Chris Leitch

Chris Leitch
Personnel
birthday	April 1, 1979
place of birth	Columbus , Ohio ,  USA
size	180 cm
position	defense
Juniors
Years	station
1994-1997	Pickerington High School
1998-2001	University of North Carolina
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
2002	Columbus crew	13 (0)
2003-2005	MetroStars	72 (0)
2006	Columbus crew	24 (0)
2007-2008	New York Red Bulls	29 (0)
2009-2011	San Jose Earthquakes	58 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Chris Leitch (born April 1, 1979 in Columbus , Ohio ) is a retired American football player in the position of defender .

Since August 10, 2015 he has been the Technical Director of the Major League Soccer franchise San José Earthquakes . He has been in charge of the youth development program there since 2012.

Career

Beginnings and college football

Leitch began his active career as a football player in 1994 on the football team at Pickerington High School in Pickerington , Ohio. After enjoying great success as a soccer player and basketball player from 1994 to 1997 , he switched to the “North Carolina Tar Heels” at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , which he attended from 1998 to 2001. During this time he came on a respectable 88 missions, in 87 of these games he was on the field from the start. In the four years at the university he scored a total of two hits, celebrated many successes and received various awards.

Club career

Chris Leitch (front) in a duel with Stuart Holden (2008)

In the MLS SuperDraft 2002 Leitch was drafted in the fourth round as the 47th pick to Columbus Crew in the Major League Soccer. After only one year and 13 missions for the crew, Leitch transferred to the MetroStars , who also played in the MLS. He made his club debut at Metro on April 19, 2003 against LA Galaxy in a 1-1 draw. During the 2003 season, Leitch injured his right ankle and was out for a total of nine games. In the 2004 season he was honored within the team as Iron Man because he had the most completed game minutes of the entire team. At the end of the season he was used in the two-legged playoffs in the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference. In 2005 he had the second highest number of minutes played in his career. From the 2006 season, Leitch played again for his former club Columbus Crew after having played 72 games for the MetroStars. After 24 games for the crew , Leitch became a free agent , but shortly afterwards he chose the New York Red Bulls (formerly MetroStars) football club, which was playing under a new name, as his next stop. With the Red Bulls he made it to the final of the MLS Cup in 2008 , where the Columbus crew were defeated 3-1 in the sold out Home Depot Center . Until his departure in March 2009, he was used for RBNY in 29 games. At the start of the 2009 season on March 2, Leitch was transferred to the San José Earthquakes in exchange for an unknown sum and an international transfer place. In return, the striker John Cunliffe and the German - Ethiopian midfielder Michael Ghebru were "released" from the game and were then without a contract.

successes

• Tom Evins Award: 1999
• Nicholas Douglass Potter Coaches Award: 2000
• Called up for the All-Tournament-Team at the Nike Carolina Classic-Tournament: 2000
• All-ACC Team: 2001
• NCAA National Championship : 2001
• Lamar Hunt US Open Cup winner : 2002 with Columbus Crew
• MLS Cup Final: 2008 with the NYRB

Web links

• Chris Leitch in the database of MLSSoccer.com (English)
• Player profile at ESPN Soccer Net

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Earthquakes acquire defender Leitch ( Memento of the original from January 19, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ^ Quakes make a deal for defender