Mike Ammann (born February 8, 1971) is an American former professional soccer player who played 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 ...

in England and Major League Soccer.

Youth

Ammann was born in

Orange, California Orange is a city located in North Orange County, California. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District were built before 1920. While many other ...

. The younger brother of

Bob Ammann Bob "Bobby" Ammann (born May 27, 1965) is a retired Swiss-American soccer goalkeeper. Being a competitive NCAA Division I collegiate and professional athlete has helped Ammann develop a strong work ethic and competitive drive. Ammann's athletic ...

, he played for the

Los Angeles Heat Los Angeles Heat joined the Western Soccer Alliance in 1986. They joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the WSL merged with the American Soccer League, then folded in 1990. The club played in Torrance, California at West H ...

in 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 ...

in 1989. In 1989, Ammann graduated from Mater Dei High School. He entered Cal State-Fullerton where he played on the men's soccer team from 1990 to 1993. In 1993, the Titans went to the NCAA Final Four. That year, he also played for the

East Los Angeles Cobras The East Los Angeles Cobras were an American soccer team that played in East Los Angeles, California. They joined the USISL in 1993 and later became affiliated with the Los Angeles Salsa of the American Professional Soccer League The American P ...

in the

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

Professional

After Mike Stevens, the director of

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

, saw Ammann play in the 1994 NCAA Final Four, he offered him a trial. Ammann played for Charlton Athletic in the second tier of English football from 1994 to 1996. When Major League Soccer started in 1996, Ammann was initially not signed, but late in the inaugural season he signed with the then-

Kansas City Wiz Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the we ...

. In 1997, he set a league record (since broken) of twenty-one wins, and ranked fourth in voting for the

MLS Goalkeeper of the Year MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award, known as the Allstate MLS Goalkepeer of the Year Award for sponsorship purposes, is an annual Major League Soccer award established in 1996. It is voted on by media, MLS players and club management based on regular ...

award. Before the 1999 season, Ammann was traded to the MetroStars with

Mark Chung Mark Chung (born June 18, 1970) is an American former soccer midfielder who played ten seasons in Major League Soccer. He also earned twenty-four caps, scoring two goals, with the US national team. Youth Chung was born in Toronto to Hakka Ch ...

for

Tony Meola Antonio Michael "Tony" Meola (; ; born February 21, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He represented the United States national team at the 1990, 1994, and 2002 World Cups. From 1996 to 2006, he ...

and

Alexi Lalas Panayotis Alexander "Alexi" Lalas ( el, Αλέξης Λάλας; born June 1, 1970) is an American retired soccer player who played mostly as a defender. Lalas is best known for his participation with the United States men's national soccer te ...

. That season the MetroStars squad finished with the worst record in league history. However, Ammann played well despite the lack of success, and was named Defensive Player of the Year two seasons in a row. The 2000 season was Ammann's best as the Metros went through a rebirth. Ammann was selected to the 2000 MLS All Star game and started in goal for the Eastern Conference.

Injuries and retirement

Ammann missed the last five weeks of the 2000 MLS season after Mamadou Diallo collided with him in a game against the

Tampa Bay Mutiny Tampa Bay Mutiny was a professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. They were a charter member of Major League Soccer (MLS) and played from 1996 to 2001. They played their home games at Tampa Stadium and then at Raymond James Stadium. The ...

. Diallo stepped on Ammann, resulting in three broken three ribs, a punctured lung, and a concussion. The incident, which was dubbed "Crime of the Century" by Metro teammate

Mike Petke Mike Petke (born January 30, 1976) is an American former soccer player and coach who was most recently head coach of Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. Prior to his tenure with Real Salt Lake, he was head coach of the New York Red Bulls, ...

, saw Diallo receive no punishment. Ammann missed the rest of the regular season because of these injuries, returning for the playoffs and shutting out the Chicago Fire 2–0. With the emergence of Tim Howard for the MetroStars, Ammann was traded to

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

for

Richie Williams Richard "Richie" Williams (born June 3, 1970) is an American former professional soccer player and coach. Known for his diminutive height and his dogged tackling, Williams spent the vast majority of his playing career in the United States, pla ...

and an allocation before the 2001 MLS season. Injuries dogged him, however, and he retired after not playing a minute in 2002. Ammann's doctor had never performed the procedure prior to operating on Ammann and left him permanently disabled. Ammann suffers disabilities in his right and left arms and hands. Dr. Hazel was found guilty by a jury of malpractice in D.C. Courts.

Post-soccer career

Since 2003, Ammann worked in

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...

and became the director of channel sales at Tintri. Ammann worked for Hitachi, ViON and EMC. In 2010, Ammann founded Twenty-Four Seven Goalkeeper, a goalkeeper academy in the Northern Virginia area, which taught both boys and girls of all ages. Ammann then merged 247GK with GK Icon and founded GK Icon USA some time before 2013. Ammann is currently the President of Purechannels, a global B2B Channel Marketing Agency. www.purechannels.com

References

External links

Q&A with Metro great Mike Ammann
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ammann, Mike 1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Orange, California American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom Charlton Athletic F.C. players Cal State Fullerton Titans men's soccer players D.C. United players East Los Angeles Cobras players Expatriate footballers in England Association football goalkeepers Sporting Kansas City players Los Angeles Heat players Major League Soccer players New York Red Bulls players Soccer players from California Western Soccer Alliance players Major League Soccer All-Stars American soccer players