Tony James Lochhead (born 12 January 1982) is a New Zealand former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who appeared with the

New Zealand men's national football team The New Zealand men's national football team () represents New Zealand in men's international Association football, football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Football (NZF), whic ...

Early life and education

Lochhead was born on 12 January 1982 in

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

, New Zealand. He was a student at

Otumoetai College Otumoetai College is a state co-educational secondary school located in Tauranga, New Zealand. The school opened in February 1965 with 206 students from years 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18) to serve the western suburbs of Tauranga. ''Otumoetai'' is cla ...

, where he played football and volleyball. Lochhead went to the United States in 2001 to study at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

. He was a student-athlete and played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team. He was a team member from 2001 to 2004, starting all 83 games he played, and set a school record for total minutes. Lochhead was named first-team All-

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's NCAA Division I, Division I. The conference was origina ...

in 2003, and was a second-team All-American and the Big West Defensive Player of the Year in 2004. As a senior, Lochhead led UCSB to the finals of the

2004 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship The 2004 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament was a tournament of 48 teams from NCAA Division I. This year's College Cup Final Four was held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. All the other games were played at the home field o ...

where the team fell in penalty kicks.

Playing career

Before attending UC Santa Barbara, Lochhead played with Tauranga City United AFC of the

New Zealand National Soccer League The New Zealand National League is the name given to the current New Zealand top association football, football competition. Originally set up as the New Zealand National Soccer League there has been many versions of the competition as well as ma ...

. While enrolled in college, he appeared in 10 games for

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

team

Orange County Blue Star Orange County Blue Star was an amateur American soccer team based in Irvine, California. Founded in 1997, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Southwest Division of th ...

and scored one goal. Following his career at Santa Barbara, Lochhead was drafted 33rd overall in the 2005 MLS SuperDraft by the New England Revolution. However, at that time he elected not to sign with MLS to trial with European clubs. While with R.S.C. Anderlecht, Lochhead injured his ankle and returned to Santa Barbara for rehab. A glandular fever slowed the recovery process, but Lochhead returned to Europe for trials in Sweden and Norway which also proved unsuccessful. He signed with New England in September 2005, some months into the season. On 13 April 2007, the Revolution waived Lochhead to free up a senior roster spot for former UC Santa Barbara teammate Bryan Byrne who was signed the same day. Lochhead1

On 11 May 2007,

Wellington Phoenix FC Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under Professional sports league organization#Systems around the world, licenc ...

of Australia's

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

announced the signing of Lochhead on a two-year contract. In July 2008, news surfaced that Lochhead was on trial with English

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 Lea ...

side

Middlesbrough F.C. Middlesbrough Football Club ( ) is a professional association football club based in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Nicknamed the Boro, they were fo ...

The next month, the Teesside Gazette reported that Lochhead had returned to Wellington Phoenix. On 25 November 2009 Lochhead made his 50th appearance for Wellington Phoenix in their 6–0 win over

Gold Coast United FC Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian Association football, soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first ...

and was the first Phoenix player to do so. On 9 June 2013, Lochhead was released after not being offered a new contract. In January 2014 it was announced that newly appointed head coach, Wilmer Cabrera, had signed Lochhead to

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 ...

side

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

. The Chivas USA franchise folded at the conclusion of the 2014 season.

International career

Lochhead represented New Zealand at Under 17 and under 23 level before making his full

All Whites The New Zealand men's national football team () represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Football (NZF), which is currently a memb ...

debut in a 0–3 loss

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

on 12 October 2003. He started every match for the team during

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

Qualifying, and was included in the

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth FIFA Confederations Cup, Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton ...

squad. Lochhead continues to play for the New Zealand national team and helped the Kiwis qualify for the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa. On 10 May 2010, Lochhead was named in New Zealand's final 23-man squad to compete at the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

Personal life

Lochhead married 2008

Miss Universe New Zealand Miss Universe New Zealand is a national beauty pageant in New Zealand which selects the delegates to participate in the international Miss Universe competition. Qualification for Miss Universe New Zealand is based on regional pageants and/or ...

contestant, Samantha Powell, in August 2012. Following his footballing career, Lochhead became involved with commercial real estate with

Colliers International Colliers International Group Inc. is a Canada-based diversified professional services and investment management company with approximately 18,000 employees in more than 400 offices in 65 countries. The firm provides services to commercial real ...

in Southern California.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Honours

Wellington Phoenix * NE Super Series Championship runner-up: 2012

References

External links

*
Chivas USA player profile
*

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lochhead, Tony 1982 births Living people A-League Men players Men's association football defenders Chivas USA players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Major League Soccer players New England Revolution draft picks New England Revolution players New Zealand men's association footballers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the United States New Zealand men's international footballers Orange County Blue Star players People educated at Otumoetai College UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer players USL League Two players Sportspeople from Tauranga Wellington Phoenix FC players 2004 OFC Nations Cup players 2008 OFC Nations Cup players OFC Nations Cup–winning players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2012 OFC Nations Cup players 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen