Roger Verdi (born Rajinder Singh Virdee on 4 February 1953) is an English retired 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 ...

who spent his entire career in North America, making over 100 league appearances in 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 ...

Early life

Verdi was born on 4 February 1953,1977 St. Louis Stars (NASL) media guide as Rajinder Singh Virdee in

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, to Indian Sikh parents. He was the youngest of their two sons. The family moved to England when Verdi was aged seven, settling in

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before bei ...

. He attended Sandwell Boys school. Verdi changed his name due to racism. He went by 'Roger Jones' and 'Roger Jones Verdi' before settling on 'Roger Verdi'.

Career

England

Verdi played with the youth teams of both

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

and Ipswich Town, but failing to get a professional contract with either team, moved to North America.

North America

Verdi began his career in Canada with the Vancouver Spartans. Verdi played in the NASL between 1972 and 1978 for the

Montreal Olympique The Montreal Olympique were a Canadian Association football, soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1971 North American Soccer League season, 1971 to 1973 North Americ ...

Miami Toros The Miami Toros were a professional soccer team in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League from 1972 to 1976. The club was founded in 1967 as the Washington Darts, and moved to Miami, where they played the ...

, St. Louis Stars and

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

, making a total of 103 league appearances. He later played in the ASL for the Cleveland Cobras, Columbus Magic, and the Phoenix Fire, and in the

MISL Major Indoor Soccer League has been the name of three different American professional indoor soccer leagues: *Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992), known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League *Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2 ...

for Phoenix Inferno.

Coaching career

After his playing career ended he moved into coaching, holding assistant coaching positions with Athlone Town FC, Stockport County, Phoenix Inferno and Cleveland Cobras. Other coaching positions include Co-director for Hubert Vogelsinger Soccer Academy in Texas, Connecticut and California and has been the Technical Director for youth clubs in Washington, New Mexico. He joined DFW Tornados as a coach in 2010. He is also the owner of the Roger Verdi International Soccer Academy.

Later life

Verdi retired to

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, working in construction.

References

1953 births Living people Footballers from Nairobi English people of Punjabi descent English people of Indian descent Sportspeople of Indian descent British Asian footballers English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers Kenyan people of Indian descent Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom British people of Indo-Kenyan descent North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Montreal Olympique players Miami Toros players St. Louis Stars (soccer) players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Men's association football defenders English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Cleveland Cobras players Columbus Magic players Phoenix Inferno players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Phoenix Fire (soccer) players {{England-footy-defender-1950s-stub