Steve Wegerle

{{Infobox football biography

| name= Steve Wegerle

| fullname =

| image = Steve Wegerle (1975).jpg

| caption = Steve Wegerle (1975)

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1953|5|15}}

| birth_place = Pretoria, South Africa

| height =

| position = Winger

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 = Leyland Motors

| years1 = 1968–1970

| years2 = 1970–1971

| years3 = 1971–1974

| years4 = 1975

| years5 = 1975–1976

| years6 = 1976

| years7 = 1977–1981

| years8 = 1979–1980

| years9 = 1981–1982

| years10 = 1981–1982

| years11 = 1983

| years12 = 1983

| years13 = 1983–1984

| years14 = 1984

| years15 = 1984–1986

| years16 = 1986–1987

| years17 = 1988–1990

| clubs1 = Arcadia United

| clubs2 = Leyland Motors

| clubs3 = Arcadia Shepherds

| clubs4 = Coventry City

| clubs5 = Feyenoord

| clubs6 = Arcadia Shepherds

| clubs7 = Tampa Bay Rowdies

| clubs8 = Tampa Bay Rowdies (indoor)

| clubs9 = New York Cosmos

| clubs10 = New York Cosmos (indoor)

| clubs11 = Fort Lauderdale Strikers (indoor)

| clubs12 = Fort Lauderdale Strikers

| clubs13 = Tampa Bay Rowdies (indoor)

| clubs14 = Tampa Bay Rowdies

| clubs15 = Wichita Wings (indoor)

| clubs16 = Tampa Bay Rowdies (indoor)

| clubs17 = Tampa Bay Rowdies

| caps1 =

| caps2 =

| caps3 =

| caps4 = 0

| caps5 = 5

| caps6 =

| caps7 = 138

| caps8 = 5

| caps9 = 35

| caps10 = 18

| caps11 = 8

| caps12 = 19

| caps13 = 25

| caps14 = 23

| caps15 = 57

| caps16 = 35

| goals1 =

| goals2 =

| goals3 =

| goals4 = 0

| goals5 = 1

| goals6 =

| goals7 = 32

| goals8 = 5

| goals9 = 5

| goals10 = 7

| goals11 = 7

| goals12 = 0

| goals13 = 5

| goals14 = 3

| goals15 = 16

| goals16 = 26

| nationalyears1 =

| nationalteam1 = South Africa

| nationalcaps1 = 5

| nationalgoals1 = ?

}}

Steve Wegerle (born 15 May 1953) is a South African former professional soccer player who played as a winger.

Early life

Wegerle was born in Pretoria.

Playing career

He was voted Player of the Year is South Africa in 1974.{{cite web|publisher=Lakeland Ledger|title=Rowdies sign winger Wegerle|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_nIsAAAAIBAJ&pg=5012,3556183&dq=steve+wegerle&hl=en|date=16 January 1977}} He then joined Coventry City in 1975, but made no first team appearances. Steve Wegerle played 5 times for Feyenoord Rotterdam in 1975–76, finishing 2nd with Feyenoord in the Dutch competition, with 88 goals for and 40 goals against. His brother Geoffrey also played for Feyenoord Rotterdam in that 1975/1976 season. After June 1976, Steve Wegerle starred for the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer League for five seasons from 1977 to 1981. While with the Rowdies, Wegerle played in Soccer Bowl '78 and Soccer Bowl '79 (both defeats), as well as the 1979–80 NASL indoor finals, which Tampa Bay won.{{cite news |last=Tierney |first=Mike|title=Cosmos still rulers of NASL |date=28 August 1978|publisher=St. Petersburg Times|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dmlQAAAAIBAJ&pg=4010,4331512&dq=&hl=en |page=5-C |accessdate=27 April 2015}}{{cite news |last=Tierney |first=Mike|title=Jago felt final loss deep down |date=10 September 1979|publisher=St. Petersburg Times|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19790910&id=olgzAAAAIBAJ&pg=2496,2134536&hl=en |page=1-C |accessdate=27 April 2015}}{{cite news |last=Scheiber |first=Dave|title=Rowdies slam to No. 1 |date=3 March 1980|publisher=St. Petersburg Times|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19800303&id=t3FQAAAAIBAJ&pg=4715,2996499&hl=en |page=1-C |accessdate=27 April 2015}} He joined the New York Cosmos during the 1981 season at age 28. He played in Soccer Bowl '81 and '82 with the Cosmos, winning the latter. Wegerle played 1983 with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers before returning in 1984 to finish his NASL career with the Rowdies. Wegerle's 152 points in 196 career games ranks him as the league's 27th all-time leading scoring. His 88 assists rank him 4th in that category.

Wegerle played for the Rowdies during the 1986–1987 American Indoor Soccer Association season.[http://homepages.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1987.html#AISA The Year in American Soccer – 1987] He later played for the team in the American Soccer League in 1988 and 1989 and then in the American Professional Soccer League in 1990.[http://a-leaguearchive.tripod.com/1988/statsasl88.htm#TB 1988 Tampa Bay Rowdies][http://a-leaguearchive.tripod.com/1989/statsasl89.htm#TB 1989 Tampa Bay Rowdies][http://a-leaguearchive.tripod.com/1990/statsasl90.htm#TB 1990 Tampa Bay Rowdies]

Personal life

Wegerle is the father of Bryce Wegerle. His brother Roy Wegerle is a former American international and MLS star, while his brother Geoff Wegerle played in the NASL for the 1978 season with Oakland and 1983 with Toronto. Steve and Roy were on the Rowdies together in 1984. Steve and Geoff played together on the post-NASL Rowdies from 1986 to 1988. Steve's mother is Scottish and his father is German.

References

External links

[http://www.vi.nl/Spelers/Speler.htm?dbid=44456&typeofpage=84137 Profile at Voetbal International]
[http://nasljerseys.com/Players/W/Wegerle.Steve.htm NASL stats]