Mike Lapper

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Mike Lapper
Personal information
Full name Michael Steven Lapper
Date of birth (1970-08-28) August 28, 1970 (age 53)
Place of birth Redondo Beach, California, United States
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
North Huntington Beach Untouchables
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1991 UCLA Bruins
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1989 Los Angeles Heat 16 (2)
1994–1995 VfL Wolfsburg 16 (1)
1995–1997 Southend United 52 (1)
1997–2002 Columbus Crew 110 (5)
Total 194 (9)
International career
1991–1995 United States 43 (1)
Managerial career
2005–2013 Columbus Crew (assistant)
2013–2017 West Virginia Mountaineers (assistant)
2018–2019 New England Revolution (assistant)
2019 New England Revolution (interim)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Michael Steven Lapper (born August 28, 1970 in

caps, scoring one goal, with the U.S. national soccer team between 1991 and 1995. He was part of the U.S. teams at both the 1992 Summer Olympics and the 1994 FIFA World Cup
.

Player

Youth

Lapper played youth soccer in the North Huntington Beach Untouchables youth club. He graduated from Marina High in Huntington Beach. Lapper played

Western Soccer League
in 1988 and 1989. He was a WSL First Team All-Star in 1989.

International

Lapper made his debut for the United States on April 7, 1991 against South Korea.

Lapper played for the U.S.

1995 Copa America team which placed fourth at that tournament. In 1993, he played every U.S. game as a sweeper. When Bora Milutinović moved to a flat-back four defensive scheme, Lapper found himself relegated to the bench in favor of Alexi Lalas. However, he did make the U.S. team which played as host in the 1994 FIFA World Cup
. This team advanced to the second round where it lost to Brazil, but Lapper failed to enter any of the U.S. games.

He played several more matches at the end of 1994 and into 1995, but on August 16, 1995, he earned his last

cap
in a losing match to Sweden. He ended his national team career with 44 and scored one goal.

Europe

Lapper began his professional career in 1994 with German

Second Division club Southend United for £100,000. At the time, Southend was pushing for promotion to the Premiership, but when it actually faced demotion to the second division in 1997, Lapper left Southend to sign with Major League Soccer
(MLS). However, he did have a final stint within English soccer, when Halifax Town signed him on a rolling contract in late 1999. His time at the club proved unsuccessful and he soon returned to the U.S.

Major League Soccer

When Lapper signed with MLS, the league allocated him in June 1997 to the Columbus Crew. While with that team, he played 110 games, starting 99, until his retirement in 2002. Additionally, he scored five goals and assisted on 10 more.

Post-playing career

After retiring from playing, he joined the Columbus Crew's front office as the Director of Soccer Business Development, which focuses on the growth of the Crew's camps, clinics and soccer academies. During the 2005, season he officially joined the coaching staff.[2] Following the 2013 MLS season, Lapper parted ways with the Crew and became a member of the West Virginia University men's soccer staff.[3] In 2019, he was the New England Revolution's interim manager after Brad Friedel was fired.

References

  1. ^ Nance, Roscoe (October 20, 1992). "Lapper happily adjusts to role on national team". USA Today. Retrieved September 16, 2009.
  2. ^ "Columbus Crew: Roster: Player Bio". web.mlsnet.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2008.
  3. ^ "Lapper Joins WVU Men's Soccer Staff - WVU Athletics". Archived from the original on January 7, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.

External links