Cory Gibbs

Cory Gibbs

Gibbs playing for Chicago Fire in 2011
Personal information
Date of birth	(1980-01-14) January 14, 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth	Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Position(s)	Defender
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2001	Brown Bears
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2000	Palm Beach Pumas
2001–2003	FC St. Pauli	60	(4)
2004	Dallas Burn	21	(0)
2004–2006	Feyenoord	15	(1)
2005–2006	→ ADO Den Haag (loan)	5	(0)
2006–2008	Charlton Athletic	0	(0)
2008–2009	Colorado Rapids	29	(1)
2010	New England Revolution	25	(0)
2011–2012	Chicago Fire	29	(3)
Total		184	(9)
International career
1999	United States U20	1	(0)
2003–2006	United States	19	(0)
Medal record Representing   United States CONCACAF Gold Cup 2003 Men's Soccer
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Cory Gibbs (born January 14, 1980) is an American former soccer player. ^[1] A defender, played professionally for clubs in Germany, the Netherlands and England. He also played 19 international matches for the U.S. national soccer team, including at the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Career

College and amateur

Gibbs was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He played college soccer at Brown University, joining the team in 1997. During his career, Brown won three Ivy League Championships and participated in the NCAA Tournament all four years. In 2000, Gibbs led Brown to an Ivy League championship and the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. He was named Ivy League Player of the Year, and a First-Team All-American. In 2000, he spent the collegiate off season with the Palm Beach Pumas of the Premier Development League. He was also one of three Brown soccer players, including Matthew Cross (Kansas City Wizards) and Scott Powers (Columbus Crew), to be drafted in the 2001 MLS SuperDraft.

Professional

Germany

After graduating from Brown in 2001, Gibbs decided not to play in MLS and joined FC St. Pauli of the Bundesliga. He played 25 games for St. Pauli that season, becoming the youngest American to score a goal in the Bundesliga with a goal against FC Cologne. He was also a part of the side that beat the world champions Bayern Munich, a result that earned St. Pauli the nickname of weltpokalsiegerbesieger, translated as World Club Championship Winner Beaters.^{[ citation needed ]} St. Pauli was relegated to the 2. Bundesliga after the 2001–02 season, and Gibbs played an equally important role with the team in his second season as in his first. St. Pauli, however, was relegated again after the 2002–03 season, this time to the Regionalliga Nord, the German third division. Gibbs remained with the team, being moved from central defense to defensive midfielder.

Gibbs decided to leave St. Pauli during 2003 due to the low level of play and lack of exposure needed to secure a spot on the United States national team. A move to Jahn Regensburg of the 2. Bundesliga fell through.

MLS

Gibbs returned to the United States and play in Major League Soccer, where he would be easily visible and available for international matches. Although the Columbus Crew initially tried to acquire Gibbs, he eventually ended up with FC Dallas, then known as the Dallas Burn. Gibbs was a starter in every game for which he was available during his stint with Dallas. He made a total of 21 appearances.

Europe

On January 20, 2005, the Dutch club Feyenoord agreed on a transfer with MLS, and Gibbs signed a four and a half year contract with the club. ^[2] In his first season, he made 15 appearances and scored one goal.

After injuring his knee in a U.S. national team friendly against England on May 28, 2005, Gibbs rehabbed, under the direction of Dr. Daniel Kalbac in Miami, Florida, and came back from his injury on January 19, 2006. On January 24, 2006, Feyenoord loaned Gibbs to ADO Den Haag for the remainder of the season.

Gibbs signed a pre-contract agreement with English Premier League club Charlton Athletic in May 2006 ^[3] just before Alan Curbishley's departure. After a short stay at Charlton it was announced that he would leave June 30, 2008, at the end of his contract. ^[4] He never played a match for Charlton due to injuries.

Return to MLS

Gibbs moved to MLS. ^[5] It was expected that he would be selected by the Galaxy, who had first option to pick up his contract in the allocation listings, but he was selected by Colorado after the Galaxy passed on Gibbs in order to be able to pick Eddie Lewis. Gibbs was transferred to New England Revolution on January 21, 2010, in a trade that involved four players, MLS SuperDraft picks and allocation money. ^[6]

Gibbs was selected by the Chicago Fire with the seventh pick of the MLS Re-Entry Draft on December 15, 2010. He agreed terms with the club the same day. ^[7] At the end of the 2011 season, he was named the club's Defender of the Year. ^[8]

After starting in the first three games of the 2012 season, Gibbs suffered an injury, tearing his meniscus on April 4, 2012. ^[9] After missing the rest of the 2012 season, he announced his retirement from the game on November 26, 2012. ^[1]

International

Gibbs's return to the U.S. helped his national team career, as he received frequent callups for 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Gibbs solidified his position as one of U.S.'s top central defenders. Since making his first full international appearance June 8, 2003, in a friendly against New Zealand, ^[3] Gibbs received 19 caps.

Gibbs was initially a part of the United States' 2006 FIFA World Cup team, but he reinjured his right knee in a friendly with Morocco on May 23, 2006, and was replaced by Gregg Berhalter. ^[10] Gibbs played only 45 minutes all season for Charlton's reserves following surgery to repair cartilage in his knee. Gibbs returned to international soccer when he was selected by Bob Bradley for the United States' March 26 match against Poland. ^{[11] [12]}

Personal

Gibbs was married to former Misteeq band member Zena McNally from July 2008 ^[13] until their divorce in 2014. ^[14]

He is engaged to Paramount CBS Sports Talent Manager Jenna Medvigy. They will be married during July 2024 and are expecting their first child. ^[15]

Gibbs also runs a soccer camp named 'Cory Gibbs StarSoccer', ^[16] which takes place every summer in the United States.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
FC St. Pauli	2001–02	Bundesliga	25	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	25	1
	2002–03	2. Bundesliga	21	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	21	0
	2003–04	Regionalliga	14	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	3
	Total		60	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	60	4
Dallas Burn	2004	Major League Soccer	21	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	24	2
Feyenoord	2004–05	Eredivisie	15	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	1
ADO Den Haag (loan)	2005–06	Eredivisie	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Charlton Athletic	2006–07	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2007–08	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Colorado Rapids	2008	Major League Soccer	9	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	1
	2009		20	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	0
	Total		29	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	29	1
New England Revolution	2010	Major League Soccer	25	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	25	0
Chicago Fire	2011	Major League Soccer	26	3	4	0	0	0	0	0	30	3
	2012		3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	Total		29	3	4	0	0	0	0	0	33	3
Career total			184	9	7	0	0	0	0	0	191	9

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
United States	2003	7	0
	2004	7	0
	2005	3	0
	2006	2	0
Total		19	0

References

1. "Fire Defender Cory Gibbs Announces Retirement". Chicago Fire. November 26, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
2. "Cory Gibbs '01 Signs Deal With Feyenoord Rotterdam Of Dutch Premier League". brownbears.cstv.com. Amsterdam: CBS College Sports. January 20, 2005. Archived from the original on June 16, 2008. Retrieved July 6, 2005.
3. "Charlton Athletic Playing Squad: Cory Gibbs". cafc.co.uk. Charlton Athletic. Archived from the original on July 9, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
4. "Gibbs not offered new Valley deal". BBC Sport. May 3, 2008. Retrieved May 3, 2008.
5. Gazidis, Ivan (September 5, 2008). "The Commissioner Speaks". MLSnet.com. Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on October 28, 2008.
6. McCarthy, Kyle (January 22, 2010). "Revs ship Larentowicz to Rapids in 4-player swap". bostonherald.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
7. "Fire Select Cory Gibbs". Chicago Fire. December 20, 2010. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
8. "Chicago Fire Honors". Chicago Fire. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
9. "Fire defender Cory Gibbs undergoes successful right Meniscus repair surgery". Chicago Fire. April 10, 2012.
10. "Gregg Berhalter Added to USA's 2006 FIFA World Cup Roster to Replace Injured Cory Gibbs". USSoccer.com. Chicago: United States Soccer Federation. May 25, 2006. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
11. Lucas, Ryan (March 26, 2008). "US beats Poland 3–0 on goals from Bocanegra, Onyewu and Lewis". USA Today . Kraków, Poland. Associated Press.
12. "Bradley Names 18-Man Roster to Face Poland On March 26, 2008 in Krakow In First Of Three Friendlies in Europe". USSoccer.com. Chicago: United States Soccer Federation. March 22, 2008. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
13. Dell’Apa, Frank (May 21, 2010). "Boston soccer's (low-key) version of Becks and Posh". The Boston Globe. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
14. "Where are Mis-Teeq now - bitter rows, chart success to joining S Club 7". Irish Mirror. April 21, 2021. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
15. "The Wedding of Jenn & Cory".
16. "Cory Gibbs StarSoccer". Archived from the original on July 17, 2009.

External links

• Cory Gibbs at Major League Soccer
• Cory Gibbs at Soccerbase
• Profile on Yanks Abroad ^[usurped]
• Cory Gibbs at National-Football-Teams.com