Michael Masters (born April 26, 1967) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He is the first American to score a goal in

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 ...

. He played one season in the American Soccer League, three season in its successor, the American Professional Soccer League, and the end of the 1991-1992 English season during which his team,

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

, won the FA Trophy final. Masters also earned one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

with the U.S. national team in 1992.

High school and college

Born in

Leesville, Louisiana Leesville is a city in, and the parish seat of, Vernon Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 6,612 at the 2010 United States Census. It is part of the Fort Polk South Micropolitan Statistical Area and is additionally served by ...

, Masters grew up on Long Island and graduated from

The Wheatley School The Wheatley School is a public high school serving grades 8 through 12 located in Old Westbury, New York and part of the East Williston Union Free School District. The school district encompasses all of East Williston, New York, East Williston ...

Old Westbury, New York Old Westbury is a village (New York), village in the Towns of North Hempstead, New York, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay (town), New York, Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long ...

in 1985. In 1991, the school inducted Masters into its Athletic Hall of Fame for his high school soccer, basketball and track and field exploits. Masters then attended

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

, a small

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...

liberal arts college in

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

. He chose Williams for its academic-athletic balance, and also because he wanted to play both soccer and basketball. At Williams, he played on the men's soccer team from 1985 to 1988. In 1987 and 1988 he was selected as a first team All American. He finished his four years at Williams with a school record 44 goals, a record broken in 1996 by

Brad Murray Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

. Masters also served as captain of both the soccer and basketball teams.

Professional career

Following his graduation from Williams in 1989, Masters signed with the

Albany Capitals The Albany Capitals joined the third incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1988. The team joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the ASL merged with the Western Soccer League. The club played in Albany, New York. Afte ...

of the American Soccer League (ASL). In 1990, the ASL merged with the

Western Soccer League Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer All ...

to form the American Professional Soccer League (APSL). Masters and the Capitals then played the 1990 and 1991 APSL seasons. In 1990, he was the third leading scorer in the APSL with 14 goals. In 1991, Masters scored seven goals as the Capitals went to the APSL title game only to lose to the

San Francisco Bay Blackhawks San Francisco Bay Blackhawks were a professional soccer team which came into existence in 1989 as a team in the Western Soccer League (WSL). The Blackhawks spent time in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and the United States Interreg ...

. Despite this success, the Capitals folded during the off-season and Masters moved west to join the Blackhawks for the 1992 season. He played sixteen games, scoring four goals as the team finished 8-8. At the end of the APSL season, Masters traveled to England for a trial with

which, after relegation the previous year, played in the GM Vauxhall Conference. The Conference is the fifth tier of English soccer and, while classified as 'non-league', still received significant media coverage and support from fans. Masters quickly attained cult status amongst Colchester supporters, scoring many vital goals in the club's promotion winning 1991-92 season, including a hat-trick in the final game — a 5–0 win against Barrow FC that saw the 'U's' promoted back to

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

. A few days later, Masters headed the first goal in Colchester's 3-1 victory over Witton Albion in the FA Trophy final, sealing the so-called 'non-league' double for his side. That was the first goal scored by an American in a

cup competition. Despite Masters' productive time with Colchester, the British Home Office denied him a work permit and he returned to the United States. In 1994, the Boston Storm traded Masters to the

Long Island Rough Riders The Long Island Rough Riders are an American association football, soccer team based in South Huntington, New York, United States. Founded in 1994, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays i ...

during the season. He played for the Roughriders through the 1997 season.

International career

On June 27 1992, Masters earned his only

for the United States national team, he replaced Eric Wynalda in the 59th minute of the 0–0 draw with

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Rutgers Stadium SHI Stadium is the football stadium at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Rutgers Scarlet Knights football, Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's lacrosse, and women's lacrosse use the venue for home games. It is located on the Busch Campus at ...

in Piscataway, New Jersey. In doing so, Masters became the first player to win a full international cap whilst playing for Colchester.

Post-soccer

Following his time with the national team, Mike spent some time coaching at DePaul University. He went on to receive his MBA at DePaul. He currently works on as an investment banker with Barclays Bank in London, Canary Wharf. He works in the high yield syndicate team. He is well known by financial issuers and investors, and has been on numerous well known European deals. He resided in New York with his wife and son before moving to London, where he currently resides.

Honors

Colchester United *

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

: 1991–92; runner-up

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

* FA Trophy: 1991–92

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masters, Mike 1967 births Living people Albany Capitals players American Professional Soccer League players American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England People from Leesville, Louisiana American Soccer League (1988–89) players Boston Storm (soccer) players Colchester United F.C. players National League (English football) players Long Island Rough Riders players San Francisco Bay Blackhawks players United States men's international soccer players USISL players Williams Ephs men's basketball players Williams Ephs men's soccer players DePaul Blue Demons men's soccer coaches DePaul University alumni People from Old Westbury, New York Soccer players from Nassau County, New York Men's association football forwards American men's basketball players American soccer coaches The Wheatley School alumni