Most longtime Major League Soccer and United States National Team fans are well aware of the name Steve Ralston. But the younger generation of soccer fans in America may be unaware of what the Earthquakes assistant coach meant to the development of the league and the sport as a whole in our country.
The 18th-overall selection in the 1996 MLS College Draft, the first of its kind, Ralston joined the now-defunct Tampa Bay Mutiny out of Florida International University. He started 31 games during the 1996 season, tallying seven goals and two assists en route to earning the first-ever MLS Rookie of the Year Award and helping his side lift the Supporters’ Shield.