Chad Ashton (born October 26, 1967, in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

) is an American former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

who spent one season in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

, four in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. ...

, six in the National Professional Soccer League and one in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He coached for ten years at the collegiate level and as assistant coach of

D.C. United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

Youth

Ashton grew up in Colorado, earning 1986 Colorado high school player of the year recognition (Iver C. Ranum High School). He then attended the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

where he played on the men's soccer team from 1986 to 1989. Over his four-year career, he scored 20 goals and added 43 assists in 89 games. He was 1987, 1988 and 1989 second team All

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

. He is the team's all-time career assists leader.

Professional

In 1990, Ashton signed with the

Colorado Foxes The Colorado Foxes were a professional men's soccer club originally based in Commerce City, Colorado, that played in the American Professional Soccer League (APSL) and USL A-League. Founded in 1990, the club moved to San Diego, California in ...

of the

. The Foxes won the 1992 and 1993 APSL championship. He was the MVP of the 1993 APSL title game. In October 1990, the

Milwaukee Wave The Milwaukee Wave are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). Founded in 1984, they have been the oldest continuously operating professional indoor footbal ...

selected Ashton in the third round of the National Professional Soccer League draft. However, the Kansas City Comets selected Ashton in the first round of the Major Indoor Soccer League draft and he signed with them. Ashton signed with the Denver Thunder in the National Professional Soccer League. The team folded following the season. At some point, he played for the

Colorado Comets The Colorado Comets were an American soccer club based in Denver, Colorado, founded in 1985 which later competed in the SISL and USISL. History Founded by Ed Eid in 1985, the team began as an amateur club coached by Kelvin Norman. That year, t ...

in the

USISL The United States Interregional Soccer League (USISL) was a semi-professional men's outdoor soccer league that played six seasons from 1989 to 1994. It was the first outdoor league to be operated by the organization known today as the United ...

. In the fall of 1993, he signed with the

in the NPSL The next season, he moved to the

Wichita Wings The Wichita Wings were a professional indoor soccer franchise based in Wichita, Kansas. The Wings were admitted to the Major Indoor Soccer League as an expansion team on August 21, 1979.

. He saw time in only one game, but rebounded with twenty games during the 1995–1996 season. He continued to play the winter indoor season with the Wings through the 1997–1998 season. In February 1996, the

Dallas Burn Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

selected Ashton in the 2nd round (18th overall) of the 1996 MLS Supplemental Draft. He played twenty-three games, scoring one goal. In the spring of 1997, he returned to the

for one more season.

Coach

In 1995, the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

hired Ashton as head coach of its men's soccer team. He took the team to a 9–8–2 season, but left the school to pursue his MLS career. In 1998, he returned to the University of Denver. During his ten seasons as head coach of the

, he compiled a record of 85–85–14.University of Denver Media Guide
He was the 2004 and 2006 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Coach of the Year. On January 17, 2007,

hired Ashton as an assistant coach. In addition to his first team duties, he coached the United reserve team. For 13 years, Ashton served as an assistant coach under three different coaches for United:

Tom Soehn Tom Soehn (born April 15, 1966) is an American soccer coach who was the head coach of USL Championship club Birmingham Legion. A former player, his career as a defender spanned seven clubs across 12 seasons, both indoors and outdoors. Playi ...

Curt Onalfo Curt Onalfo (born November 19, 1969) is an American former association football, soccer player and coach who currently serves as sporting director of Major League Soccer club New England Revolution. As a player, he played two seasons in France ...

, and

Ben Olsen Benjamin Robert Olsen (born May 3, 1977) is an American sports executive, soccer coach, and former professional player who was formerly the president of Washington Spirit, a professional women's soccer club in the National Women's Soccer Leagu ...

. On October 8, 2020, Ashton became D.C. United's interim head coach after the departure of Olsen. On April 20, 2022, Ashton once again became D.C. United's interim head coach following the departure of Hernán Losada.

References

External links

D.C. United coaching profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, Chad 1967 births Living people American soccer coaches American men's soccer players American Professional Soccer League players Colorado Comets players Colorado Foxes players FC Dallas players Denver Thunder players Kansas City Comets (1979–1991) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Major League Soccer players Milwaukee Wave players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Denver Pioneers men's soccer coaches North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer players A-League (1995–2004) players Wichita Wings (NPSL) players FC Dallas draft picks D.C. United non-playing staff Men's association football midfielders Soccer players from Colorado Sportspeople from the Denver metropolitan area People from Westminster, Colorado 20th-century American sportsmen