Jon Conway Retires

Earlier today Jon Conway officially announced his retirement from MLS. Conway will be remembered as one of the most loyal servants of the league during its early days and though he wasn't one of the best players to ever grace MLS, considering that for the majority of his career he served as a backup, he will be fondly remembered by the fans who crossed his path during his 11 year career, and to Toronto FC fans his career will always have one shining moment, a certain sending off (yes, it's there in all it's glory after the jump).

His career began with the San Jose Earthquakes where he spent much of his 5 seasons riding the bench behind Joe Cannon. It was not until Cannon moved to Europe in 2003 that Conway got his first chance to be an MLS starter, but that all came to nought as a preseason injury saw the club sign Pat Onstad who took over and went on to win MLS keeper of the year.

Conway eventually moved on to New York in 2006 where he finally got regular starts and made the most of his chance. He enjoyed his best seasons with the MetroStars (renamed the Red Bulls in 2008) and at the time was considered one of the more reliable keepers in the league. It all came to an end though in 2009 when the Energy Drinks decided to sign Bouna Coundoul and released Conway.

Conway moved to Chivas USA but he never made a league appearance for the club before being traded to Toronto FC. With our beloved Reds he again accepted a backup role and the majority of his appearances came in the CONCACAF Champions League and the Voyageurs Cup. On the whole he was a solid backup for the club, if not completely unspectacular, aside from his one league appearance for the club, one that anyone who saw the game will never forget. He only lasted 72 minutes of a 2-2 draw against the Columbus Crew before being sent off for being kick ass.

in the end Conway was traded away to the Chicago Fire for a late draft pick, which happily turned into Joao Plata. He spent his final season with the Fire making a handful of appearances, including at Toronto where he rather generously let Maicon Santos' speculative long range effort in under his body, before the club decided not to pick up his option. He was picked by L.A Galaxy in the waiver re-entry draft this off season, but didn't end up signing on with them. Despite spending much of his career as a backup keeper, Conway retires with 88 MLS appearances to his name over 11 professional seasons and for TFC fans at least he will always be remembered for this one moment!