View source for Roy Wegerle

{{Short description|American football player (born 1964)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox football biography
|           name = Roy Wegerle
|          image =
|        caption = 
|       fullname = 
|     birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1964|3|19|mf=y}}
|    birth_place = [[Pretoria]], South Africa
|         height = 
|       position = [[Forward (association football)|Striker]], [[midfielder]]
|    youthyears1 = 1980–1981 |youthclubs1 = [[Arcadia Shepherds F.C.|Arcadia Shepherds]]
|  collegeyears1 = 1982–1983 |college1 = [[South Florida Bulls men's soccer|South Florida Bulls]]
|         years1 = 1984      |clubs1  = [[Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993)|Tampa Bay Rowdies]] |caps1  = 21 |goals1  = 9
|         years2 = 1984      |clubs2  = [[Arcadia Shepherds F.C.|Arcadia Shepherds]]        |caps2  =    |goals2  =
|         years3 = 1984–1986 |clubs3  = [[Tacoma Stars (1983–92)|Tacoma Stars]] (indoor)    |caps3  = 59 |goals3  = 36
|         years4 = 1986–1988 |clubs4  = [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]]                            |caps4  = 15 |goals4  = 3
|         years5 = 1988      |clubs5  = → [[Swindon Town F.C.|Swindon Town]] (loan)         |caps5  = 7  |goals5  = 1
|         years6 = 1988–1989 |clubs6  = [[Luton Town F.C.|Luton Town]]                      |caps6  = 45 |goals6  = 10
|         years7 = 1989–1992 |clubs7  = [[Queens Park Rangers F.C.|Queens Park Rangers]]    |caps7  = 65 |goals7  = 29
|         years8 = 1992–1993 |clubs8  = [[Blackburn Rovers F.C.|Blackburn Rovers]]          |caps8  = 11 |goals8  = 4
|         years9 = 1993–1995 |clubs9  = [[Coventry City F.C.|Coventry City]]                |caps9  = 53 |goals9  = 9
|        years10 = 1996–1997 |clubs10 = [[Colorado Rapids]]                                 |caps10 = 36 |goals10 = 4
|        years11 = 1997–1998 |clubs11 = [[D.C. United]]                                     |caps11 = 24 |goals11 = 7
|        years12 = 1998      |clubs12 = [[Tampa Bay Mutiny]]                                |caps12 = 12 |goals12 = 1
|      totalcaps = 394 |totalgoals = 114
| nationalyears1 = 1992–1998 |nationalteam1 = [[United States men's national soccer team|United States]] |nationalcaps1 = 41 |nationalgoals1 = 7
|  manageryears1 = 1996 |managerclubs1 = [[Colorado Rapids]] (interim)
| medaltemplates = 
{{Medal|Country|{{Flagu|United States}}}}
{{Medal|RU|[[CONCACAF Gold Cup]]|[[1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup|1993]]}}
{{Medal|RU|[[CONCACAF Gold Cup]]|[[1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup|1998]]}}
}}

'''Roy Wegerle''' (born March 19, 1964) is a former professional [[association football|soccer]] and golf player.

Wegerle was a [[United States men's national soccer team|United States international]] player who appeared for the national team 41 times between 1992 and 1998. Born and raised in South Africa, he was [[naturalization|naturalized]] as a U.S. citizen in 1991. Since retiring from soccer he has become a professional [[golf]]er.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/1763387.stm|title=Roy of the golf course|date=August 12, 2018|access-date=August 12, 2018|via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

As a soccer player, Wegerle was a [[Striker (association football)|striker]] from 1984 until 1998. He notably played in the English [[Premier League]] for [[Queens Park Rangers F.C.|Queens Park Rangers]], [[Blackburn Rovers F.C.|Blackburn Rovers]] and [[Coventry City F.C.|Coventry City]], and in the English [[The Football League|Football League]] for [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]], [[Swindon Town F.C.|Swindon Town]] and [[Luton Town F.C.|Luton Town]]. He made appearances in the United States for [[Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993)|Tampa Bay Rowdies]], [[Tacoma Stars (1983–92)|Tacoma Stars]], [[Colorado Rapids]], [[D.C. United]] and [[Tampa Bay Mutiny]], and was a member of the United States squad at the [[1994 FIFA World Cup|1994]] and [[1998 FIFA World Cup|1998]] [[FIFA World Cup|World Cups]]. Wegerle is one of two players who played in both the [[North American Soccer League (1968–1984)|NASL]] and [[Major League Soccer|MLS]]; the other is [[Hugo Sánchez]].

==Club career==

===Early career===
Born in [[Pretoria]], Wegerle's soccer career began at the city's Waterkloof Primary School. Surrounded by teammates Clifford Rostowsky, Deon Stein and David Kroser, Wegerle's talents developed rapidly. He soon earned an invitation to join the local adult club [[Arcadia Shepherds F.C.|Arcadia Shepherds]], where his brothers had enjoyed long, successful careers.

===Tampa Bay Rowdies===
Following an unsuccessful trial with [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] in 1980,<ref>[https://footwork.club/roy-wegerle/ Roy Wegerle interview]</ref> Wegerle chose to play [[College soccer in the United States|college soccer]] in the United States. He spent two seasons with the [[University of South Florida]]'s team, the [[South Florida Bulls men's soccer|South Florida Bulls]], in 1982 and 1983 and holds the school's single season scoring record with 21 goals. The [[Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993)|Tampa Bay Rowdies]] of the [[North American Soccer League (1968–1984)|North American Soccer League]] drafted Wegerle in the first round of the 1984 NASL college draft. He would play 21 games and score 9 goals, adding 17 assists, during the [[1984 NASL season|last year]] of the NASL's existence in 1984, being named league's Rookie of the Year. More significantly, [[Rodney Marsh (footballer)|Rodney Marsh]] coached him at Tampa Bay. This association would be integral to Wegerle's future move to England. When the league folded, Wegerle moved indoors with the [[Tacoma Stars (1983–92)|Tacoma Stars]] of the [[Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992)|Major Indoor Soccer League]] for two seasons. At the University of South Florida, Wegerle came under the professional instruction of ex-Chelsea striker and [[UEFA Cup Winners' Cup|European Cup Winners' Cup]] winner [[Derek Smethurst]], who grounded him and got him ready for his professional career.

===Chelsea===
In 1986, Marsh, a former [[Queens Park Rangers F.C.|Queens Park Rangers]] star, worked his contacts in England to get Wegerle a tryout. While QPR passed on Wegerle at the time, [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] were sufficiently impressed to offer Wegerle a contract. However, Wegerle never played consistently for the Chelsea first team and on March 24, 1988, Chelsea loaned Wegerle to [[Swindon Town F.C.|Swindon Town]] for the last seven games of the season.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/ForceFrames.htm|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20080422213427/http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/ForceFrames.htm?http%3A%2F%2Fwww.swindon-town-fc.co.uk%2FPerson.asp%3FPersonID=WEGERLER|url-status=dead|title=Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk|accessdate=February 17, 2022|archive-date=April 22, 2008}}</ref>

===Luton Town and QPR===
At the end of the season, Chelsea sold Wegerle to [[Luton Town F.C.|Luton Town]]. In his time with Luton, Wegerle became the team's leading scorer and was sold in December 1989 to [[Queens Park Rangers F.C.|Queens Park Rangers]] for £1&nbsp;million.<sup>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928031159/http://www.lutontownyears.com/years/1986-1990starplayers.htm]</sup> He finished the 1990–91 season third on the First Division's scoring table, including having the honor of receiving the ITV 'Goal of the Season' award for that season (against Leeds at Elland Road). Wegerle continued to thrive at QPR until the arrival of new manager [[Gerry Francis]] who had little use for Wegerle and sold him in March 1992.

===Blackburn Rovers===
He joined [[Blackburn Rovers F.C.|Blackburn Rovers]] for £1.1&nbsp;million – a joint record fee to be paid by a Second Division club. He helped Blackburn reach the new [[FA Premier League]] as Second Division playoff winners in May 1992, but his first team chances were then dented by the arrival of [[Alan Shearer]] at [[Ewood Park]], who led the forward line with [[Mike Newell (footballer)|Mike Newell]].

===Coventry City===
The 1992–93 season saw yet another transfer for Wegerle as Blackburn sold him to [[Coventry City F.C.|Coventry City]] in March 1993 for £1&nbsp;million after only 22 games. Despite a series of injuries, Wegerle played 53 league games for Coventry, scoring nine goals, until his contract expired at the end of the [[1994–95 in English football|1994–95 season]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/clubbyclub-guide-the-prospects-the-players-to-watch-the-arrivals-and-departures-1596119.html|title=Club-by-club guide: The prospects, the players to watch, the arrivals|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|date=October 23, 2011|access-date=August 12, 2018}}</ref>

===Colorado Rapids===
In 1996, Wegerle signed with [[Major League Soccer]] (MLS). At the time, the newly established league was signing known players and allocating them to each of the league's teams in order to ensure an initial parity of talent. As part of this process, MLS [[1996 MLS Inaugural Allocations|allocated]] Wegerle to the [[Colorado Rapids]]. However, he enjoyed little success in MLS.

===D.C. United===
He played a season and a half for Colorado before the team traded him to [[D.C. United]] for [[Steve Rammel]] 14 games into the 1997 season. Aside from scoring four goals over 36 games with the Rapids, Wegerle also served a single game as [[caretaker manager|caretaker head coach]] after [[Bobby Houghton]] was fired. When Wegerle arrived in D.C., he joined a team on its way to the league championship. While his scoring pace increased slightly, five goals over 19 regular and post-season games, Wegerle failed to produce as United coach [[Bruce Arena]] expected.

===Tampa Bay Mutiny===
As a result, Wegerle became part of what is considered the most lop-sided trade in league history,{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} when D.C. sent him to the [[Tampa Bay Mutiny]] for [[Roy Lassiter]] on April 26, 1998. Lassiter was MLS's all-time leading goalscorer; Wegerle played the rest of the 1998 season for the Mutiny, scoring a single goal, then retired.

==International career==
Wegerle gained his U.S. [[citizenship]] in 1991, after being eligible through his American wife. He made his national team debut on May 30, 1992, against the [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Republic of Ireland]], and would go on to record 41 [[cap (football)|caps]] and score seven goals for his adopted country.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesu/usa-intres-det90.html|title=USA – Details of International Matches 1990–1994|website=[[RSSSF]]|access-date=August 12, 2018}}</ref> On January 8, 1994, Wegerle injured his knee and underwent numerous arthroscopic surgeries, but he was able to recover in time to become a key player for the U.S. in the [[1994 FIFA World Cup]]. By 1998, his repeated injuries had hobbled Wegerle. He enjoyed a brief resurgence leading up to the [[1998 FIFA World Cup]], but never became the key player he had been in 1994.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesu/usa-intres-det95.html|title=USA – Details of International Matches 1995–1999|website=[[RSSSF]]|access-date=August 12, 2018}}</ref>

According to former U.S. national team coach [[Steve Sampson]], Wegerle came to him and assistant coach [[Clive Charles]] between the February 25, 1998, game at Belgium and the March 14, 1998, match against Paraguay in San Diego and said he had personal knowledge of an affair between U.S. team captain [[John Harkes]] and [[Amy Wynalda]], the wife of U.S. striker [[Eric Wynalda]]. As a result, Harkes was dropped from the team. The U.S. would go on to finish in last place at the [[1998 FIFA World Cup]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sbnation.com/2010/2/3/1290793/laffair-john-harkes-details-emerge|title=L'affair John Harkes: Details emerge on the once-U.S. captain's affair with Wynalda's wife|date=February 3, 2010|access-date=August 14, 2018}}</ref>

===International goals===
{| class="wikitable collapsible expanded"
|-
! # !! Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition
|-
| 1 || June 3, 1992 || [[Chicago, Illinois]]; [[Soldier Field]] || {{fb|POR}} || '''1'''–0 || 1–0 || [[1992 U.S. Cup]]
|-
| 2 || June 4, 1994 || [[Pasadena, California]]; [[Rose Bowl (stadium)|The Rose Bowl]] || {{fb|MEX}} || '''1'''–0 || 1–0 || Friendly
|-
| 3 || June 18, 1995 || [[Washington, D.C.]]; [[RFK Stadium]] || {{fb|MEX}} || '''1'''–0 || 4–0 || [[1995 U.S. Cup]]
|-
| 4 || rowspan="2"| November 9, 1997 || rowspan="2"| [[Vancouver, Canada]]; [[Swangard Stadium]] || rowspan="2"| {{fb|CAN}} || '''2'''–0 || rowspan="2"| 3–0 || rowspan="2"| [[1998 FIFA World Cup qualification – CONCACAF fourth round|1998 World Cup Qualifying]]
|-
| 5 || '''3'''–0
|-
| 6 || January 24, 1998 || [[Orlando, Florida]]; [[Citrus Bowl]] || {{fb|SWE}} || '''1'''–0 || 1–0 || Friendly
|-
| 7 || February 1, 1998 || [[Oakland, California]]; [[Oakland Coliseum]] || {{fb|CUB}} || '''1'''–0 || 3–0 || [[1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup#Group C|1998 Gold Cup]]
|}

==Personal life==
He is the younger brother of former NASL-ers [[Geoff Wegerle]] and [[Steve Wegerle]]. All three played for Tampa Bay at some point in their careers.  His brother Steve's son [[Bryce Wegerle|Bryce]] was also a professional footballer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/040901/Sports/Choosing_only_one_can.shtml|title=Sports: Choosing only one can't be done|website=www.sptimes.com}}</ref>

==Golf career==
Since his retirement, Wegerle has been trying to make it as a professional [[golf]]er.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

==Media career==
He had a brief stay as a co-host of ''[[MLS Extratime]]'' on [[ESPN2]].{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Roy Wegerle }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060505083810/http://www.queensparkrangersfc.com/wegerle1.htm Excellent account of Wegerle at QPR]
* [http://www.nasljerseys.com/Players/W/Wegerle.Roy.htm NASL/MISL stats]

{{NASL Draft Number One Picks}}
{{North American Soccer League (1968–1984) Rookie of the Year}}
{{Navboxes
| title       = United States squads
| bg          = white
| fg          = #002868
| bordercolor = #BF0A30
| list1 =
{{United States squad 1992 King Fahd Cup}}
{{United States squad 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup}}
{{United States squad 1994 FIFA World Cup}}
{{United States squad 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup}}
{{United States squad 1998 FIFA World Cup}}
}}
{{Colorado Rapids managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wegerle, Roy}}
[[Category:1964 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:All-American college men's soccer players]]
[[Category:American men's soccer players]]
[[Category:United States men's international soccer players]]
[[Category:South African men's soccer players]]
[[Category:South African people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:South African people of German descent]]
[[Category:Arcadia Shepherds F.C. players]]
[[Category:Alumni of Pretoria Boys High School]]
[[Category:American expatriate men's soccer players]]
[[Category:American expatriate sportspeople in England]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in England]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States]]
[[Category:South African expatriate men's soccer players]]
[[Category:North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players]]
[[Category:North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players]]
[[Category:South Florida Bulls men's soccer players]]
[[Category:Tampa Bay Rowdies draft picks]]
[[Category:Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players]]
[[Category:Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players]]
[[Category:South African emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Tacoma Stars players]]
[[Category:Chelsea F.C. players]]
[[Category:Swindon Town F.C. players]]
[[Category:Luton Town F.C. players]]
[[Category:Queens Park Rangers F.C. players]]
[[Category:Blackburn Rovers F.C. players]]
[[Category:Coventry City F.C. players]]
[[Category:Major League Soccer players]]
[[Category:Colorado Rapids players]]
[[Category:Colorado Rapids head coaches]]
[[Category:D.C. United players]]
[[Category:Soccer players from Pretoria]]
[[Category:Tampa Bay Mutiny players]]
[[Category:1992 King Fahd Cup players]]
[[Category:1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup players]]
[[Category:1994 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players]]
[[Category:1998 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:South African expatriate sportspeople in the United States]]
[[Category:Premier League players]]
[[Category:Major League Soccer head coaches]]
[[Category:Men's association football midfielders]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:American soccer coaches]]
[[Category:South African expatriate sportspeople in England]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century South African sportsmen]]