Michael Stephens (soccer)
Michael Francis Stephens (born April 3, 1989) is an American former professional soccer player.
 Stephens with LA Galaxy in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Francis Stephens[1] | ||
| Date of birth | April 3, 1989 | ||
| Place of birth | Hinsdale, Illinois, United States | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2004–2005 | IMG Soccer Academy | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2009 | UCLA Bruins | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2007–2008 | Chicago Fire Premier | 8 | (1) |
| 2010–2013 | LA Galaxy | 94 | (2) |
| 2014 | Stabæk | 30 | (1) |
| 2015–2016 | Chicago Fire | 37 | (0) |
| 2017 | San Francisco Deltas | 26 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2009 | United States U20 | 5 | (2) |
| 2012 | United States U23 | 2 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 30, 2017 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of May 11, 2012 | |||
Career
College and Amateur
Stephens grew up in Naperville, Illinois, attended Edison Academic Center, and played four years of college soccer at UCLA. He was honored as UCLA's Rookie of the Year in 2006, while also being selected to the Top Drawer Soccer All-Freshman first team and to Soccer America's All-Freshman second team, playing in all 24 games in his rookie season.
He was named to the Soccer America MVP second-team in 2008, and became only the third player in Bruin history to earn Pac-10 Player of the Year honors. As a senior, he was named to the All-Pac-10 First-team and was a NSCAA All-Far West second-team honoree. He finished his UCLA career with 81 appearances, 11 goals and 20 assists.
During his college years Stephens also played two seasons with Chicago Fire Premier in the USL Premier Development League.[2][3]
Professional
Stephens was drafted in the first round (16th overall) of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft by Los Angeles Galaxy.[4] He made his professional debut on March 27, 2010, in Galaxy's opening game of the 2010 MLS season against New England Revolution.[5]
In March 2014, Stephens signed a two-year contract with Norwegian Tippeligaen side Stabæk.[6] After one season with Stabæk, Stephens returned to MLS on 9 December 2014, signing with Chicago Fire.[7] After the end of 2016 season, Fire did not exercise his contract option and he became a free agent.[8]
After his release from Chicago, Stephens joined North American Soccer League side San Francisco Deltas on January 6, 2017.[9]
International
Stephens was a member of U.S. squad at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, having previously scored a goal in consecutive games against Costa Rica with the Under-20s in May. He was the US's starting forward in three games at the 2007 Pan American Games, and featured for the Under-18 National Team in 2006, scoring one goal with three assists. Previously, he had been a member of the U-17 National Team Residency Program from 2004–06, and played with the U-15 and U-16 National Teams.
Career statistics
- As of 10 December 2016[10]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| LA Galaxy | 2010 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 1 |
| 2011 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 33 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 33 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 29 | 1 | |
| Total | 100 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 121 | 2 | |
| Stabæk | 2014 | 30 | 1 | 4 | 0 | - | 34 | 1 | |
| Total | 30 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 1 | |
| Chicago Fire | 2015 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | 22 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | 19 | 0 | ||
| Total | 37 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 0 | |
| Career Total | 167 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 196 | 3 | |
Honors
Los Angeles Galaxy
- MLS Cup (2): 2011, 2012
- Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield (2): 2010, 2011
- Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship (2): 2011, 2012
San Francisco Deltas
- NASL Soccer Bowl (1): 2017
References
- "FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009™: List of Players: United States" (PDF). FIFA. October 6, 2009. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
- 2007 Chicago Fire Premier Archived 2014-12-23 at the Wayback Machine
- 2008 Chicago Fire Premier Archived 2012-10-09 at the Wayback Machine
- 2010 MLS SuperDraft Archived 2010-01-17 at the Wayback Machine
- "CBC.ca Sports". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
- "American Exports: Former LA Galaxy midfielder Michael Stephens signs with Bob Bradley's Stabaek". MLS Soccer. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- "Chicago Fire Sign Midfielder Michael Stephens". www.chicago-fire.com. Chicago Fire. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- "Chicago Fire Exercises Contract Options on Nine Players". chicago-fire.com. November 23, 2016.
- "Deltas Add Pair Of Signings".
- "M.Stephens". uk.soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
External links
