Steve Ralston (born June 14, 1974) 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 and manager who played as a

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 ...

. He spent most of his playing career 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 ...

with the Tampa Bay Mutiny and the New England Revolution, retiring in 2010 as the league's all-time career leader in assists (135), appearances (378), starts (372), and minutes played (33,143). He also held the U.S. record for professional appearances (412) in 2010. In 2020, Major League Soccer selected Ralston as one of the greatest players in league history. Ralston served as assistant manager at several teams, including the Houston Dynamo 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 ...

, including a brief stint as the interim head coach at the Earthquakes in 2018.

Club career

Ralston was drafted 18th overall in the 1996 MLS College Draft by the Tampa Bay Mutiny out of

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

, and quickly established himself as one of the best players in the league, starting 31 matches in the club's inaugural campaign, scoring seven goals and notching two assists, and concluding the year as the first player in MLS history to win the Rookie of the Year Award. He also helped the club lift the first-ever Supporters' Shield. In his second season, Ralston started 29 matches and scored five goals, adding 11 assists. He was named to the 1997 MLS All-Star team. He started 29 matches in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, again scoring five goals, and recording eight assists. In

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, Ralston was voted Mutiny Team MVP, MLS Best XI, and won the MLS Fair Play Award. He started all 32 matches for the club, scoring five goals and recording a league-leading eighteen assists. In 2000, Ralston was named an MLS All-Star for the second time, won the MLS Fair Play Award for the second time, and finished second in the league in assists, with 17. In total, Ralston played for the Mutiny for six years, leaving only after the team was contracted in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. Ralston departed as the Mutiny as the club's all-time leader in games played (177) and points (130). On January 11, 2002, Ralston was selected by the New England Revolution in the 2002 Allocation Draft. In his first year with the Revolution, Ralston led the league in assists with 19. He was named MLS Best XI for the second time, and an MLS All-Star for the third time. He helped the team reach the MLS Cup final for the first time, ultimately losing to the

LA 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 ...

on a Golden Goal in extra time. Ralston was named an MLS All-Star in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, and won goal of the week twice - in week 15 and 19. He was subsequently a finalist for MLS Goal of the Year, and was named Revolution Team MVP. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, Ralston was a finalist for the MLS Fair Play Award. He was again named an MLS All-Star in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, and led the league in assists, with 14. On July 14, 2007 against the New York Red Bulls, Ralston surpassed his former teammate Carlos Valderrama to become the MLS all-time leader in assists, with 115. In 2007 Ralston also helped the club win its first-ever silverware in the form of the 2007 U.S. Open Cup. In

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 ...

, Ralston was named MLS Player of the Week twice - in matchweeks four and five. He was named an MLS All-Star for the sixth time. He also won the Revolution team Golden Boot award, scoring eight goals and recording seven assists. That year he helped the club secure its second-ever piece of silverware, the 2008 North American SuperLiga, scoring in the final and converting a penalty during the subsequent shoot-out. In

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Ralston won the MLS Fair Play Award, and was named Revolution Humanitarian of the Year. He suffered a season-ending knee injury in September of the 2009 season. Ralston's contract with the Revolution ended at the conclusion of the 2009 season, and he left the club to become the first-ever signing of new USSF Division 2 club AC St. Louis. Ralston was one of the team's starting midfielders, and an assistant coach to head coach Claude Anelka. After AC St. Louis ran in to financial difficulties, Ralston agreed to leave by mutual consent and immediately joined up with his former club New England Revolution. In Ralston's first appearance back with the New England Revolution, he suffered a left elbow dislocation. In July 2010, he announced his retirement. Ralston ended his Major League Soccer career as the league's leader in minutes played (33,143), games started (372), appearances (378), and assists (135). In thirteen years in the league, he scored 76 goals and had 135 assists in 378 regular season matches, and added three goals and seven assists in 30 playoff matches. He also served as captain for several seasons with New England, from 2007-2009.

International career

Ralston appeared for the United States national team 36 times over an 11-year span and scored 4 international goals. His first cap came on January 17, 1997, against

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. His last was for the squad that won the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He was never selected to a World Cup roster. Ralston had a break out year for the United States national team in 2005 by earning 15 caps. He scored the game-winning goal in a World Cup qualifying match against Mexico on September 3, 2005. The victory for the United States clinched qualification in the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

. Due to a later injury, he was only listed as an alternate for the United States at the World Cup.

Coaching career

In July 2010, Ralston took an assistant coaching job at the Houston Dynamo with his former Mutiny teammate Dominic Kinnear. On January 6, 2015, the

announced Ralston would join Kinnear in San Jose and once again serve as his assistant coach.

Honors

United States * CONCACAF Gold Cup:

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

New England Revolution * U.S. Open Cup:

* North American SuperLiga:

Tampa Bay Mutiny * Supporters' Shield: 1996 Individual * MLS 50/50 Club * MLS Rookie of the Year:

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

* MLS All-Star:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

* MLS Best XI (3):

* MLS Fair Play Award (3):

* MLS top assist provider:

References

External links

*
Houston Dynamo staff profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ralston, Steve 1974 births Living people American men's soccer players Soccer players from St. Louis FIU Panthers men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Tampa Bay Mutiny players New England Revolution players AC St. Louis players USSF Division 2 Professional League players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Tampa Bay Mutiny draft picks Houston Dynamo FC non-playing staff San Jose Earthquakes non-playing staff Men's association football midfielders Player-coaches AC St. Louis coaches 20th-century American sportsmen