Tim Melia is a future Sporting Legend who holds club records in wins, saves, appearances and more.
Melia was the 2017 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and part of the league's MLS Best XI. He also earned 10+ clean sheets in back-to-back seasons in 2017 and 2018.
Timmy helped Sporting Kansas City win two US Open Cup titles (2015 & 2017) and was named the player of the tournament in 2017. He was also named the 2015 MLS Comeback Player of the Year after emerging from years of obscurity and backup duty to become Sporting Kansas City's number one goalkeeper.
Melia had an injury shortened 2022 campaign with just 21 starts, which was his lowest total since joining Sporting Kansas City in 2015. Even when he was in the lineup, it was a down year for the keeper as age appears to be catching up to him.
Tim Melia wore this primary goalkeeper kit on June 12th, 2022 in a 2-1 loss to the New England Revolution. Uri Rosell received a red card in the 48th minute, and it proved too much for SKC to overcome.
That match was Sporting Kansas City's All Are Welcome/Soccer For All: Pride match that featured the team's kits having special name/number sets styled after the Progress flag.
These kits are extremely rare and to my knowledge this is the only one from Sporting Kansas City in the hobby.
While SKC and MLS auction Kick Childhood Cancer and Juneteenth themed kits each season, there has not been an auction for SKC's Pride/Soccer For All kits in the past so the only way to acquire them is from a player after the match or directly from the club.
This one was acquired directly from the team in their annual Kick Childhood Cancer auction. It was auctioned as a framed match worn shirt, and after confirming it was indeed match worn I won the bid and had the club remove it from the frame before shipping it to me.
