Kelly Gray

Kelly Gray (born April 7, 1981 in Palo Alto, California) is a former American soccer player. He does commentary for San Jose Earthquakes games on Comcast Sports Net Bay Area

This article is about the soccer player. For the musician and producer, see Kelly Gray (musician).
Kelly Gray
Personal information
Full name Kelly Lawrence Kirmil Gray
Date of birth (1981-04-07) April 7, 1981
Place of birth Palo Alto, California, United States
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Defender/Midfielder
Youth career
1999–2001 Portland Pilots
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2005 Chicago Fire 88 (6)
2005 San Jose Earthquakes 22 (1)
2006–2007 Houston Dynamo 28 (0)
2007 Los Angeles Galaxy 6 (0)
2008 Colorado Rapids 2 (0)
2008–2009 San Jose Earthquakes 21 (0)
Total 167 (7)
National team
2001 United States U20 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

College

Gray played forward and midfielder at the University of Portland from 1999 to 2001. He scored a total of 32 goals and 12 assists in his three years for the Pilots and was voted a second-team All-American and first-team All-WCC as a junior.

Professional

After his junior season, Gray signed a Project-40 contract with MLS, and was selected fifth overall in the 2002 MLS SuperDraft by the Chicago Fire. Gray made an immediate impact with the Fire, starting twenty games as a rookie while scoring two goals and five assists. He appeared in 28 games in 2003, again starting twenty, while scoring two goals and one assist. While playing more defensively in 2004, he started 23 games for the Fire, scoring one goal. Gray's versatility may have been a hindrance to his development, however, as even three years into his career with the Fire, it is unclear what his position should be; although a consistent starter, he was longing to play in his hometown.

Gray was traded to San Jose Earthquakes in June 2005 in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft.[1] Along with the rest of his Earthquakes teammates, he moved to Houston for the 2006 season. Gray scored the winning goal in the second leg of Houston's Champions' Cup tie with Puntarenas. In June 2007, Gray was traded with a second-round pick in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft to Los Angeles Galaxy in exchange for Nate Jaqua.[2] He made his debut in Galaxy's 2-0 victory over Chicago on 4 July 2007.

Due to the Galaxy's increased salary cap restrictions, Gray was waived at the end of the 2007 season. He was picked up by Colorado Rapids at the start of the 2008 season, but played just two games for them before being traded with Jovan Kirovski to the newly reformed San Jose Earthquakes franchise in exchange for Preston Burpo and a fourth-round pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft.[3] Gray stayed with San Jose until he was waived on June 25, 2009.[4] He promptly retired from professional soccer choosing instead to run his own soccer academy, the "Kelly Gray Soccer Academy."

International

Gray has played extensively with the Youth United States national teams, including at the 2001 World Youth Championship in Argentina, and has most recently been with the Under-23 team, which he captained in January 2003.

Trivia

Gray is the owner of a company called Adesso Clothing.[5]

Honors

Houston Dynamo

References
  1. "Fire send Gray to San Jose for 2006 draft pick". 22 January 2010.
  2. "Dynamo deal Kelly Gray to L.A. for Nate Jaqua". 3 July 2007.
  3. "Rapids Acquire Goalkeeper Preston Burpo From Earthquakes". 27 June 2010.
  4. "Earthquakes waive Eric Denton and Kelly Gray". 23 January 2010.
  5. Archived 2006-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
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