Chris Leitch

Chris Leitch
Personal information
Date of birth (1979-04-01) April 1, 1979
Place of birth Pickerington, Ohio, United States
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position Defender
Youth career
1997–2001 North Carolina Tar Heels
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002 Columbus Crew 13 (0)
2002–2005 MetroStars 72 (0)
2006 Columbus Crew 24 (0)
2007–2008 New York Red Bulls 29 (0)
2009–2011 San Jose Earthquakes 58 (0)
Total 196 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of August 12, 2011.


Chris Leitch (born April 1, 1979 in Pickerington, Ohio) is a retired American soccer player who is currently the interim General Manager for the San Jose Earthquakes.

Career

College

Leitch played college soccer at the University of North Carolina, leading them to the NCAA Championship in 2001, setting a school record for games played (88) and starts (87).

Professional

Leitch was drafted by Columbus Crew in the fourth round of the 2002 MLS SuperDraft, but only played 13 games for his hometown team in his first professional season.

Leitch was traded to the MetroStars with Jeff Matteo for Ross Paule prior to the 2003 season.[1] He became a regular in the Metro lineup late in the year, playing in 15 games. He then became an automatic starter in 2004, playing every minute of all but a single game. Originally a right back, Leitch acquitted himself well on the left flank when the Metros needed help at that position. He switched back to the right flank in 2005. Despite being named the team's Defender of the Year, he was waived by the club in the offseason and then came back to Columbus. He appeared in 24 matches in the 2006 season for his hometown club.

Leitch matching up with Stuart Holden

In the 2007 pre-season, Leitch was waived again, this time by the Crew as they sought to clear roster spots. He would return to the New York franchise, now New York Red Bulls, in July. The versatile defender appeared in 12 league matches for the club, starting 11. In 2008 Leitch appeared in 17 regular season matches. He helped the club reach the 2008 Western Conference Final, starting in both matches of the Red Bulls historic upset over defending champion Houston Dynamo (4-1 on aggregate). The following week he helped shut out Real Salt Lake 1-0 to help the Red Bulls reach the MLS Cup Final for the first time in club history.

Just prior to the start of the 2009 season on March 2, San Jose Earthquakes acquired Leitch in a trade with New York for an undisclosed sum of allocation money and one of the Earthquakes' eight international roster spots.[2][3] Leitch had a career year with San Jose in 2009 appearing in 29 matches during the MLS regular season and contributing with 7 assists from his full back position.

Leitch remained with San Jose through the 2011 season. At season's end, the club declined his 2012 contract option and he entered the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft. Leitch was selected by Los Angeles Galaxy in stage two of the draft on December 12, 2011.[4] However, Leitch decided to retire rather than return for the 2012 season.

Coaching

On January 31, 2012, Leitch was named Technical Director for the San Jose Earthquakes Youth Development Academy.[5]

On August 10, 2015, he was promoted to Technical Director for the San Jose Earthquakes proper, including the first team as well as the Academy.[6]

Titles

Season Team Title
2002United States Columbus Crew US Open Cup
2008United States New York Red Bulls MLS Western Conference (Playoffs)

Career statistics

Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
USA League Open Cup League Cup North America Total
2002Columbus CrewMajor League Soccer13020----150
2003MetroStarsMajor League Soccer1503020--200
20042901020--320
200528010----290
2006Columbus CrewMajor League Soccer24020----260
2007New York Red BullsMajor League Soccer120--10--130
20081701040--220
2009San Jose EarthquakesMajor League Soccer29010----300
20101501110--171
2011140------140
Total USA 1960121100--2181
Career total 1960121100--2181

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.