Tim Howard

Tim Howard

Personal information
Full name	Timothy Matthew Howard
Date of birth	March 6, 1979 (1979-03-06) (age 31)
Place of birth	North Brunswick, New Jersey, United States
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1][2]
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Everton
Number	24
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1997–1998	North Jersey Imperials	6	(0)
1998–2003	MetroStars	88	(0)
2003–2007	Manchester United	45	(0)
2006–2007	→ Everton (loan)	25	(0)
2007–	Everton	123	(0)
National team‡
2002–	United States	55	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:19, 2 May 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 June 2010

Timothy Matthew "Tim" Howard (born March 6, 1979) is an American soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for English club Everton and the United States national team.

Howard started his career with the North Jersey Imperials before making a move to the MetroStars. His appearances soon attracted the attention of Manchester United, who signed him in 2003. He enjoyed relative success with them as he won the 2003 FA Community Shield, the 2003-04 FA Cup and the 2005-06 League Cup. However, after United signed Edwin van der Sar, Howard went out on loan to Everton to play more first-team football and eventually signed permanently with them in February 2007.

Howard first represented the United States national team in 2002 and represented them as back-up to Kasey Keller in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He then established himself as first-choice goalkeeper as he played all of their games as they reached the round of 16 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Early years

Tim Howard was born in North Brunswick, New Jersey,^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]} to Matthew Howard – an African-American, and Esther Howard (née Fekete),^[14] a native of Hungary. His parents divorced when he was three years old, and Howard lived with his mother, a project manager for a cosmetics distributor. His father, a long-distance truck driver for a health care firm, nonetheless maintained a presence in his life. His father was determined to get Howard and his brother, Chris, involved in sports. Before the two could walk, he bought them equipment for various sports to see which games they preferred. Tim showed a preference for basketball and soccer.

Howard was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome when he was in the sixth grade.^[15] Before Howard was a teenager, Tim Mulqueen, a one time assistant coach for the United States U-17 men's national soccer team, saw his potential at a soccer camp Howard attended and took the boy under his wing.

In high school, Howard proved a star not only in soccer as a midfielder, but also on the basketball court, where he averaged 15 points per game and helped bring his team to the state finals in his senior year. However his talent and abilities as a soccer player were far more impressive. Despite his position on his high school team, Howard was a far better goalkeeper than he was a midfielder. Howard spent the first years of high school attending Montclair Kimberley Academy, a small private school in Montclair, New Jersey.^[16] Howard left MKA his junior year to go back to North Brunswick where he grew up, and graduated from North Brunswick Township High School. By the age of fifteen he began playing in goal for U.S. youth national teams. He made his international debut against Honduras on the U-17 squad. In 1997 Mulqueen became the coach of the North Jersey Imperials, a team in the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues (USISL), and served as the goalkeeping coach for Major League Soccer's MetroStars; he immediately considered Howard for a position on the Imperials. In May of that year, a month before graduating from high school, Howard played for the Imperials in his first professional game.

Club career

MetroStars

After only six appearances with the USISL's North Jersey Imperials, Tim Mulqueen, who at the time was the New York/New Jersey MetroStar's goalkeeper coach, brought Howard up from the Imperials to the MetroStars.

Howard was victorious in his MLS debut with Metrostars on August 18, 1998, making five saves in a 4–1 win over Colorado at Giants Stadium (his only appearance of the year). He later played in one game with the Nike Project-40 Team, a 3–1 win over the Staten Island Vipers at Giants Stadium on May 6, 1998.

With the MetroStars during the 1999 MLS season, he made eight starts in nine contests. Howard had a 1.58 GAA and won just one match in a season in which the Metros won just seven games. He also spent most of the international season with the U.S. Under-20 MNT, leaving the club to compete in the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria in April and the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg in July.

Howard posted a 5–2–2 record with a 1.59 GAA in 2000, splitting time between the MetroStars and the U.S. Olympic Team, also winning all three of his U.S. Open Cup starts that season.

In 2001, he became the youngest player to win the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award, recording four shutouts and a league-leading 146 saves, and was named to the MLS All-Star Team. Howard played every minute of every MetroStars game, and finished the year with a 1.33 GAA, four shutouts and a 13–10–3 record. He also received the MLS Humanitarian of the Year Award.

Howard played in twenty-seven of twenty-eight regular season games in 2002 for the MetroStars, recording four shutouts.

Before leaving the MetroStars in 2003, he appeared in thirteen games and had three shutouts as the club challenged for first place during the season’s first half.

Manchester United

Manchester United paid a $4 million transfer fee to sign Howard in the middle of the 2003 MLS season, and he replaced Fabien Barthez as the club's first-choice goalkeeper.^[17] He started off very well at Manchester United, saving the decisive penalty in the Community Shield against Arsenal. Other notable performances followed, including Bolton Wanderers and a home FA Cup tie victory over Manchester City. However, in March 2004, Howard's poor parry handed a last minute goal to FC Porto, eliminating United from the UEFA Champions League. The error appeared to shatter Howard's confidence and he was replaced by Roy Carroll. After a period of rest, Howard reclaimed his starting position ahead of Carroll for the 2004 FA Cup Final, picking up a winner's medal. He was the first American player to collect a winner's medal in the FA Cup (John Harkes had picked up a runners-up medal with Sheffield Wednesday in the 1993 final). Howard was also named in the PFA Best XI in his first season at Manchester United.

In his second season with Manchester United, he started poorly, making several errors and was dropped again for Carroll. After Carroll made several errors as well, Howard forced his way back in but his performances were unconvincing, leading to Carroll regaining his place again, playing in the FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal.

At the end of the 2005–06 season, Howard signed a new contract, which was to run until 2009. In the summer of 2005, Manchester United released both of his competitors for the goalkeeper position — Ricardo López Felipe and Carroll. However, they also bought experienced Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar soon after. An uncharacteristically outspoken Howard fumed in an interview that he would not have signed the new contract had he known van der Sar was on his way to United (van der Sar replaced Howard as first choice keeper). He felt that he had done enough to remain as the first choice United keeper.

Everton

Howard playing for Everton

In May 2006 a deal was agreed between Manchester United and Everton that would see Howard join the Merseyside club on loan for the 2006–07 season. Everton looked to Howard as a replacement for their newly-retired goalkeeper Nigel Martyn, in much the same way as Manchester United, when they were involved in the search for a successor to Peter Schmeichel (after many unsuccessful replacements). Howard made his Everton debut against Watford on the opening day of the season. Since his debut, Howard has established himself as Everton's first-choice goalkeeper.

On February 14, 2007, Everton announced that Howard had signed a permanent deal with the club through the 2012–13 season. The permanent deal was believed to be worth around £3 million, but the exact fee paid by Everton remains undisclosed.

On April 28, 2007, Everton faced Manchester United at Goodison Park. Howard did not participate in the game, and there was some speculation that this came from a clause in his loan contract which states that he cannot take part in games against Manchester United. However, since a permanent deal had been signed by the two clubs, such a clause would not be permitted. This was investigated by the Football Association and according to some newspapers, both Everton and Manchester United could have been fined for this and possibly receive point deductions. But the British newspaper The Sun, however, held it to be more likely that this affair would result in a tightening of the rules on loan deals.^[18] The F.A. eventually stated that neither Manchester United nor Everton had broken any rules regarding Howard's transfer and that both clubs had confirmed that Everton had been free to play Howard against Manchester United if they had wished to do so.^[19] He made his 100th appearance for Everton against West Ham United, on November 8, 2008. On April 19, 2009, in the FA Cup semi final, he saved two penalties against his former club Manchester United in a penalty shoot-out to send Everton to the final against Chelsea. During the 2008–09 season Howard set the club record for most league match clean sheets in a season. Howard started the 2009–10 season in fine form for Everton with four consecutive clean sheets, including away to Portsmouth where he excelled to help his team secure a 1–0 win and claimed the Man of the Match award for his performance. Howard captained Everton for the first time in a 3–3 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on December 12, 2009.^[20]

International career

Howard makes a save during training for the US national team, May 2006

Howard started for the United States national team in the 1999 World Youth Championship in Nigeria and was a backup to Brad Friedel at the 2000 Summer Olympics. On March 10, 2002, he received his first senior cap, against Ecuador. On May 2, 2006, Howard was named as one of three goalkeepers on the U.S. roster for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, but served as a backup to Kasey Keller. Howard has become the team's first choice keeper under Bob Bradley and started in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup final, a 2–1 win over Mexico.

He was the starting keeper for the 2009 Confederations Cup, including the semifinal in which the U.S. upset Spain, then the number one-ranked team in the world. Howard's eight saves earned him his first clean sheet of the tournament and the first shutout of the Spanish side since 2007. Following the United States' second place finish in the tournament, Howard was awarded the Golden Glove award for best goalkeeper.^[21]

Howard was the starting keeper for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in South Africa, and turned in a Man of the Match performance against England in his first World Cup appearance.^[22] Howard's distribution to Landon Donovan led to the game-winning goal of the last first round game against Algeria, giving the USA passage into the round of 16. He conceded 2 goals when United States lost their round of 16 game against Ghana.

Career statistics

Honors

Club

Manchester United

• FA Cup (1): 2003–04
• Football League Cup (1): 2005–06
• FA Community Shield (1): 2003

International

• CONCACAF Gold Cup (1): 2007

Individual

• MLS Goalkeeper of the Year (1): 2001
• MLS Best XI: 2001, 2002
• PFA Premier League Team of the Year (1): 2003-04
• U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (1): 2008
• Confederations Cup Golden Glove (1): 2009
• MLS All-Star Game MVP (1): 2009

Basketball

On 22 June 2009, Howard was drafted by the Harlem Globetrotters exhibition basketball team.^[24] Each year the team lists a number of athletes seen as potential players and ambassadors. “Globetrotters must be great athletes, great entertainers and outstanding citizens,” said Globetrotters Coach Sweet Lou Dunbar. “We believe each of these individuals possess enough of those unique dynamics to merit our consideration to wear the red, white and blue.”

Personal life

Howard has Tourette syndrome^[25] and was named MLS Humanitarian of the Year in 2001 for his work with children with Tourette's. He is also involved with Athletes in Action, a ministry arm of Campus Crusade for Christ.^[26] He is married to Laura Howard with whom he has two children.

References

• Staff (April 2006) "Tim Howard 1979–" Biography Today 15(2): pp. 60–70
• Biography from Current Biography (2005), Copyright (c) by The H. W. Wilson Company. All rights reserved.

Notes

External links

• Tim Howard - FIFA competition record
• Tim Howard career stats at Soccerbase
• Tim Howard Story Official site
• Tim Howard profile at Soccernet

United States Squad United States squad – 2000 Summer Olympics 1 Friedel • 2 Dunseth • 3 McCarty • 4 Agoos • 5 O'Brien • 6 Hejduk • 7 DiGiamarino • 8 Califf • 9 Olsen • 10 Vagenas • 11 Albright • 12 Corrales • 13 Donovan • 14 Victorine • 15 Whitfield • 16 Wolff • 17 Casey • 18 Howard • Coach: Charles United States squad – 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Cannon • 2 Hejduk • 3 Berhalter • 4 Mastroeni • 5 Vanney • 6 Cherundolo • 7 Lewis • 8 Stewart • 9 Kirovski • 10 Donovan • 11 Mathis • 12 Bocanegra • 13 Martino • 14 Armas • 15 Convey • 16 Califf • 17 Beasley • 18 Howard • 19 Hahnemann • 20 Twellman • 21 Cunningham • 22 Klein • 23 Gibbs • Coach: Arena United States squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Howard • 2 Albright • 3 Bocanegra • 4 Mastroeni • 5 O'Brien • 6 Cherundolo • 7 Lewis • 8 Dempsey • 9 Johnson • 10 Reyna (c) • 11 Ching • 12 Berhalter • 13 Conrad • 14 Olsen • 15 Convey • 16 Wolff • 17 Beasley • 18 Keller • 19 Hahnemann • 20 McBride • 21 Donovan • 22 Onyewu • 23 Pope • Coach: Arena United States squad – 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions (4th Title) 1 Howard • 2 Hejduk • 3 Bocanegra • 4 Mastroeni • 5 Feilhaber • 6 M. Bradley • 7 Beasley • 8 Dempsey • 9 Johnson • 10 Donovan • 11 Ching • 12 DeMerit • 13 Bornstein • 14 Ralston • 15 Simek • 16 Parkhurst • 17 Spector • 18 Keller • 19 Clark • 20 Twellman • 21 Mapp • 22 Onyewu • 23 Guzan • Coach: B. Bradley United States squad – 2007 Copa América 1 Howard • 2 Wynne • 3 DeMerit • 4 Boswell • 5 Feilhaber • 6 Pearce • 7 Califf • 8 Gomez • 9 Johnson • 10 Davies • 11 Gaven • 12 Conrad • 13 Bornstein • 14 Olsen • 15 Moor • 16 Kljestan • 17 Beckerman • 18 Keller • 19 Clark • 20 Twellman • 21 Mapp • 23 Guzan • 25 Nguyen • Coach: Bradley United States squad – 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Runners-Up 1 Howard • 2 Bornstein • 3 Bocanegra • 4 Casey • 5 Onyewu • 6 Pearce • 7 Beasley • 8 Dempsey • 9 Davies • 10 Donovan • 11 Wynne • 12 M. Bradley • 13 Clark • 14 Califf • 15 DeMerit • 16 Kljestan • 17 Altidore • 18 Guzan • 19 Adu • 20 Torres • 21 Spector • 22 Feilhaber • 23 Robles • Coach: B. Bradley United States squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Howard • 2 Spector • 3 Bocanegra (c) • 4 M. Bradley • 5 Onyewu • 6 Cherundolo • 7 Beasley • 8 Dempsey • 9 Gomez • 10 Donovan • 11 Holden • 12 Bornstein • 13 Clark • 14 Buddle • 15 DeMerit • 16 Torres • 17 Altidore • 18 Guzan • 19 Edu • 20 Findley • 21 Goodson • 22 Feilhaber • 23 Hahnemann • Coach: B. Bradley