Jonathan Spector

Spector's grandfather, Art Spector, was an NBA basketball player and the first player to be signed by the Boston Celtics in 1946, which led to him becoming known as the "Original Celtic".

Jonathan Michael Paul Spector (born March 1, 1986) is an American former soccer player who played as a defender.

He died in June 1987, when Jonathan was 15 months old.

Spector attended St. Peter Lutheran Junior High School and St. Viator High School, where he played high school soccer.

He was an Amateur Athletic Union basketball standout.

He started his club soccer career with Schwaben AC in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, before joining national power Chicago Sockers (2003).

He also played youth soccer with Chicago Fire (2003) and Manchester United (2003).

He graduated from the United States Soccer Federation's Bradenton Academy at the age of 17 in the summer of 2003.

Spector was discovered by a Manchester United scout while playing for the American Under-17 squad at the Milk Cup in 2003.

Originally a striker, Spector was lined up in defense due to injuries for a game the scout had attended to scout other players.

Impressed by Spector's defending, the scout alerted the club.

Spector joined United in summer 2003.

He won the club's Young Player of the Year award for the 2003–04 season.

He made his first appearance for the first team in the FA Community Shield match against Arsenal in August 2004.

In December, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson announced that Spector would be loaned out to fellow Premier League side Blackburn Rovers for the remainder of the season.

However, Ferguson was soon forced to postpone the deal due to an injury crisis in the United defense.

The injury crisis continued and Spector was not able to make his loan move before the transfer window closed on January 31, 2005.

Before the start of the 2005–06 season, Spector went on a season-long loan to another Premiership club, Charlton Athletic, to obtain more first-team experience.

He finished the season with 16 starts and eight substitute appearances.

He played on loan at Charlton Athletic, then in 2006 joined West Ham United, for whom he played over 100 games before he was released at the end of the 2010–11 season.

He then spent five-and-a-half seasons with Birmingham City.

Spector then played for MLS club Orlando City and had a short spell with Scottish club Hibernian.

Spector was signed by manager Alan Pardew for West Ham United in a deal initially worth £500,000 in June 2006, ending his association with Manchester United after eight appearances.

He made his debut for the club in the first round defeat of the UEFA Cup against Palermo in Sicily on September 28, going on to make twenty-eight appearances in all competitions in the 2006–07 season.

Spector had initially been brought as backup to the West Ham defense, but he had an extended run of games due to injury problems and his ability to play anywhere in the back four with equal ease.

In his 16-year career playing first-team soccer he played over 400 games for club and country, and helped the United States win the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2007.

He earned 36 caps for the United States national team.

He is now the Head of Scouting for MLS side Atlanta United.

Spector started his professional career in England when he was signed by Manchester United as a teenager, but rarely appeared for the club.

On November 10, 2007, it was believed that Spector had scored his first professional goal, in the 5–0 away win at Derby County.

However, this was later credited as an own goal by Derby's fellow American international Eddie Lewis.

He missed most of the 2008–09 season due to injuries, but following the departure of Lucas Neill, Spector played in 27 of a possible 38 games in the 2009–10 season.

Many of his appearances that year came at left-back, despite being a right footed player.

When Gianfranco Zola left, new manager Avram Grant began deploying Spector in the midfield.

He retired as a player in 2019.

Although he began playing as a striker during his youth career, Spector was converted into a defender as a professional.

He most commonly played as a right-back, although he occasionally appeared across the defensive line and in central midfield.

Spector was born and grew up in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois.

He is Jewish.

His father is of English and Irish ancestry, and his mother was born in Siegen, Germany; as a result of this, Spector has a German passport, which allowed him to play in England without needing a work permit.