He is still trying to pick a club, but has returned to Germany to be near his daughter. Here is a news story on the move: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705316396/RSLs-Joy-leaving-team-to-join-family.html Here is an open letter from Ian addressing fan criticism over his departure from RSL: http://keepinitrealsl.blogspot.com/2009/07/open-letter-from-ian-joy.html
As of Friday, Ian is still hunting a club. He is staying in playing shape by training with St. Pauli. http://www.bild.de/BILD/sport/fussb...uli/uebt-mit-hertha-pokal-fuer-villingen.html
Ian is now with 3rd Liga side FC Ingolstadt 04 looking to land a contract. Since he is a free agent he can still be signed. http://www.donaukurier.de/sport/fussball/fcingolstadt04/fc04-berichte/art19158,2167778
the article says he is there as a "training guest" in order to keep himself fit. Might be a trial of some sort, but it doesn't sound like it according to the article.
He left RSL to be closer to his daughter in Germany. I don't think Philly is that much closer than Salt Lake.
My parents have lived on the West Coast before and hated the long ass flight back to home (Ireland). It makes a big difference. 11ish hour flight vs. 8ish hour flight is pretty big deal for frequent travelers such as Mr. Joy or my father.
YA spoke with an Ingolstadt press officer about Ian Joy. He is trial, but there is no timetable for signing him.
Probably signed already like he said, this article has a snippet that he is about to (but who knows when the source got the information). http://www.donaukurier.de/sport/fussball/fcingolstadt04/fc04-berichte/art19158,2174272 Translation: It is looking more and more likely that the signing of LB Ian Joy will happen. The 28 Year old has been training with the Club for over a week and previously played in Germany for HSV II and St. Pauli, it is our understanding that he is about to sign a contract.
not sure if he has signed on the dotted line yet, but he went 90 today in a friendly against 1860 Munich Ian was called for a foul in the box that led to penalty, but Ingostadt won 2-1.
He has signed with them, but so far he didn't make the bench in the two league games since his signing.
He did play in a regional cup game for them (Bayrischer Toto-Pokal - lower league feeder to the DFB Cup) a few weeks ago which the team won 4-2. The next round is tomorrow, but I guess his participation might depend on how pooped he is after the 1860 friendly.
Joy has started Ingolstadt's last two games. He went 90 in a 0-0 draw against Dynamo Dresden and then 73' in a 1-0 win over Heidenheim. Ingolstadt are 6th, but only two points out of the 3rd place playoff spot and three points out of the automatic promotion zone.
Ian is apparently injured and is questionable for the next match http://mobil.freenet.de/magazin/spo...699222.html;jsessionid=gD0dxQ6lwUk++VirN8CiOQ**
Looks like Ian will be on the move again: "I am now back to top fitness and raring to go again, but the winter break is coming up and it looks like finances at the club and doubt over my fitness might prevent me from staying in Ingolstadt," he reported. "I have been training and playing here in Ingolstadt with no salary for the last four months and there has to be a point where I start to earn money again. It looks like I might have to move away from Ingolstadt to find that." He is looking at other German clubs and a possible return to MLS. RSL are willing to allow him to sign with another MLS team though they hold his rights. http://www.soccer365.com/americans_abroad/story_161209231152.php
He moved to Germany to be close to his daughter. This is admirable. However, he didn't line up a job prior to leaving RSL and heading over. As he mentions in the article most of the team lineups at the 2.BL level were set by then. So he took what he could get, and that was Ingolstadt of the 3.BL. And while they are doing quite well and probably will be promoted to 2.BL next season, they have money issues. He signed some sort of pay for play deal and then got injured. Thus not playing much and not earning much.
Mostly the same stuff from the last article, but anyway: http://yanks-abroad.com/get.php?mode=content&id=5642
A return to MLS is looking more likely. http://www.mls-daily.com/2010/02/ian-joy-plotting-mls-return.html
We can remove Ian from the YA ranks for next season as he has signed with Portland http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3965673