Ted Eck

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Personal information
Ted Eck
Full name	Ted Eck
Date of birth	July 4, 1966 (age 40)
Place of birth	Springfield, Illinois, United States
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Forward / Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Retired
Youth clubs
1984-1987	Western Illinois University
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1988-1991 1989 1991 1991-1992 1992-1993 1993-1994 1992-1996 1995-1996 1996-2001 2000-2001	Kansas City Comets Ottawa Intrepid Toronto Blizzard St. Louis Storm Denver Thunder St. Louis Ambush Colorado Foxes Wichita Wings Dallas Burn → Dallas Sidekicks (loan)	026 (21) 170 (12) 005 0(1)
National team²
1989-1996	United States	013 0(1)
Teams managed
	Texas Spur youth club
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 May 2006. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 22 June 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Ted Eck is a retired U.S. soccer player.

Eck was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois where he attended Griffin High School. After graduating, he then attended Western Illinois University where he played as a forward on the men’s soccer team from 1984 to 1987. He was named the 1987 Mid Continent Conference Player of the Year.

Eck’s professional career would mirror so many American players after the demise of the North American Soccer League in 1984 and the establishment of the Major League Soccer in 1996. It is a story of bouncing from one failing indoor and outdoor soccer team after another. In 1988, Eck began his itinerant career when he signed with the Kansas City Comets of Major Indoor Soccer League. He played with the team through the end of the 1990-1991 season when the team folded. In 1989, Eck also played outdoor soccer during the MISL off season with the Ottawa Intrepid of the Canadian Soccer League. His 21 goals with the Intrepid were best in the CSL and earned Eck a spot on the CSL All Star team. Eck returned to the CSL, this time with the Toronto Blizzard in 1991. That year Eck scored 10 goals, tied for fourth on the league’s goals list. The Blizzard made it to the CSL championship before losing to the Vancouver 86ers.

With the demise of the Comets, Eck moved to the St. Louis Storm, also of MISL, for the 1991-1992 season. However, the Storm also folded at the end of the season and Eck moved to the Denver Thunder, an expansion team which lasted only the 1992-1993 season before folding. Eck found some outdoor stability in 1992 when he signed with the Colorado Foxes of the American Professional Soccer League (APSL). Eck would play each summer with the Foxes until he left to join the Dallas Burn in 1996. While with the Foxes, Eck won the 1993 APSL championship. The title game pitted the Foxes against the Los Angeles Salsa. Scoreless through most of the game, Philip Gyau of the Salsa scored in the 67th minute. The Salsa held that lead until Eck tied it with only three minutes left. The Foxes then put two more into the goal in extra time to win 3-1. Eck’s goal gave him eight on the season and a spot on the APSL First XI. Eck again earned a spot on the APSL First XI in 1994 with six goals. However, this year the Foxes fell to the Montreal Impact in the title game.

While Eck continued to play for the Foxes each summer, he spent the indoor season with the St. Louis Ambush of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) in the 1993-1994 season. That season the Ambush made it to the championship series before losing to the Cleveland Crunch. The next season found Eck with the Wichita Wings. He stayed with this team until joining the Burn in 1996. Eck had his greatest success indoors in his last season with the Wings when he was named the MVP of the NPSL All Star Game.

On December 13, 1995, MLS announced it had signed Eck for the upcoming MLS draft. When the draft was held, the Dallas Burn selected Eck in the first round (3rd overall). In 1997, he was a member of the Burn team which won the U.S. Open Cup. At the end of the 2000 MLS season, the Burn loaned Eck to the Dallas Sidekicks of the World Indoor Soccer League. He played only five games with the Sidekicks, scoring a single playoff goal. However, that goal came in the championship game where the Sidekicks defeated the San Diego Sockers 2-1. He returned to the Burn for the 2001 MLS season and was released by the in August.

Between 1989 and 1996, Eck was a fringe player on the U.S. national team. During those seven years, he earned 13 caps and scored one goal. His first cap came in a scoreless tie with Guatemala on October 8, 1989 when he came in for Bruce Murray. He again came in for Murray a month later in a victory over Bermuda. He continued to play sporadically in 1990, earning four caps, three as a substitue. However, his greatest contribution to the national team came when he scored in a 2-1 victory over East Germany on July 28, 1990. His appearances dropped after that and he earned only one cap as a substitute in 1992. It was another four years before he was called up for a national team game. He earned his last cap on October 16, 1996. The national team had gone on strike in a contract dispute with USSF and the Federation was forced to field an ad hoc team for that date. Eck and his team mates lost 4-1 to Peru.

Eck used his extensive indoor soccer experience to carve out a significant role in the U.S. Futsal Team. Between 1992 and 1999, he earned 14 caps with the team, scoring 10. ^[1] He was part of the U.S. team which took second place, losing 4-1 to Brazil, in the 1992 FIFA Futsal World Championship. He scored three goals in that tournament.

Since retiring from playing professionally in 2001, Eck has continued to coach youth soccer.