Tim Melia

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Tim Melia
Melia with Rochester Rhinos in 2009
Personal information
Full name Timothy Melia[1]
Date of birth (1986-05-15) May 15, 1986 (age 40)
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

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.

Early career

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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

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Rochester Rhinos

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Club

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As of match played 5 October 2024[18]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
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

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Charleston Battery

Sporting Kansas City

Individual

References

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  1. ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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  3. ^ 2007 Long Island Rough Riders Archived June 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
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  18. ^ Tim Melia at SoccerwayLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
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