Jason de Vos

Football player infobox
playername = Jason de Vos

fullname = Jason de Vos



height = height|ft=6|in=4
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1974|1|2
cityofbirth = London
countryofbirth = Canada
currentclub = Retired
position = Defender (retired)
years = 1990
1991
1992
1993–1996
1996–1998
1998–2001
2001–2004
2004–2008
clubs = London Lasers
Kitchener Kickers
London Lasers
Montreal Impact
Darlington
Dundee United
Wigan Athletic
Ipswich Town
caps(goals) =0? (?)
0? (?) 0? (?)
055 0(3)
054 0(6)
108 0(3)
098 (21)
171 (10)
nationalyears = 1997-2004
nationalteam = Canada
nationalcaps(goals) = 049 0(4)

Jason de Vos (surname also spelt 'De Vos'; born January 2, 1974 in London, Ontario) is a soccer commentator for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and former professional football player, most recently at Ipswich Town. He was also an international for Canada.

Career

The central defender began his professional career in 1990 as a 15 year-old high schooler with hometown club the London Lasers of the former Canadian Soccer League (CSL). When the club folded he joined the Kitchener Kickers, also of the CSL. When the latter club also folded he rejoined the re-established Lasers in 1992, the last year of operations for the CSL.

Known for his ability in the air, De Vos spent the next five seasons with the Montreal Impact of the then American Professional Soccer League, the last two on loan to English Third Division club Darlington. In 1998 De Vos first signed a contract with the Darlington before moving to Dundee United of the Scottish Premier League in October on a £400,000 transfer. He spent three seasons with "The Terrors", captaining the side in 2000-01. He was then signed by Wigan Athletic of the then English Second Division for £500,000 in 2001. De Vos captained the side to its promotion to the First Division in 2002-03 and was named in that season's PFA Division Two Team of the Year. [cite news
title = Wigan dominate PFA team
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/2981569.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2003-04-28
accessdate = 2008-10-09] Following an injury-plagued 2003-4, which saw Wigan just miss out on a FA Premier League play-off place, De Vos left on a Bosman transfer and joined Ipswich Town FC. Since joining Ipswich, he has held down a regular place in the centre of defence, often playing through many injuries, often captaining the team in Jim Magilton's absence. In June 2006, Jim Magilton was appointed manager of Ipswich Town and made de Vos the new captain. [http://ipswichtown.rivals.net/default.asp?sid=911&p=2&stid=8413037]

For Canada, De Vos has appeared in 49 full internationals, scoring 4 goals. He debuted on 19 August, 1997 in a 1–0 home loss friendly to Iran. He captained the Canadian team from 1999 until his retirement from international football in 2004. De Vos was named a tournament all-star for both the 2000 and 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournaments, in which Canada were placed first and third respectively. He scored the winning goal in the final of the 2000 Gold Cup, a match Canada won 2–0 over Colombia.

After the final match of the 2007–08 season in the 1–0 win over Hull City, De Vos announced his immediate retirement from playing to take up a media role in his native Canada and was given a guard of honour and standing ovation during the teams parade lap of the pitch. [cite web|url=http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11688_3519828,00.html|title=De Vos announces retirement|date=2008-05-04|publisher=Sky Sports website|accessdate=2008-05-04] [cite web|url=http://www.itfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10272~1305641,00.html|title=Skipper Says Goodbye|date=2008-05-04|publisher=Ipswich Town F.C. Official Club Site|accessdate=2008-05-04]

De Vos recently stated on GolTV's "The Contenders", a Euro 2008 preview show, that when people ask him who was the best player and hardest to mark he ever played against, he "always says Henrik Larsson", the former Celtic striker whom he faced many times during his stint with Dundee United.

De Vos, who will be doing media work in his native Canada, will also scout players from the MLS for former-club Ipswich Town.

References

External links

* [http://www.itfc.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10272~6888,00.html Jason de Vos player profile] at itfc.co.uk
*Soccerbase|9925
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=10288 "Sporting-Heroes.net" with a picture, profile and career British footballing statistics of De Vos]
* [http://www.canadasoccer.com/eng/nationals/profile.asp?playerid=7 "CanadaSoccer.com" with a national team profile of De Vos]