Ethan Shea Horvath (born June 9, 1995) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for EFL Championship club

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

, on loan from

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, and the United States national team.

Early years

Horvath was born and raised in

Highlands Ranch, Colorado Highlands Ranch is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Douglas County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The po ...

. His father, Peter, played college soccer with the

Midwestern State Mustangs The Midwestern State Mustangs (also MSU Texas Mustangs) are the athletic teams that represent Midwestern State University, located in Wichita Falls, Texas, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Mustangs compete as members of the Lone St ...

and professionally with Major Indoor Soccer League club Denver Avalanche, and his mother, Deana, played high school soccer. Horvath himself grew up playing with U.S. Soccer Development Academy side Real Colorado and for Arapahoe High School. He also trained with

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

, Manchester City, and Stoke City in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He is of Hungarian ancestry on his father's side.

Club career

Molde FK

Horvath signed his first professional contract in 2013 with

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

club Molde in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, having been recruited by Molde manager and former Manchester United player

Ole Gunnar Solskjær Ole Gunnar Solskjær (; born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who played as a forward who last managed Premier League club Manchester United. As a player, Solskjær spent the majority of his car ...

. Horvath first appeared in a Molde matchday squad on August 10, 2013. He made his professional debut on May 16, 2015, replacing

Ørjan Nyland Ørjan Håskjold Nyland (born 10 September 1990) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and the Norway national team. He has previously played for Hødd and was the man of the match in ...

in the 55th minute of the match. On July 1, 2015, Nyland was sold to

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club Ingolstadt 04, leaving Horvath as Molde's starting goalkeeper at age 20. By the conclusion of the

2015 Tippeligaen The 2015 Tippeligaen was the 71st completed season of top-tier football in Norway. The competition began on 6 April 2015, one week later than in the previous season. A short summer-break in June was scheduled between the rounds played on 12 Jul ...

, Horvath had helped Molde concede just 31 goals for the season, the second-best mark in the league only behind champions Rosenborg. Horvath backstopped Molde to a 5–1 aggregate victory over Pyunik in the second qualifying round of the

2015–16 UEFA Champions League The 2015–16 UEFA Champions League was the 61st season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 24th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona wer ...

, before a 4–4 aggregate loss on the away goals rule to

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

in the third qualifying round. Later, in the playoff round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, Horvath and Molde had a 3–3 aggregate win on away goals over

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

. With Molde thus qualifying for Europa League Group A, Horvath joined Brad Friedel,

Kasey Keller Kasey C. Keller (born November 29, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played in Europe and the United States, as well as being the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. national team. He is a four-time FIFA World Cup partici ...

, Tim Howard, and

Brad Guzan Bradley Edwin Guzan (; born September 9, 1984) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC. A college soccer second-team All-American for the South Carolina Gamecocks, Gu ...

as the only American goalkeepers ever to play in the UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup group stage. On October 2, 2015, Horvath was named to the Europa League Team of the Week, a day after being named

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

for a 1–1 draw against

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

in which he notched 10 saves, most notably from a point-blank header from

Viktor Fischer Viktor Gorridsen Fischer (born 9 June 1994) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or as a winger for Swedish club AIK on loan from the Belgian First Division A club Antwerp. Fischer has previously played fo ...

. Horvath led Molde to a first-place finish in Europa League Group A with successful two-legged fixtures against Ajax, Celtic, and Fenerbahçe, the latter of which featured two saves on

Robin van Persie Robin van Persie (; born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker. Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Van Persie was known for his excellent technique and ball c ...

and three saves on Nani. Combining his play in the Tippeligaen and in the Europa League, he had not allowed multiple goals in a match for over two months. In February 2016, Horvath faced eventual Europa League champions

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

in the

knockout phase A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

and was unable to prevent a 1–3 aggregate defeat of Molde, although he kept a clean sheet in the second leg.

Club Brugge

On January 3, 2017, Horvath signed with Belgium's Club Brugge on a four-and-a-half-year contract. He debuted as Club Brugge's starting goalkeeper on May 5 in the Championship playoffs. After initially letting in a goal due to confusing a whistle from the stands as the referee's whistle, Horvath rebounded to make three saves, and even notched an assist to José Izquierdo off a punt, in a 3–1 victory over Charleroi. The following match, in a 1–1 draw against Anderlecht, Horvath made four saves, including on a penalty kick attempted by

Youri Tielemans Youri Marion A. Tielemans (born 7 May 1997) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Leicester City and the Belgium national team. Tielemans began his career at Anderlecht, where he made 185 official appearance ...

. Horvath continued to start in goal to close out the season, helping Club Brugge secure a place in the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. At the start of the 2017–18 season, Horvath resumed his position as the starting goalkeeper for Club Brugge, starting in the first twelve league matches including ten victories. He also started the Champions League qualifying matches against İstanbul Başakşehir and Europa League qualifying matches against

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

, both of which were defeats on aggregate. However, he was eventually benched and then kept out of the squad for much of the season, not receiving another run of starts until May 2018 in the Belgian First Division A Championship Playoffs. He started three matches in the league playoffs as Club Brugge finished as champions and thus qualified for the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage. Horvath began on the bench for Club Brugge in the 2018–19 season behind Croatian international goalkeeper

Karlo Letica Karlo Letica (; born 11 February 1997) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Romanian Liga I club Hermannstadt. Club career Hajduk Split and lower division loans Letica kicked off his career with Hajduk Split in ...

, but Horvath soon regained the starting job. Horvath posted a trio of consecutive clean sheets against

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club SA, commonly referred to as AS Monaco () or Monaco, is a professional football club based in Monaco that is member of French Football Federation (FFF) and competes in Ligue 1, the top tier of Frenc ...

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

, and Atlético Madrid in the UEFA Champions League group stage. With

Simon Mignolet Simon Luc Hildebert Mignolet (, ; born 6 March 1988) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Belgian Pro League club Club Brugge and the Belgium national team. Mignolet started his career with Belgian Second Divisi ...

joining Club Brugge ahead of the 2019–20 season, Horvath was once again relegated to the second-choice goalkeeper, being only used sparingly by the club.

Nottingham Forest

On July 13, 2021, Horvath joined EFL Championship side

on a free transfer following the expiration of his contract at Club Brugge. On May 29, 2022, Horvath came on as a substitute in Forest's 1–0 play-off final victory over

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

in the 90th minute, due to an injury for starting goalkeeper Brice Samba. On July 2, 2022, Horvath was loaned to Championship side

for the 2022–23 season.

International career

Horvath has represented United States youth teams at every level since U-14. He was named to the U.S. under-20 squad for the

2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the twentieth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. The competition took place for the first time in New Zealand, the third time on Oceanian soil after ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, although his club did not release him. He was the U.S. under-23 starting goalkeeper for the CONCACAF–CONMEBOL Olympic qualifying playoff against Colombia, conceding two goals in two matches as U.S. lost on aggregate. Horvath was named to the 23-man

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

squad for the

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario ( pt, Copa América Centenário, french: Coupe Amerique Centennaire, en, Centennial Cup America; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's association football tournament that was hosted by the ...

held in June 2016. Head coach

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...

called Horvath one of his "biggest hopes for the future" at the goalkeeper position. On October 7, 2016, Horvath made his U.S. debut, playing the full match and keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory over

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. On May 24, 2021, Horvath was named to the United States' roster for the

2021 CONCACAF Nations League Finals The 2020 CONCACAF Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the 2019–20 edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, the inaugural season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the member association ...

. In the

2021 CONCACAF Nations League Final The 2020 CONCACAF Nations League Final was a Association football, soccer match that determined the winners of the 2021 CONCACAF Nations League Finals, final tournament of the 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League. It was the inaugural final of the C ...

on June 6, 2021, Horvath was substituted on in the second half after starting goalkeeper

Zack Steffen Zackary Thomas Steffen (born April 2, 1995) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club Middlesbrough, on loan from Premier League club Manchester City, and the United States national team. Ste ...

suffered a non-contact knee injury. Horvath proved to be instrumental to the United States' 3–2 victory, as he made several key saves, including saving

Andrés Guardado José Andrés Guardado Hernández (; born 28 September 1986) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Betis and captains the Mexico national team. Popularly known as ''Principito'' (Spanish for '' ...

's penalty late into extra time which would have tied up the score and most likely sent the game to a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. For his efforts, he was subsequently named the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

Personal life

Born to a Hungarian father, he also holds a Hungarian passport.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honors

Molde *

Norwegian Premier League Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Norwegian Football Cup The Norwegian Football Cup ( no, Norgesmesterskapet i fotball for herrer) is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest footba ...

Club Brugge *

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 tea ...

: 2017–18, 2019–20, 2020–21 *

Belgian Super Cup The Belgian Super Cup ( nl, Belgische Supercup, ; french: Supercoupe de Belgique; german: Belgischer Fußball-Super Cup), ''Pro League Supercup'', is a Belgian club competition played as a single match between the Belgian First Division A champio ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

Nottingham Forest * EFL Championship play-offs:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

United States U20 *

CONCACAF Under-20 Championship The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is the second longest running international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, CONCACAF, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Th ...

bronze: 2015 United States *

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League ( es, Liga de Naciones CONCACAF, french: Ligue des Nations de la CONCACAF) is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF, the ...

: 2019–20

References

External links

USSF Player Profile

Club Player Profile

Soccerbase Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horvath, Ethan 1995 births Living people American soccer players Molde FK players Club Brugge KV players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Eliteserien players Belgian First Division A players American expatriate soccer players American people of Hungarian descent Expatriate footballers in Norway Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in England American expatriate sportspeople in Norway United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship players Soccer players from Colorado Sportspeople from the Denver metropolitan area Copa América Centenario players 2022 FIFA World Cup players People from Highlands Ranch, Colorado Association football goalkeepers American expatriate sportspeople in Belgium American expatriate sportspeople in England