Michael Parkhurst

Michael Parkhurst

Parkhurst in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Michael Finlay Parkhurst
Date of birth	(1984-01-24) January 24, 1984 (age 40)
Place of birth	Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s)	Defender
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2004	Wake Forest Demon Deacons	41	(0)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003	Bradenton Academics	10	(2)
2005–2008	New England Revolution	115	(1)
2008–2012	Nordsjælland	107	(3)
2013–2014	FC Augsburg	2	(0)
2014–2016	Columbus Crew	100	(0)
2017–2019	Atlanta United	86	(0)
Total		420	(6)
International career‡
2008	United States Olympic (O.P.)	5	(0)
2007–2014	United States	25	(0)
Medal record Men's soccer Representing   United States CONCACAF Gold Cup Winner 2007 United States Runner-up 2009 United States Winner 2013 United States
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 6, 2019 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of April 3, 2014

Michael Finlay Parkhurst (born January 24, 1984) is an American former soccer player who played as a defender. The 2005 MLS Rookie of the Year and 2007 MLS Defender of the Year Award, Parkhurst was capable of playing both as a center back and right back. He played for the United States national team, including being a member of three CONCACAF Gold Cup squads and participating in the 2008 Summer Olympics. Parkhurst is a co-founder of USL Championship club Rhode Island FC.

Youth and college

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Parkhurst attended the Bradenton Soccer Academy in Florida. ^[1] He played college soccer at Wake Forest University for the Demon Deacons from 2002 to 2004, where he started all sixty-two games the team played during his tenure, scoring one goal and registering two assists. Parkhurst was named a second-team All-American as a sophomore and junior and graduated from the university with a degree in history. ^[2] He then signed a Generation adidas contract with MLS following the 2004 season.

Professional career

New England Revolution

Parkhurst, who grew up in Rhode Island and played for CLCF Soccer and Bayside United, was in attendance at the inaugural home game for the New England Revolution, in 1996. ^[3] Nine years later, on January 14, 2005, he was selected ninth overall in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft by his hometown Revolution. He was ever-present for the Revs in his first season and was named MLS Rookie of the Year.

He scored his first career MLS goal on October 20, 2007, in a 2–2 draw between the Revolution and Toronto FC. The goal was scored from sixty yards out, having caught Toronto's keeper Kenny Stamatopoulos off-guard.

Parkhurst won the MLS Defender of the Year Award in 2007, the MLS Fair Play Award in 2007 and 2008 and was also twice named the MLS Humanitarian of the Year in 2006 and 2008.

F.C. Nordsjælland

After his contract with the Revolution expired after the 2008 season, Parkhurst signed a three-year contract with Danish Superliga side Nordsjælland on December 9, 2008, as a free agent. ^{[4] [5]} March 1, 2009, Parkhurst made his FCN league debut in a 1–1 away draw against Vejle.

2009–10 season, with the arrival of Andreas Bjelland and injury to Henrik Kildentoft, Parkhurst was inserted into a variety of new positions, including full back and center midfielder, becoming adept at playing at right back. ^[6] Parkhurst would help the Wild Tigers to win the Danish Cup, the club's first silverware in their history, and his first trophy in Denmark.

The following season, Parkhurst was hampered by numerous injury setbacks throughout the campaign, eventually losing his place to Jores Okore. ^{[7] [8]} He would make his return in time for Nordsjælland's Danish Cup final, winning the cup with a 3–2 victory over F.C. Midtjylland, lifting the trophy for the second consecutive year.

With less than a year remaining on his contract, there was speculation on Michael Parkhurst's future at FCN at the start of the 2011–12 season, with the emergence of Bjelland and Okore's partnership in central defense, Parkhurst was forced to play out of position, often at right back. ^{[9] [10]} Helping the club to their best ever start to a season, ending the winter break in December 2011 at a club record second in the league, Parkhurst put rumors to rest when he signed a one-year contract extension with F.C. Nordsjælland, despite financially better offers from other clubs. ^{[11] [12]} Michael Parkhust later this season helped F.C. Nordsjælland win the Danish Superliga for the first time in club history, securing the team automatic qualification for 2012–13 season's Champions League group stage.

Parkhurst featured in every minute of Nordsjælland's 2012-2013 UEFA Champions League campaign against Shakhtar Donetsk, Chelsea, and Juventus. ^{[13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]}

Augsburg

On December 19, 2012, it was announced that Parkhurst joined FC Augsburg on a free transfer. The struggling Bundesliga side finished 15th for the 2012–13 season. ^[19] He played his first competitive match in Germany on February 10, 2013 – a 1–1 draw at home against 1. FSV Mainz 05.

Columbus Crew SC

The MLS rights to Parkhurst were traded by New England to Columbus Crew SC on January 12, 2014, in exchange for the Crew's first-round selection in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft and allocation money. Parkhurst made 33 appearances in his first season with Columbus and was named captain of the club. In summer 2014, Parkhurst became the first Columbus player in four years named to the MLS All-Star Team. ^[20]

Atlanta United FC

Michael Parkhurst playing for Atlanta United on June 2, 2018

On December 11, 2016, Parkhurst was traded to Atlanta United FC in exchange for General Allocation Money. ^[21]

Parkhurst captained Atlanta to their first MLS Cup victory in 2018, which broke his personal cup drought after four previous finals. ^[22]

On September 23, 2019, Parkhurst announced his intention to retire as a professional player at the end of the 2019 season. ^[23]

International career

Parkhurst is an Irish-American and thus holds an Irish passport. He had declared that he would be willing to play for the Irish national team if his American ambitions never came to fruition. ^[3] Parkhurst was called up by the United States national team for the 2007 Gold Cup, and the 2013 Gold Cup. He earned his first cap against Trinidad and Tobago on June 9, 2007, thus eliminating any further possibility of playing for the Republic of Ireland. He's been included in many friendlies for the U.S. under Jürgen Klinsmann. He was included on Klinsmann's 30-man preliminary roster for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Career statistics

Club

As of December 8, 2018 ^{[24] [25] [26]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Playoffs [lower-alpha 1]		Cup [lower-alpha 2]		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bradenton Academics	2003	PDL	10	2	–		1	0	–		11	2
New England Revolution	2005	MLS	32	0	4	0	0	0	–		36	0
	2006		30	0	4	0	2	0	0	0	36	0
	2007		25	1	4	0	3	0	–		32	1
	2008		28	0	2	0	0	0	4 [lower-alpha 3]	0	34	0
	Total		115	1	14	0	5	0	4	0	138	1
Nordsjælland	2008–09	Superliga	16	0	–		0	0	0	0	16	0
	2009–10	Superliga	23	0	–		3	0	–		26	0
	2010–11	Superliga	22	0	–		2	0	2 [lower-alpha 4]	0	26	0
	2011–12	Superliga	30	1	–		2	0	2 [lower-alpha 4]	0	34	1
	2012–13	Superliga	16	2	–		0	0	6 [lower-alpha 5]	0	22	2
	Total		107	3	0	0	7	0	10	0	124	3
FC Augsburg	2012–13	Bundesliga	2	0	–		0	0	–		2	0
	2013–14	Bundesliga	0	0	–		0	0	–		0	0
	Total		2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Columbus Crew	2014	MLS	33	0	2	0	2	0	–		37	0
	2015		33	0	5	0	0	0	–		38	0
	2016		34	0	–		2	0	–		36	0
	Total		100	0	7	0	4	0	0	0	111	0
Atlanta United	2017	MLS	33	0	1	0	0	0	–		34	0
	2018		33	0	5	0	0	0	–		38	0
	2019		18	0	2	0	4	0	-		24	0
	Total		84	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	96	0
Career total			400	6	27	0	17	0	14	0	458	6

1. Appearances in the MLS Cup Playoffs
2. Includes the U.S. Open Cup and Danish Cup
3. Three appearances in the North American SuperLiga, one appearance in the CONCACAF Champions League
4. Appearances in the UEFA Europa League
5. Appearances in the UEFA Champions League

International

As of December 13, 2014

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
United States	2007	2	0
	2008	2	0
	2009	4	0
	2010	1	0
	2011	0	0
	2012	6	0
	2013	8	0
	2014	2	0
Total		25	0

Honors

New England Revolution

• Eastern Conference (regular season): 2005; runner-up 2006, 2007
• Eastern Conference (playoffs): 2005, 2006, 2007
• U.S. Open Cup: 2007

F.C. Nordsjælland

• Danish Superliga: 2011–12
• Danish Cup: 2009–10, 2010–11

Columbus Crew

• Eastern Conference (regular season) runner-up: 2015
• Eastern Conference (playoffs): 2015

Atlanta United

• MLS Cup: 2018
• Campeones Cup: 2019
• U.S. Open Cup: 2019

United States

• CONCACAF Gold Cup: 2007, 2013

Individual

• MLS Rookie of the Year: 2005
• MLS Fair Play Award: 2007, 2008, 2014
• MLS Humanitarian of the Year: 2006
• MLS Defender of the Year: 2007
• MLS Best XI: 2007
• MLS All-Star Team (6): 2005, 2007, 2008, 2014, 2017, 2018

References

1. "Michael Parkhurst". wakeforestsports.cstv.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
2. Rogers, Martin (January 7, 2008). "Parkhurst shows commitment to Team USA". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
3. Dell'Apa, Frank (April 8, 2005). "The Future is Now". The Boston Globe . Providence, Rhode Island.
4. McCarthy, Kyle (December 9, 2008). "Michael Parkhurst will move on to Denmark". The Boston Herald . Retrieved December 8, 2008.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
5. "FCN henter amerikansk landsholdsspiller" (in Danish). FC Nordsjælland. December 9, 2008. Archived from the original on January 16, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
6. Horn, Jakob (January 21, 2010). "Kildentoft har savnet en konkurrent" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
7. Houlind, Søren (August 31, 2010). "FCN-stopper tilbage om tre uger" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
8. Jørgensen, Jakob Stig (April 4, 2011). "Parkhurst ude i fire uger" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
9. Anker-Møller, Kristian (May 31, 2011). "Parkhurst tager efteråret i FCN" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
10. Helmin, Jesper (October 24, 2011). "Hjulmand: Parkhurst har været outstanding" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
11. Blond, Mikael (November 15, 2011). "Parkhurst har fravalgt bedre tilbud" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
12. Houlind, Søren (November 20, 2011). "Parkhurst har det godt i toppen" (in Danish). Bold.dk. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
13. "Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 FC Nordsjaelland". www.espn.co.uk. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
14. "FC Nordsjaelland 1-1 Juventus". www.espn.co.uk. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
15. "FC Nordsjælland 2-5 Shakhtar Donetsk". www.eurosport.com. November 20, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
16. "Chelsea 6-1 FC Nordsjælland". www.eurosport.com. December 5, 2012. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
17. "JUVENTUS VS. NORDSJÆLLAND 4 - 0". gh.socceryway.com. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
18. Doyle, Paul (October 2, 2012). "FC Nordsjaelland v Chelsea – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
19. Galarcep, Ives (December 19, 2012). "Michael Parkhurst signs with Bundesliga side FC Augsburg". soccerbyives.net. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
20. "Crew captain Michael Parkhurst named to 2014 AT&T MLS All-Star Game roster". July 19, 2014.
21. "Atlanta United acquire veteran defender Michael Parkhurst from Columbus". December 11, 2016.
22. Vivlamore, Chris (December 8, 2018). "Atlanta United's Parkhurst finally gets his MLS Cup". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
23. Roberson, Doug. "Breaking: Atlanta United's Michael Parkhurst to retire at end of season". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
24. "Michael Parkhurst » Club matches". World Football. November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
25. Michael Parkhurst at Soccerway
26. Michael Parkhurst at Major League Soccer

External links

• Michael Parkhurst at Major League Soccer
• Michael Parkhurst at Soccerway

Sporting positions
Preceded by Federico Higuaín	Columbus Crew SC captain 2014–2016	Succeeded by Wil Trapp