Sporting KC goalkeeper Melia signs contract extension through 2022

Tim Melia, one of the top goalkeepers in Major League Soccer, will be minding the net for Sporting Kansas City for a few more years.

Melia, 33, has signed a contract extension through 2022, the club announced Friday.

Since joining the club ahead of the 2015 season, Melia has led Sporting to four playoff appearances and two Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup titles. Over the last five regular seasons, Melia leads MLS with 10 saved penalty kicks–four more than any other player–while ranking third in shutouts (45), third in wins (62), fourth in saves (456) and fifth in save percentage (71.5%).

“I could not be more excited to extend my contract with a club that has given me so much,” Melia said. “To play any length of time at such a special and supportive club is something all athletes dream of. I only hope to help contribute in bringing our owners, technical staff, players and fans the rewards that Sporting deserves.”

“We are very happy to extend Tim’s contract for the long term,” Sporting Kansas City Manager and Sporting Director Peter Vermes said. “He has great goalkeeping qualities and has performed at a consistently high level in MLS. Welcoming him for the next three seasons is a big positive for us moving forward.”

Melia sits atop Sporting’s all-time goalkeeping charts in competitive appearances and starts (170 each), games won (74) and clean sheets (53). In regular season play, he ranks first among Sporting goalkeepers in career minutes and saved penalties, second in saves and save percentage, and third in goals against average.

After spending his first five MLS seasons as a backup at Real Salt Lake and Chivas USA, Melia served as a League Pool Goalkeeper during the latter half of 2014. He received an emergency call-up from Sporting in August that year and signed permanently for the club the following offseason. Melia became Sporting’s first-choice goalkeeper by May 2015 and enjoyed the biggest breakthrough of his career, ending the campaign with nine shutouts, a 15-8-5 record across all competitions and his first Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship. The New York native was voted the 2015 MLS Comeback Player of the Year, becoming the fourth Sporting player to receive the award.

Melia helped Sporting to the MLS Cup Playoffs in 2016 before reaching new heights in 2017, when he was named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. In a brilliant third season with Sporting, he led MLS in goals against average (0.78) save percentage (78.4%) and penalty saves (three) while placing second in shutouts (10). He also posted three clean sheets in Sporting’s run to the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title, saving two penalties in a shootout win over the San Jose Earthquakes at the semifinal stage.

Another strong campaign in 2018 saw Melia play every minute of the regular season en route to MLS career-highs in shutouts (13) and wins (18-8-8 record). He once again topped MLS with three saved penalties as Sporting finished first in the Western Conference standings and came within one game of MLS Cup. Melia ended the 2019 campaign with a career-high 111 saves in the regular season while hitting double-digits in wins for the fifth straight year.