Chad Ashton

Last updated

Chad Ashton
Personal information
Date of birth (1967-10-26) October 26, 1967 (age 56)
Place of birth Denver, Colorado, United States
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
College career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1986–1989 North Carolina Tar Heels
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1990–1994 Colorado Foxes
1990–1991 Kansas City Comets (indoor) 44 (9)
1992–1993 Denver Thunder (indoor) 35 (33)
1993–1994 Milwaukee Wave (indoor) 32 (24)
1994–1998 Wichita Wings (indoor) 96 (65)
1996 Dallas Burn 23 (1)
1997 Colorado Foxes 27 (6)
Managerial career
1995 Denver Pioneers
1998–2006 Denver Pioneers
2007–2022 D.C. United (assistant)
2020 D.C. United (interim)
2022 D.C. United (interim)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Chad Ashton (born October 26, 1967, in Denver, Colorado) is an American former soccer midfielder who spent one season in Major League Soccer, four in the American Professional Soccer League, six in the National Professional Soccer League and one in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He coached for ten years at the collegiate level and as assistant coach of D.C. United. [1]

Contents

Youth

Ashton grew up in Colorado, earning 1986 Colorado high school player of the year recognition (Iver C. Ranum High School). He then attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he played on the men's soccer team from 1986 to 1989. Over his four-year career, he scored 20 goals and added 43 assists in 89 games. He was 1987, 1988 and 1989 second team All Atlantic Coast Conference. He is the team's all-time career assists leader. [2]

Professional

In 1990, Ashton signed with the Colorado Foxes of the American Professional Soccer League. The Foxes won the 1992 and 1993 APSL championship. He was the MVP of the 1993 APSL title game. In October 1990, the Milwaukee Wave selected Ashton in the third round of the National Professional Soccer League draft. However, the Kansas City Comets selected Ashton in the first round of the Major Indoor Soccer League draft and he signed with them. [3] Ashton signed with the Denver Thunder in the National Professional Soccer League. [4] The team folded following the season. At some point, he played for the Colorado Comets in the USISL. [5] In the fall of 1993, he signed with the Milwaukee Wave in the NPSL [6] The next season, he moved to the Wichita Wings. He saw time in only one game, but rebounded with twenty games during the 1995–1996 season. He continued to play the winter indoor season with the Wings through the 1997–1998 season. In February 1996, the Dallas Burn selected Ashton in the 2nd round (18th overall) of the 1996 MLS Supplemental Draft. He played twenty-three games, scoring one goal. In the spring of 1997, he returned to the Colorado Foxes for one more season.

Coach

In 1995, the University of Denver hired Ashton as head coach of its men's soccer team. He took the team to a 9–8–2 season, but left the school to pursue his MLS career. In 1998, he returned to the University of Denver. During his ten seasons as head coach of the University of Denver, he compiled a record of 85–85–14. [7] He was the 2004 and 2006 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Coach of the Year.

On January 17, 2007, D.C. United hired Ashton as an assistant coach. In addition to his first team duties, he coached the United reserve team. For 13 years, Ashton served as an assistant coach under three different coaches for United: Tom Soehn, Curt Onalfo, and Ben Olsen. On October 8, 2020, Ashton became D.C. United's interim head coach after the departure of Olsen. On April 20, 2022, Ashton once again became D.C. United's interim head coach following the departure of Hernán Losada.

Related Research Articles

The Colorado Foxes were a professional soccer team, based in Commerce City, Colorado, that played in the American Professional Soccer League, and later in the A-League, between 1990 and 1997. The Foxes won two APSL titles, in 1992 and 1993. In 1992 they won the regular season as well as the Professional Cup, giving them a minor treble.

Geoffrey"Geoff"Edward Ramer Aunger is a former Canadian soccer player. He played in various Canadian leagues and the lower tiers of the English leagues system before playing in the United States in the A-League and Major League Soccer. Aunger was also a member of the Canadian national soccer team member.

David Dir is an American soccer coach, broadcaster, and former player. He played professionally in the USISL and has served as a head coach in the APSL, NCAA, and Major League Soccer, and as an assistant with the United States under-20 national team. Dir was one of the original ten MLS head coaches, coaching the Dallas Burn from 1996 until 2000. At the time of his departure in 2000, Dir had amassed a regular-season record of 81-75-4, which made him the winningest head coach in MLS history until Thomas Rongen overtook him in 2001.

Dan Donigan is a retired United States soccer forward and former coach who played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League. Following his playing career he coached at the collegiate level as an assistant coach for Connecticut and Saint Louis, and subsequently as a head coach for Saint Louis and Rutgers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Soehn</span> American soccer coach (born 1966)

Tom Soehn is an American soccer coach who is the head coach of USL Championship club Birmingham Legion. A former player, his career as a defender spanned seven clubs across 12 seasons, both indoors and outdoors.

Shawn Medved is a retired American soccer forward and midfielder. Currently, he coaches youth soccer.

Jim St. Andre is a retired U.S. soccer goalkeeper. He played professionally in the American Professional Soccer League, National Professional Soccer League and Major League Soccer.

Michael Fox is an American retired soccer midfielder. He began his professional career with the New York Cosmos in 1983 and ended it with the Los Angeles Heat in 1994. In between those two teams, he played for numerous teams in multiple indoor and outdoor league. He also earned seventeen caps with the U.S. national team and was a member of the U.S. 1984 Olympic soccer team.

Ted Eck is a retired American soccer player who played for numerous clubs in the United States and Canada over a thirteen-year professional career. He is currently an assistant coach with Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer. He also earned thirteen caps with the U.S. national team between 1989 and 1996.

Mark Santel is a retired U.S. soccer midfielder who is currently an assistant coach for the Saint Louis Billikens. Santel played professionally in the Major Indoor Soccer League, American Professional Soccer League and Major Soccer League. He also earned eight caps with the U.S. national team between 1988 and 1997.

Danny Pena is a retired U.S. soccer defensive midfielder. He spent most of his career, both indoors and outdoors, with teams in the western U.S.

Jean Harbor is a former Nigerian American soccer forward who played for numerous teams in Nigeria and the U.S. He earned fifteen caps with the U.S. national team after becoming a U.S. citizen in 1992.

Matt Knowles is a former U.S. soccer defender who spent most of his career playing indoor soccer. However, he also spent time in the American Professional Soccer League in the early 1990s and Major League Soccer.

Brian Haynes is a Trinidadian football coach and former player who earned twenty-one caps with the Trinidad and Tobago national team. He spent his entire professional career in the United States where he played for numerous indoor and outdoor leagues. He was the 1991 American Indoor Soccer Association Rookie of the Year, won three American Professional Soccer League titles and played five seasons with the Dallas Burn in Major League Soccer.

John Garvey is a retired American soccer player.

Rafael Amaya is a retired Colombian-American soccer defender who spent two seasons in Major League Soccer, five in the American Professional Soccer League, at least five in the National Professional Soccer League and at least two in the USISL.

Kevin Koetters is a retired U.S. soccer midfielder who spent most of his career in the U.S. indoor leagues as well as one with the Kansas City Wiz in Major League Soccer, one in the American Professional Soccer League and one in the USISL.

Ken Hesse is a retired American soccer defender who played one game for the MetroStars in Major League Soccer.

David Vaudreuil is an American former professional soccer player whose career spanned fifteen teams in over six leagues including seven seasons in Major League Soccer. He is the former head coach of Tulsa Roughnecks. Vaudreuil was terminated halfway through the Tulsa Roughnecks 2018 season.

Emilio Romero is a retired American soccer forward who played professionally in the North American Soccer League, American Soccer League and the Major Indoor Soccer League /Colorado Comets South West Professional League 1984-1988 Player Coach. / USA National team 1976 ./ Colorado Youth Hall Fame / Metro State University Hall of Fame.

References

  1. "D.C. United fires manager Hernan Losada after four-straight MLS defeats". April 22, 2022.
  2. "Tar Heels Soccer Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2009.
  3. Sidekicks, Blast look like class of the league USA TODAY – Wednesday, October 17, 1990
  4. NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL SOCCER LEAGUE FINAL OFFICIAL STATISTICS – 1992–1993 Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Colorado Comets Alumni Archived August 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  6. Milwaukee Wave records Archived 2010-11-16 at the Wayback Machine
  7. University of Denver Media Guide Archived July 26, 2011, at the Wayback Machine