Timothy Melia (; born May 15, 1986) is an American former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. He spent the majority of his career as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

Early career

Melia was born in

Great River, New York Great River is a suburban hamlet and CDP in the Town of Islip in Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is situated approximately (55 mi driving) east of New York City on the South Shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South ...

. 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 Lynn University is a private university in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. Founded in 1962, the university awards Associate degree, associate, Bachelor's degree, baccalaureate, Master's degree, master's, and Doctorate, doctoral Academic degr ...

in 2006, where he played his junior and senior years. Melia played for the Long Island Rough Riders in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

in 2007.

Professional career

Rochester Rhinos

Melia signed with the Rochester Rhinos of the

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

on April 30, 2008. 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.

Real Salt Lake

After trialling with

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

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 The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

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. Melia was waived by Real Salt Lake on November 23, 2011.

Chivas USA

Melia signed with

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

in January 2012 and joined them during the 2012 pre-season. During his time with Chivas, Melia made six league appearances for the club.

MLS Pool Goalkeeper

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. 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. He was later called up by

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

and D.C. United on an emergency basis, but he did not make any appearances.

Sporting KC

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. 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. 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 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, where SKC prevailed in a penalty shootout, and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, a hard-fought victory against the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

. Following a 2017 season where he allowed a record-low 0.78 goals per game, Melia was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, and also earned a spot on the

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. The selection is determined by a collection of media, players, and MLS club technical staffs. Winners Appearances by player The following players ...

. Melia's contract was not renewed ahead of the 2025 season, ending his 9-year long tenure with the club. On April 3, 2025, he announced his retirement from professional soccer.

Career statistics

Club

Honors

Charleston Battery *

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ...

Champions:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Regular Season Champions:

Sporting Kansas City * U.S. Open Cup:

Individual *

MLS Comeback Player of the Year Award MLS Comeback Player of the Year is a Major League Soccer award established in 2000. The award is voted on by media, MLS players and club management. It is presented to a player who showed impressive improvement after overcoming a serious injury ...

*Man of the Match: 2015 U.S. Open Cup Finals *Player of the tournament: 2017 U.S. Open Cup * MLS Goalkeeper of the Year: 2017 *Sporting Kansas City Most Valuable Player: 2017 *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melia, Tim 1986 births Living people American men's soccer players Men's association football goalkeepers Charleston Battery players Chivas USA players F.C. New York players Long Island Rough Riders players Lynn Fighting Knights men's soccer players Major League Soccer players Oneonta State Red Dragons men's soccer players People from East Islip, New York Soccer players from Islip (town), New York Real Salt Lake players Rochester New York FC players Sporting Kansas City players USL Championship players USL First Division players USL League Two players USL Second Division players