Michael Finlay Parkhurst (born January 24, 1984) is an American former soccer player who played as a defender. The 2005

MLS Rookie of the Year The MLS Young Player of the Year Award (known as the Rookie of the Year Award from 1996 to 2019) is an annual award given to the top player in Major League Soccer under the age of 22. The award was initially awarded to a rookie, or a player who no ...

and 2007 MLS Defender of the Year Award, Parkhurst was capable of playing both as a center back and

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He played for the United States national team, including being a member of three

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Amer ...

squads and participating in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Youth and college

Born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, Parkhurst attended the Bradenton Soccer Academy in Florida. He played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and Philippines, the Philippines. Th ...

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private university, private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, North Carolina, Wake Forest, north of Rale ...

for the

Demon Deacons A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ...

from 2002 to 2004, where he started all sixty-two games the team played during his tenure, scoring one goal and registering two assists. Parkhurst was named a second-team All-American as a sophomore and junior and graduated from the university with a degree in history. He then signed a

Generation adidas Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S ...

contract with MLS following the 2004 season.

Professional career

New England Revolution

Parkhurst, who grew up in Rhode Island and played for CLCF Soccer and Bayside United, was in attendance at the inaugural home game for the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

, in 1996. Nine years later, on January 14, 2005, he was selected ninth overall in the

2005 MLS SuperDraft The 2005 MLS SuperDraft, held in Baltimore, Maryland on January 14, 2005, was the sixth incarnation of the annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. Expansion club Real Salt Lake had the first pick as the result of a coin toss (fellow newcomers C.D ...

by his hometown Revolution. He was ever-present for the Revs in his first season and was named

. He scored his first career MLS goal on October 20, 2007, in a 2–2 draw between the Revolution and

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

. The goal was scored from sixty yards out, having caught Toronto's keeper

Kenny Stamatopoulos Kyriakos Stamatopoulos (born 28 August 1979) is a Greek Canadian former football goalkeeper who is the head goalkeeper coach for AIK. He is nicknamed "Stam" () and he is also often referred to as Kenny Stamatopoulos. Early life Stamatopoulos ...

off-guard. Parkhurst won the MLS Defender of the Year Award in 2007, the

MLS Fair Play Award The Fair Play Award in Major League Soccer was the award that was given to an individual player and a team who presented best overall sportsmanlike behavior in addition to receiving one of the lowest numbers of yellow Yellow is the color be ...

in 2007 and 2008 and was also twice named the MLS Humanitarian of the Year in 2006 and 2008.

F.C. Nordsjælland

After his contract with the Revolution expired after the 2008 season, Parkhurst signed a three-year contract with

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each y ...

side Nordsjælland on December 9, 2008, as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. March 1, 2009, Parkhurst made his FCN league debut in a 1–1 away draw against

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and t ...

. 2009–10 season, with the arrival of

Andreas Bjelland Andreas Bjelland (born 11 July 1988) is a Danish-Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Lyngby. He represented Denmark at international level and was part of the Danes' Euro 2012 squad. He is also adept as a full back o ...

and injury to

Henrik Kildentoft Henrik Kildentoft (born 18 March 1985) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a right back. He amassed a total 47 youth caps for Denmark under four different age groups. Early life Henrik Kildentoft was born in Hvidovre, Denmar ...

, Parkhurst was inserted into a variety of new positions, including full back and

center midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

, becoming adept at playing at

. Parkhurst would help the Wild Tigers to win the

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official " knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will qu ...

, the club's first silverware in their history, and his first trophy in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

. The following season, Parkhurst was hampered by numerous injury setbacks throughout the campaign, eventually losing his place to Jores Okore. He would make his return in time for Nordsjælland's

final, winning the cup with a 3–2 victory over

F.C. Midtjylland FC Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast in the western part of Jutland. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Supe ...

, lifting the trophy for the second consecutive year. With less than a year remaining on his contract, there was speculation on Michael Parkhurst's future at FCN at the start of the 2011–12 season, with the emergence of Bjelland and Okore's partnership in central defense, Parkhurst was forced to play out of position, often at right back. Helping the club to their best ever start to a season, ending the winter break in December 2011 at a club record second in the league, Parkhurst put rumors to rest when he signed a one-year contract extension with F.C. Nordsjælland, despite financially better offers from other clubs. Michael Parkhust later this season helped F.C. Nordsjælland win the Danish Superliga for the first time in club history, securing the team automatic qualification for 2012–13 season's Champions League group stage. Parkhurst featured in every minute of Nordsjælland's

2012-2013 UEFA Champions League 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length ...

campaign against

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...

, and

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

Augsburg

On December 19, 2012, it was announced that Parkhurst joined

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded ...

on a free transfer. The struggling

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 footbal ...

side finished 15th for the 2012–13 season. He played his first competitive match in Germany on February 10, 2013 – a 1–1 draw at home against

1. FSV Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

Columbus Crew SC

The MLS rights to Parkhurst were traded by New England to

Columbus Crew SC The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as o ...

on January 12, 2014, in exchange for the Crew’s first-round selection in the

2014 MLS SuperDraft The 2014 MLS SuperDraft was the fifteenth SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. The first two rounds of the four round draft took place on January 16, 2014, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Philadelphia Convention Center. Rounds three ...

and allocation money. Parkhurst made 33 appearances in his first season with Columbus and was named captain of the club. In summer 2014, Parkhurst became the first Columbus player in four years named to the MLS All-Star Team.

Atlanta United FC

Michael Parkhurst playing for Atlanta United on June 2, 2018

On December 11, 2016 Parkhurst was traded to

Atlanta United FC Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began p ...

in exchange for General Allocation Money. Parkhurst captained Atlanta to their first MLS Cup victory in 2018, which broke his personal cup drought after four previous finals. On September 23, 2019, Parkhurst announced his intention to retire as a professional player at the end of the 2019 season.

International career

Parkhurst is an

Irish-American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

and thus holds an Irish passport. He had declared that he would be willing to play for the Irish national team if his American ambitions never came to fruition. Parkhurst was called up by the United States national team for the

2007 Gold Cup The 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the ninth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean ( CONCACAF), and was won by the United States over Mexico. It was contested in the United States fro ...

, and the 2013 Gold Cup. He earned his first cap against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, small ...

on June 9, 2007, thus eliminating any further possibility of playing for the Republic of Ireland. He's been included in many friendlies for the U.S. under

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 was included on Klinsmann's 30-man preliminary roster for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting rig ...

Career statistics

Club

RippleWorx

After his retirement from Professional soccer, Michael became a member of the performance acceleration technology company, RippleWorx, Inc., to work with the company founders:

Jonas Hummels Jonas Hummels (born 5 August 1990) is a German retired footballer who played as a central defender for SpVgg Unterhaching. He is the younger brother of German international Mats Hummels. Career Like his brother Mats, Hummels began his career i ...

, Dr. Timo Sandritter, Angie Sandritter, and Brian Hadley. Michael is standing RippleWorx US VP of Sports.

International

Honors

Club

New England Revolution * Eastern Conference (regular season):

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

** ''Runner-up:'' 2006,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

* Eastern Conference (playoffs):

, 2006,

* Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup:

F.C. Nordsjælland *

: 2011–12 *

: 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

Columbus Crew * Eastern Conference (regular season) runner-up:

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

* Eastern Conference (playoffs):

Atlanta United *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

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 United ...

Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup:

International

United States *

(2):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

Individual

(3):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

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 ...

* MLS Humanitarian of the Year: 2006 *

MLS Defender of the Year Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the ...

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. Winners *Players in bold were awarded the Landon Donovan MVP Award The Landon Donovan MVP Award is an annual award for MLS players. It is voted on by ...

* MLS All-Star Team (6):

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parkhurst, Michael Living people 1984 births Sportspeople from Providence, Rhode Island Association football defenders American soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players Olympic soccer players of the United States IMG Academy Bradenton players Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer players New England Revolution players FC Nordsjælland players FC Augsburg players Columbus Crew players Atlanta United FC players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Danish Superliga players Bundesliga players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate footballers in Germany New England Revolution draft picks Soccer players from Rhode Island