It may look cliché when read in type, but hearing fresh San Jose Earthquake recruit Bobby Convey repeatedly tell you how excited he is to have the chance to be in a line-up again makes you take it to heart.

by Greg Seltzer for Soccer365

It may look cliché when read in type, but hearing fresh San Jose Earthquake recruit Bobby Convey repeatedly tell you how excited he is to have the chance to be in a line-up again makes you take it to heart.

The Philly native worked just six contests for Reading over the opening half of this term, and only 27 in total since time-robbing knee woes began in October of 2006. Though finally fit, Convey had been frozen out at the Madejski until an escape route led him back to Major League Soccer.

"I was told in the summer that I could leave, two days before the transfer window closed," Convey revealed to Soccer365. "That wasn't really enough time to find a team, so I had to sit in England for six months, which was very disappointing because everyone just wants to play."

"I wanna just enjoy playing soccer again instead of waking up, going to training and knowing you're not going to play. I'm very, very excited about just playing again - I had options in Europe to leave (earlier) last summer, and they wanted me to stay. Then, I don't play."

Convey also had a handful of suitors from Denmark, England and the Netherlands interested in January, but a move back to the States offered something those places could not and Quakes boss Frank Yallop - who held the league's top allocation spot - made a personal approach.

"(The European offers) were serious, but my with wife - she's a doctor's assistant - she can work much more easily in America," he explained.

"When Frank called, he was actually over in England and I saw him there. I just thought there's no better way to enjoy playing again than with a coach I like, and that just seemed like the best option for both of us."

Of course, Convey has not closed the bridge to future European adventures. "I signed for two years, and I'll only be 27 in two years," he notes. "You never put off anything. I'm too young to put off anything."

"I'm more disappointed in the fact that I've been kinda written off almost because I had an injury. A lot of soccer players have injuries, and I'm too young to be written off. That's how the sport is in England, they move on quickly. I have no hard feelings, it is what it is."

"To be fair to Reading, they were great in this window," he added. "I said I wanted to leave, I don't want to sit here another six months, so it was good to be able to leave now."

It hadn't always been so gloomy with the Royals. After a year of settling in, the attacker enjoyed one of those rare dream season along with fellow American Marcus Hahnemann, Reading's stalwart keeper, and two years in the biggest league in the world.

"It was great," Convey says of his four-and-a-half years with the club. "I'm happy with how it went - you know, obviously not recently, but I had the best season of my career there."

Indeed, Convey notched seven goals and 10 assists as the club earned its first promotion to the Premier League with an English record 106-point 2006/07 season.

"It was just an unbelieveable experience that I'll never forget - in my life, really," he recalled. "We only lost two games the whole season, and it was probably the best experience of my career so far."

The Royals were a mean machine that year, reeling off a 33-game unbeaten run after dropping the opener to Plymouth. They reached the penthouse with a 3-1 at Ipswich on Novemeber 22nd and never surrendered it.

"It was weird," remarks the former D.C. United ace. "You play so many games in England, you don't really have a chance to train or rest, but we were lucky enough. If one guy got hurt, another came in and did well, but mostly we played the same starting eleven all year."

FourFourTwo magazine then named him the 10th best player in England working outside the Premiership, a list with a short shelf life being that the Royals were movin' on up. Convey supplied three assists in his first eight top flight matches, then suffered that fateful knee injury in training.

As they say, the rest is his story. After making 24 appearances during the Royals' relegation campaign of 2007/08 through recurring knee troubles, Convey found himself on the outside looking in this season. Still, the American will look back very fondly on his time in Berkshire, which lies a quick train hop west of London, and towards the club that gave him first shot at soccer's big time.

"I had been in D.C. for five years and I wanted the opportunity of playing over there," said Convey, who had seen a Tottenham transfer denied by the UK Home Office work permit process. "I'll never forget playing for the Reading fans, who were great. We'd sell out every single game."

Amid all the big personal moments (such as a cracking Carling Cup goal against Liverpool) and team celebrations, the winger claims his favorite recollection those very supporters.

"We played one game, and they handed out cards to whole crowd. Everyone held a card up while we were on the field and it was an amazing sea of cards with the white and blue Reading colors on it. That's the sort of thing I'll miss."

"That's why I don't put off going back to Europe, because it is an amazing experience to play in some of the biggest stadiums against some of the best teams. I'll definitely miss that, but it was time to move on for right now."

"I have nothing negative to say about Reading," he declares, having departed with eight goals and 18 assists from 112 games across all competitions.

And happily move on, he is doing. Convey expects to join up with his new teammates as soon as he sorts out moving his life back across the globe. He says he won't really grasp the make-up of his new club as a field unit until he arrives at training.

"I know a few of the players on the team, obviously, but I haven't really seen anything because I just got home and
haven't been out there," he said. "I looking to get out there and see who's there and get integrated into the team. I'll
be there in a week. I just need to get all my stuff together at my house, so we can ship it all out."

"They have some good guys. They are a second year team, but there's a lot of guys with MLS experience. I think Frank's a good coach and he can put together a pretty good team."

Convey almost seems a little embarrassed not be more well informed about MLS happenings since his departure, explaining that hectic English schedules don't lend well to fandom from afar. He genuinely seems excited by this chance to return to the league that gave him a start, even if he's in the dark about how play has evolved since he left in 2004.

"I really have no idea (what to expect), to be honest," he shrugs. "I know it helped me get to Europe and the National Team. The league was great for me, developing me."

"When you go to England, it's just... England. You don't really hear to much about MLS. I'm excited to get back and see the growth of the league. Obviously, with (Galaxy star pick-up David) Beckham being English, more people were interested. But, other than that, they didn't really (broadcast) many games)."

Should Reading fans check up on their old #17 shirt this season, they will almost certainly find him playing a new role. With an occupied left side, Yallop has decided to hand Convey the #10 keys - which suits the newest Quake just fine.

"Darren Huckerby's already there, and he's on the left," he recounts flatly. "Frank called me and asked if I'd play the middle."

"I like it. I played there with the Under-20's, with D.C. United a bit and with the National Team. It takes a little bit of getting used to, after playing out wide for so long. But after a few games, you get used to playing in there again and you have a little more freedom."

"Out wide, it's more you have to beat your man and cross the ball," said Convey. "Whereas, I think, playing in the middle gives you the opportunity to create more chances and score more goals. It'll be interesting to get out there and see how they line it up."

Speaking from experience, if not from a standpoint of hope for San Jose chances this season, he adds, "The best team to get on is the one where everybody has a good connection with everyone around you. That's all that really matters."

As for Huckerby, the man who led San Jose's second half surge in 2008 playing his familiar left flank role, Convey faced him many times in England. "I've played against him, but I don't know him," he says. "It's good that he brings that experience to MLS and San Jose. It will be interesting to play alongside him."

Naturally, some fans will wonder about a return to the U.S. National Team set-up (his last call-up was to start a 2-2 friendly draw with Mexico just over a year ago). Sounding very much like a player with something to prove, the World Cup 2006 participant asserts that he has other things to do before even considering such things.

"I've never really spoken to Bob Bradley too much," admits Convey, who has 45 caps for the Red, White & Blue. "I just haven't been a part of it. If the National Team comes around, it will come around because I'm playing well."

"For me, right now my main focus is going back, getting in with Frank, getting in with the team, start enjoying playing again in a new club and going from there."

Soccer365 reporter Greg Seltzer blogs daily over at No Short Corners.

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