| Jay DeMerit | ||
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jay Michael DeMerit | |
| Date of birth | December 4, 1979 | |
| Place of birth | Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States | |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | |
| Playing position | Centre Back | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Watford | |
| Number | 6 | |
| Youth career | ||
| 1998–2001 | UIC Flames | |
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2001 2003 2004 2004– |
Chicago Fire Premier Southall Northwood Watford |
160 (9) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2007– | United States | 15 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Jay Michael DeMerit (born December 4, 1979, in Green Bay, Wisconsin) is an American soccer player. He is a center back and currently plays for Watford in the English Football League Championship.
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Career
DeMerit was a three-sport high school athlete in Wisconsin, where he participated in basketball and track in addition to soccer. He attended Bay Port High School and graduated in 1998.
DeMerit played college soccer at the University 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. Although he played with Chicago Fire Premier, the development team of the Chicago Fire in the USL Premier Development League, he was not drafted or signed by any Major League Soccer clubs following graduation from college. Taking the advice of a former European teammate, he decided to take advantage of his European Union work status (due to his Danish grandfather) and moved to England in 2003 with only $1,800, in an attempt to find a club to play for. He started off playing in the ninth tier of English football for Southall Town F.C., earning only £40 a week.
In July 2004, DeMerit joined Northwood, a seventh-tier side, to play in some of their pre-season matches. Northwood played Championship side Watford, then a League Championship side in their second pre-season match. During the course of the match, DeMerit impressed then Watford manager Ray Lewington enough to earn a two-week trial. Following the trial, DeMerit signed a one year contract with Watford to play in their 2004–05 season and has been a regular in the Watford lineup ever since.
During the 2005–06 season, Watford was expected by many to fight relegation from the Championship to League One as they had in DeMerit's first season with the club. However, under new coach Aidy 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 against Leeds United, DeMerit headed in the game's first goal and was named Man of the Match as Watford gained promotion to the Premier League by defeating Leeds United 3-0. 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 2005–06 Championship season and his efforts in helping get the club promoted was rewarded with a contract extension taking him through the end of the 2008–09 season as a Watford player.
DeMerit was named as one of three candidates for Watford's 2006–07 Player of the Season award, which was ultimately won by goalkeeper Ben Foster.
Until the 2007–08 season, DeMerit often filled the role of Watford's vice-captain, behind then-captain Gavin Mahon. He captained Watford for the first time on December 9, 2006, in the home game against Reading, and re-donned the armband on January 6, 2007, for the 4–1 win over Stockport County in the FA Cup third round. On December 15, 2007, it was announced that DeMerit had been named captain, replacing Mahon, whose contract was not being renewed.[1] However, this later proved to be a temporary move, with the captaincy rotating between himself, Danny Shittu and Richard Lee, before finally being passed to John Eustace, a newly signed central midfielder. In later interviews, Demerit admitted that this placed strain on his relationship with Watford manager Adrian Boothroyd.
International career
DeMerit earned his first cap for the United States national team on March 28, 2007, starting in a friendly against Guatemala.[2] He was a member of the USA squad for the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup. During the 2009 Confederations Cup, DeMerit started at center back due to Carlos Bocanegra's hamstring injury. He played the entire game when the USA defeated Spain in the Confederations Cup semi-final 2-0 on June 24, 2009; the Barcelona sports daily El Mundo Deportivo called DeMerit's play "superb." DeMerit also played the entire match when the USA lost 3-2 to Brazil in the Cup final on June 28, 2009.
References
External links
- Jay DeMerit profile at watfordfc.co.uk
- Jay DeMerit career stats at Soccerbase
- Jay DeMerit articles on Yanks Abroad
- USA Today article on DeMerit prior to Watford's promotion match against Leeds United
- London Calling
- DeMerit Making His Name in the Premiership
- A Guy From Green Bay Plays the Other Football from The New York Times, 28 June 2009.
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