 DeMerit in 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jay Michael DeMerit | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1979-12-04)December 4, 1979 (age 45) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Center back | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| College career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2001 | UIC Flames | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001 | Chicago Fire Premier | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Southall | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Northwood | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2010 | Watford | 182 | (9) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2014 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 71 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 256 | (10) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2011 | United States | 25 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of July 24, 2014 ‡ National team caps and goals as of February 22, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Jay Michael DeMerit (born December 4, 1979) is an American formersoccer player who played as acenter back.
He played college soccer for theUIC Flames and was in theChicago Fire Premier development squad, but after not being drafted forMajor League Soccer, he moved to look for a club in England. He played for non-league sidesSouthall andNorthwood before signing forWatford of theChampionship in 2004. DeMerit played 213 total games for Watford over six seasons, including one in the2006–07 Premier League, having scored in their victory in the2006 Football League Championship play-off final.[citation needed] After his release from Watford, he was the first player signed by theVancouver Whitecaps FC for their entrance in MLS, where he played four seasons before retiring through injury.[citation needed]
DeMerit was first capped for theUnited States in March 2007, earning 25 caps up to 2011.[citation needed] He was part of their squads that won the2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup and came runners-up at the2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, also featuring at the2007 Copa América and the2010 FIFA World Cup.[citation needed]
DeMerit was a three-sport high school athlete in Wisconsin, where he participated inbasketball andtrack in addition to soccer. He attendedBay Port High School and graduated in 1998.[citation needed]
DeMerit playedcollege soccer at theUniversity of Illinois at Chicago, where he moved from playing forward to defender. While in college, DeMerit formed part of a defensive backline that helped lead the team into the NCAA playoffs in 2000.[citation needed] Although he played withChicago Fire Premier, the development team of theChicago Fire in theUSL Premier Development League, he was not drafted or signed by anyMajor League Soccer clubs following graduation from college. After spending some time working as a bartender, DeMerit took the advice of a former European teammate and decided to take advantage of hisEuropean Union work status (due to his Danish grandfather)[citation needed] by moving to England in 2003 with $1,800, in an attempt to find a club to play for.[citation needed] He started off playing in the ninth tier of English football forSouthall, earning only £40 a week.[citation needed]
In July 2004, DeMerit joinedNorthwood, a seventh-tier side, to play in some of their pre-season matches. Northwood playedWatford, then aFootball League Championship team, in their second pre-season match. During the course of the match, DeMerit impressed then Watford managerRay Lewington enough to earn a two-week trial.[1] Following the trial, DeMerit signed a one-year contract with Watford to play in their2004–05 season.
In November, he signed an extension to his contract, keeping him with the club until 2007.[2] He scored his first goal for the club on 15 January 2005, scoring Watford's third in a 3–1 win againstCrewe Alexandra by "slamming into the bottom corner from 20 yards".[3]
During the2005–06 season, Watford was expected to fight relegation from the Championship toLeague One as they had in DeMerit's first season with the club. However, under new coachAidy Boothroyd, Watford maintained strong form throughout the season and finished third in the Championship table, earning the right to enter the playoffs for the last of three annual promotion spots to the Premier League. On May 21, 2006, in the play-off final againstLeeds United, DeMerit headed in the game's first goal and was namedMan of the Match as Watford gained promotion to the Premier League by defeating Leeds United 3–0.[4][5] Soon afterwards, he joined the ranks of athlete-musicians by releasing a single entitled "Soccer Rocks", available in the club shop.
DeMerit's hard work in the 2005–06Championship season and his efforts in helping get the club promoted was rewarded with a contract extension taking him through the end of the2008–09 season as a Watford player. He was named as one of three candidates for Watford's2006–07Player of the Season award, which was ultimately won by goalkeeperBen Foster.
Until the2007–08 season, DeMerit often filled the role of Watford's vice-captain, behind then-captainGavin Mahon. He captained Watford for the first time on December 9, 2006, in the home game againstReading, and re-donned the armband on January 6, 2007, for the 4–1 win overStockport County in theFA Cup third round. On December 15, 2007, it was announced that DeMerit had been named captain, replacing Mahon, whose contract was not being renewed.[6] However, this later proved to be a temporary move, with the captaincy rotating between himself,Danny Shittu, andRichard Lee, before finally being passed toJohn Eustace, a newly signed central midfielder. In later interviews, DeMerit admitted that this placed strain on his relationship with managerAdrian Boothroyd.
Early in the2009–10 season, DeMerit suffered a scratch on hiseyeball while removing acontact lens. DeMerit's eye became infected, severely obscuring his vision and requiring acorneal transplant in October.[7] He returned to action on December 7, 2009, playing the second half of Watford's 3–1 victory overQueens Park Rangers. DeMerit's contract at Watford expired in June 2010, and was not renewed.[8]
On November 18, 2010, DeMerit was announced as the first player signed byVancouver Whitecaps FC in preparation for their entry intoMajor League Soccer in 2011.[9] He was also named the captain right before the season started. During the2011 Major League Soccer season, DeMerit was out for a considerable amount of the season and the Whitecaps ended up finishing last in the league. In 2012, DeMerit was healthy the whole year and led the team to a decent finish.[citation needed] DeMerit was even named anMLS All-Star and played against Chelsea in the2012 MLS All-Star Game. The MLS All-Stars won 3–2 against Chelsea.
In July 2014, DeMerit announced his retirement after a series of injuries.[10][11]
DeMerit earned his first cap for theUnited States national team on March 28, 2007, starting in a friendly againstGuatemala.[12] He was a member of the U.S. Men's National Team that won the2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, thus qualifying for the2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.
In the 2009 Confederations Cup, DeMerit started at center back due toCarlos Bocanegra's hamstring injury. He played the entire game when the U.S. Men's National Team defeatedSpain in the semi-final 2–0 on June 24, 2009. The Barcelona sports dailyEl Mundo Deportivo called DeMerit's play "superb".[citation needed] DeMerit also played the entire match when the USMNT lost 3–2 to Brazil in the Cup final on June 28, 2009.
For the2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, he madeBob Bradley's 23-man squad, and started all four of theUnited States matches – the three first-round games, againstEngland,[13]Slovenia, andAlgeria, and the second round match againstGhana, in which the U.S. Men's National Team were eliminated. During the Algeria match he played most of the game with a split tongue that required five stitches after the game.[14]
Despite his success in the World Cup squad and with Vancouver, he was not recalled to the national team under Bradley's successorJürgen Klinsmann.
His career is the subject of the 2011 independent film,Rise and Shine: The Jay DeMerit Story, based on his rise from the ninth tier of soccer in England to the Premier League andFIFA World Cup.[15]
In 2013, he married Canadian freestyle skier and Olympic gold medalist,Ashleigh McIvor.[16][17] The couple would have a son together, Oakes, and would later separate but continued toco-parent their child.[18]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Northwood | 2004-05 | Isthmian League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Watford | 2004–05[19] | Championship | 24 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 3 |
| 2005–06[20] | Championship | 32 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3[c] | 1 | 37 | 3 | |
| 2006–07[21] | Premier League | 32 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 39 | 2 | ||
| 2007–08[22] | Championship | 35 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[d] | 0 | 39 | 1 | |
| 2008–09[23] | Championship | 32 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 38 | 1 | ||
| 2009–10[24] | Championship | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 28 | 0 | ||
| Total | 182 | 8 | 13 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 213 | 10 | ||
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 2011[citation needed] | Major League Soccer | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 23 | 0 | ||
| 2012[citation needed] | Major League Soccer | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 1 | |||
| 2013[citation needed] | Major League Soccer | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2014[citation needed] | Major League Soccer | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 | |||
| Total | 71 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 73 | 1 | ||||
| Career total | 253 | 9 | 15 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 286 | 11 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | |||
| 2007 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2008 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 25 | 0 | |
Watford
United States
United States Squads | |||||||||||||||||||
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