citing fatigue and a desire to move closer to family in Scotland.

References

External links

*
MLS player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Souter, Kevin 1984 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Scottish men's footballers Aberdeen F.C. players Des Moines Menace players Graceland University alumni Sporting Kansas City players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players USL League Two players Scottish Premier League players Major League Soccer players Serbian White Eagles FC players Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Buckie Thistle F.C. players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Highland Football League players 21st-century Scottish sportsmen