Juergen Petersen Sommer (born February 27, 1969) is an American former professional

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 ...

player and coach. He became the first American

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

to play in the

FA Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football ...

, when he signed to play for

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

in 1995. He has served as the United States national team goalkeeping coach. Later on, Sommer coached

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2014, b ...

in the NASL.

Youth and college

Sommer played soccer at Culver Military Academy in Culver, Indiana where he was an All-American. After graduation, Sommer walked on at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, where he quickly became the starting goalkeeper in 1987. He was named ''Collegiate Goalkeeper of the Year'' in 1990.

Club career

Sommer left Indiana to sign with

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

of the First Division in 1991. Sommer played for the next seven years in England for

and

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...

. In 1998, he made the jump back home to sign with the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

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 ...

, as a replacement for Brad Friedel, who had signed for

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

the previous year. Sommer became the Crew starter over the next two seasons, and after a pair of major knee injuries, he signed with the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

. In 2000, he played one game with the Connecticut Wolves in the USISL A-League.2000 Connecticut Wolves
/ref> After another injury forced Sommer to the sidelines, and the emergence of Adin Brown as the Revolution's starting goalkeeper, he retired after the 2002 MLS Cup. He represented English side

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

for just one

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

game against Blackburn Rovers in February 2001. Sommer answered an S.O.S. by Wanderers manager

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (born 19 October 1954) is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football League, as well as brief spells in the North ...

who saw his other goalkeepers either injured or ineligible but was himself injured during the match.

International career

Throughout his career, Sommer earned ten

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the United States national team, and was a member of the team which competed at the

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

s. Although many rated him as a solid goalkeeper in his prime, Brad Friedel, Kasey Keller and Tony Meola greatly reduced his chances of seeing an extended run in the national team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sommer, Juergen 1969 births Living people 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1995 Copa América players 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Columbus Crew players Connecticut Wolves players Expatriate men's footballers in England American expatriate sportspeople in England Men's association football goalkeepers Luton Town F.C. players Major League Soccer players New England Revolution players Soccer players from New York City Premier League players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players United States men's international soccer players USL First Division players American people of German descent North American Soccer League (2011–2017) coaches Indy Eleven coaches Culver Academies alumni 20th-century American sportsmen