Christopher Sullivan (soccer)
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | April 18, 1965 | ||
Place of birth | San Jose, California, United States | ||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder / Forward | ||
College career | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1983–1987 | Tampa Spartans | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1987–1988 | US Joué-lès-Tours | ||
1988–1989 | Le Touquet AC | ||
1989 | Orlando Lions | ||
1989–1990 | Győri ETO FC | 11 | (1) |
1990 | Landskrona BoIS | 6 | (2) |
1992 | Brøndby IF | 0 | (0) |
1992–1993 | Hertha BSC | 6 | (0) |
1994–1995 | Yucatan | ||
1995 | San Francisco Bay Diablos | ||
1996–1997 | Győri ETO FC | 5 | (1) |
1997 | San Jose Clash | 24 | (2) |
National team | |||
1987–1992 | United States | 19 | (2) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only |
Christopher Sullivan (born April 18, 1965, in San Jose, California) is a retired U.S. soccer midfielder/forward and current soccer trainer and sports broadcaster.
Youth and college[]
Sullivan began playing soccer at a young age. When he was four he began playing with West Valley S.C. He attended and played soccer at NCAA Division II powerhouse University of Tampa. He was inducted into the University of Tampa Athletic Hall of Fame in October 2010.[1] While playing for the University of Tampa, he earned a second-team Division II All American in 1986 and a first-team All American in 1987.[2]
Professional career[]
His professional career spanned two continents and seven countries. He began his career in France with lower division clubs US Joué-lès-Tours and Le Touquet. In 1989, he was back in the U.S. with the Orlando Lions of the American Soccer League.[3] He then returned to Europe, signing with Hungary club Raba ETO before moving to Swedish club Landskrona BoIS, Danish club Brøndby IF and German club Hertha BSC. He also spent time with the Mexican lower division club Yucatan. In 1995, he played for the San Francisco Bay Diablos in the USISL. During this time, he twice left active playing for family reasons. On February 1, 1997, Major League Soccer allocated Sullivan to the San Jose Clash. He played the 1997 season with The Clash. On November 6, 1997, MLS held an Expansion Draft. The Clash did not protect Sullivan, but neither Chicago nor Miami selected him. Despite this, the Clash traded Sullivan to the Miami Fusion for the third-round draft pick in two weeks later.[4] He elected to retire rather than join the Fusion. However, he continued to play in the San Francisco Soccer Football League, including club El Farolito in 2003.[5]
National team[]
He made his US Men's National Team[6][circular reference] debut while still in college. In 1987, he came on for Brian Bliss in a Presidents Cup game against Egypt in South Korea. He was a member of the 1990 FIFA World Cup U.S. team. In 1992, he played his last game for the U.S. national team in a 1-0 loss to Brazil.
Post-playing career[]
![]() | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (August 2019) |
Since retiring from playing, Sullivan is now a soccer trainer but is probably more recognized for his soccer analyst work on television. He started as a sideline reporter for Fox Sports Bay Area covering the San Jose Earthquakes. He gained national exposure as a soccer analyst on Fox Soccer Channel's now defunct MLS Wrap. Sullivan's technical and tactical insight into the game, his encyclopedia-like recall of soccer history and his passionate delivery soon earned him a more permanent and prominent spot in the Fox Soccer Channel lineup.
He has served as the color commentator or analyst on countless Major League Soccer games as well as on the pre and post game shows for Fox Soccer Channel's Soccer Night in America featuring the Major League Soccer game of the week. Sullivan has worked virtually every level of game broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel in recent history including the FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Super Cup, CONCACAF Champions League, United States Men's National Team games as well as Fox Soccer Channel's 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup previews. Sullivan has been an analyst for the last four World Cups. In 2014 Sullivan was the lead analyst for Yahoo Sports in Brazil and appeared on beIN Sports nightly shows from Rio de Janeiro. He covered the 2015 Copa America Chilie and the 2016 Copa America Centenario in the U.S. for beIN Sports. Most recently Sullivan worked as an in studio analyst for beIN Sports, from Worldwide Headquarters in Doha, Qatar, for both the 2017 Confederations Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.
References[]
- ^ "Archived copy". tampaspartans.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". www.nscaa.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "ASL 1989 Season".
- ^ "Stanford signs two, then loses to AIA". www.sfgate.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-25.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-05-29. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ United States men's national soccer team
External links[]
- Christopher Sullivan at fussballdaten.de (in German)
- Sullivan interviewed on the Fighting Talker podcast: [1]
he is now a coach at Sunnyvale alliance
- 1965 births
- Living people
- American expatriate soccer players
- American expatriate sportspeople in Germany
- United States men's international soccer players
- 1990 FIFA World Cup players
- American Soccer League (1988–89) players
- People from Redwood City, California
- Soccer players from California
- Orlando Lions players
- Brøndby IF players
- Hertha BSC players
- San Francisco Bay Diablos players
- San Jose Earthquakes players
- Tampa Spartans men's soccer players
- USISL players
- Major League Soccer players
- San Francisco Soccer Football League players
- Association football forwards
- Association football midfielders
- American soccer players
- US Joué-lès-Tours players
- El Farolito Soccer Club players
- Expatriate footballers in Germany