Tim Melia
American soccer player (born 1986)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Timothy Melia (/ˈmiːliə/; born May 15, 1986) is an American former professional soccer player. He spent the majority of his career as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City.
|
Melia with Rochester Rhinos in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Timothy Melia[1] | ||
| Date of birth | May 15, 1986 | ||
| Place of birth | Great River, New York, United States | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2004–2005 | Oneonta Red Dragons | ||
| 2006–2007 | Lynn Fighting Knights | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2007 | Long Island Rough Riders | 7 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Rochester Rhinos | 13 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Real Salt Lake | 0 | (0) |
| 2010 | → Charleston Battery (loan) | 16 | (0) |
| 2011 | → F.C. New York (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2012–2014 | Chivas USA | 6 | (0) |
| 2014 | MLS Pool | – | (–) |
| 2014 | → Sporting Kansas City (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2014 | → FC Dallas (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2014 | → D.C. United (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2015–2024 | Sporting Kansas City | 258 | (0) |
| 2016 | → Swope Park Rangers (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of November 14, 2024 | |||
Early career
Melia was born in Great River, New York. Melia attended East Islip High School and played two years of college soccer at the State University of New York at Oneonta before transferring to Lynn University in 2006, where he played his junior and senior years.
Melia played for the Long Island Rough Riders in the USL Premier Development League in 2007.[3]
Professional career
Rochester Rhinos
Melia signed with the Rochester Rhinos of the USL First Division on April 30, 2008.[4] An injury to veteran goalkeeper Scott Vallow resulted in increased playing time and a number of starts for Melia during the 2009 season, and he became known for his accurate long balls from goal kicks and dead-ball situations.[citation needed]
Real Salt Lake
After trialling with Real Salt Lake during their pre-season, Melia signed with the club on March 16, 2010; he was sent on loan to USL Division 2 side Charleston Battery in April. Following his clean sheet on June 29 in a U.S. Open Cup match against the Chicago Fire (Charleston won 3–0 on penalty kicks), Melia was named "Player of the 3rd Round" for the 2010 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.[5] Melia was waived by Real Salt Lake on November 23, 2011.[6]
Chivas USA
Melia signed with Chivas USA in January 2012 and joined them during the 2012 pre-season.[7] During his time with Chivas, Melia made six league appearances for the club.
MLS Pool Goalkeeper
In the middle of the 2014 season, Melia was released by Chivas and became the league pool goalkeeper for Major League Soccer since he had a guaranteed contract.[8][9] In August 2014, Sporting Kansas City called Melia up from the league pool after two of the team's three goalies, Eric Kronberg and Andy Gruenebaum, were injured.[10] He was later called up by FC Dallas and D.C. United on an emergency basis, but he did not make any appearances.[11]
Sporting KC
In December 2014, after having joined them in the previous season as an emergency pool goalkeeper, he signed with Sporting KC for the 2015 season.[12]
After beginning the 2015 season as the understudy to starter Luis Marín, Melia emerged as the starter in May and was the primary goalkeeper for the remainder of the season. For his breakthrough efforts, Melia was named MLS Comeback Player of the Year.[13]
Since earning the starting job, Melia has emerged as one of the top keepers in the league. He has led SKC to the U.S. Open Cup titles in both 2015, where SKC prevailed in a penalty shootout, and 2017, a hard-fought victory against the New York Red Bulls. Following a 2017 season where he allowed a record-low 0.78 goals per game, Melia was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year,[14] and also earned a spot on the MLS Best XI.[15]
Melia's contract was not renewed ahead of the 2025 season, ending his 9-year long tenure with the club.[16] On April 3, 2025, he announced his retirement from professional soccer.[17]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 5 October 2024[18]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Rochester Rhinos | 2009 | USL First Division | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | ||
| Real Salt Lake | 2010 | MLS | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2011 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Charleston Battery (loan) | 2010 | USL Second Division | 16 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 0 | ||
| F.C. New York (loan) | 2011 | USL Pro | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| Chivas USA | 2012 | MLS | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2013 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| 2014 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||||
| Sporting Kansas City | 2014 | MLS | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2015 | 23 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 29 | 0 | |||
| 2016 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | 31 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 | |||
| 2018 | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | 39 | 0 | |||
| 2019 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 37 | 0 | |||
| 2020 | 22 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 24 | 0 | ||||
| 2021 | 28 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 30 | 0 | ||||
| 2022 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 0 | ||||
| 2023 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | 20 | 0 | |||
| 2024 | 28 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 33 | 0 | |||
| Total | 262 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 298 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 301 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 345 | 0 | ||
Honors
Charleston Battery
- USL Second Division Champions: 2010
- USL Second Division Regular Season Champions: 2010
Sporting Kansas City
Individual
- MLS Comeback Player of the Year Award: 2015
- Man of the Match: 2015 U.S. Open Cup Finals
- Player of the tournament: 2017 U.S. Open Cup[19]
- MLS Goalkeeper of the Year: 2017[20]
- Sporting Kansas City Most Valuable Player: 2017[21]
- MLS Best XI: 2017