 Perkins withMontreal Impact in 2013 | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Troy Perkins | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1981-07-29)July 29, 1981 (age 43) | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Springfield, Ohio, United States | |||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | |||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||
| College career | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2000–2002 | South Florida Bulls | 58 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2003 | Evansville Purple Aces | 19 | (0) | |||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 2002 | Cape Cod Crusaders | 22 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2004–2007 | D.C. United | 77 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2004 | →Northern Virginia Royals (loan) | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Vålerenga | 53 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2010 | D.C. United | 22 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Portland Timbers | 51 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Montreal Impact | 63 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2015 | Seattle Sounders FC | 4 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2015 | →Seattle Sounders FC 2 (loan) | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||
| Total | 295 | (0) | ||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | United States | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Seattle Sounders FC 2 (goalkeeping coach) | |||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
Troy Perkins (born July 29, 1981) is an American formersoccer player. During his career, he played for clubs in the United States, Canada, and Norway. The 2006Major League Soccer Goalkeeper of the Year award winner earned seven caps with theUnited States national team.
Perkins is a graduate ofThomas Worthington High School, in Worthington, OH, and playedcollege soccer at theUniversity of South Florida and theUniversity of Evansville. He was named third-team All-Conference USA in 2001, and second-team All-CUSA in 2002. He transferred to Evansville for his senior season. At Evansville, he allowed only twenty-one goals in nineteen matches, compiling a 1.09 goals-against-average. Perkins also played in thePDL for theCape Cod Crusaders in 2002.
Upon graduating in 2003, Perkins went undrafted. However, he was signed to adevelopmental contract byD.C. United. Not expected to contribute, Perkins was given an opportunity after bothNick Rimando andDoug Warren lost their starting positions. Perkins proved up to the task, and went on to start sixteen games for the team, posting a 1.62 goals against average. Although Perkins was performing well, the team suffered during his tenure, and he was replaced near the end of the season with Nick Rimando, who would also start for United throughout the playoffs.
In early 2005 he trained withBolton Wanderers F.C., anEnglish Premier League club and in early 2006 he trained withEverton in Liverpool.
During the2006 season, Perkins was the starting goalkeeper for United, playing thirty of thirty-two games. He was also named 2006MLS Goalkeeper of the Year,Best XI, and voted to the2006 All Star Team. Perkins finished the 2007 MLS season with a 1.10 goals against average, eight shutouts, and sixteen wins, the most in the league.
On December 20, 2007, Perkins signed a five-year contract withVålerenga,[1][2] making him the first American to sign for theNorwegian club.
On January 13, 2010, returned to D.C. United in a complicated pre-draft trade deal in which United traded midfielderFred, its first-round2010 MLS SuperDraft pick, its #6 spot in the MLS allocation order, and allocation money toPhiladelphia Union in exchange for the Union's #1 spot in the allocation order. D.C. then used the #1 allocation ranking to re-acquire Perkins.[3] Attempts were made to sign him byFeyenoord and several French clubs, but nothing materialized and he returned toD.C. United.[4]
On December 17, 2010, Perkins was traded toPortland Timbers for goalkeeperSteve Cronin and allocation money.[5] Perkins went into camp as the Timbers' first choice goalkeeper, but he missed the first six Timbers games after a knee injury Perkins suffered in training. Despite the injury, Perkins notched the Timbers' first-ever league shutout with their 1–0 victory overReal Salt Lake on April 30, 2011.
Perkins signed a new contract with Portland on November 28, 2011.[6]
Perkins began the 2012 season with the Timbers, however, on August 7, 2012, Perkins was traded toMontreal Impact for veteran Jamaican goaltenderDonovan Ricketts.[7] Perkins stayed with Montreal through the 2014 season.
On January 13, 2015, Perkins signed withSeattle Sounders FC.[8]
On January 11, 2016, Perkins announced his retirement and joined theSeattle Sounders FC Academy as a staff member.[9]
Perkins has also played for theUnited States National Team, receiving his first cap against Sweden on January 21, 2009.[10]
While being a backup goalkeeper for D.C. United, Perkins also had a second job working at a sporting goods store in Fair Lakes, VA called Galyans (which is currently known as Dick's Sporting Goods). Beginning in 2006, Perkins worked a second job as a mortgage loan processor,[11] leading United fans to put up a banner that said, "Troy Saves – and Loans."
Perkins has revealed that his return toMLS in 2010 was because his wife was unable to settle in Norway.
Perkins considers that his training as a mortgage loan processor is important and has stated, "Goalies can usually play until they're around 40, so you have to think about a job after retirement," He has an "austere pregame routine, which entails shutting off all electronics and not talking to anyone for 24 hours. 'I'm a miserable person to be around,' he says, laughing. 'My wife hates it.'"[12]
After retiring from professional soccer and leaving the Sounders organization, Perkins was sworn in as apolice officer inKennewick, Washington in January 2017.[13]
