Shep Messing

Shep Norman Messing (born October 9, 1949) is an American retired soccer goalkeeper and current broadcaster who works as a studio analyst for the MLS Season Pass team. In 2021, he took the position of chairman of the Major Arena Soccer League.

He played seven seasons in the North American Soccer League and six in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He was also a member of the United States national team at the 1971 Pan American Games and 1972 Summer Olympics. He previously worked for MSG Network in its coverage of the New York Red Bulls.

Early life Messing was born in The Bronx, New York City, grew up in Roslyn, New York, and is Jewish. His mother, the daughter of a Russian furniture maker and his Latvian wife, taught physical education at Nassau Community College, his father was a lawyer who worked in Manhattan, and his paternal grandfather was from Riga, Latvia.

Playing career

High school and college Messing attended Wheatley High School, where he started playing soccer. He graduated from Harvard University in 1972 after playing on the school's men's soccer team.

NASL He made his debut with the Cosmos in a May 20, 1974 exhibition game with Irish club Finn Harps.

Messing attracted attention by posing in the nude for a photo spread in the December 1974 issue of Viva magazine, for which he was paid $5,000 ($ in current dollar terms). He joked that these photos gave the New York Cosmos more "exposure" than they'd ever received from the media up to that time. The Cosmos management was not pleased, and cut Messing from the team on the grounds that he had violated a morals clause in his contract. The Stompers lasted only a single season, following which Messing moved to the Rochester Lancers.

MISL When the Major Indoor Soccer League began its first season in 1978–1979, the New York Arrows were essentially the Rochester Lancers in different uniforms. As such, Messing became the starting Arrows goalkeeper through the team's six years of existence. Messing became the league's dominant keeper, being named to the MISL All Star team in 1979, 1980 and 1981. He was the championship MVP in 1979.

When the Arrows fired coach Don Popovic in February 1983, the team named Messing, who was sidelined with an injury, as the interim coach. After his retirement, Messing was briefly part-owner of the ill-fated New York Express, which played the first half of the 1986-1987 MISL season before folding.

Awards and honors

Club New York Cosmos Soccer Bowl (1): 1977

New York Arrows Major Indoor Soccer League Championship (4): 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82

Individual

Major Indoor Soccer League Championship MVP (1): 1978–79 First Team All MISL (2): 1978–79, 1979–80 New York Sports Hall of Fame National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame

Legal issues In October 1990, Messing was indicted alongside two others on 38 charges including wire fraud, using interstate facilities to transport stolen money, and using interstate facilities to commit commercial bribery. The charges related to a phony investment scheme that scammed $500,000 from a number of professional athletes. The other two charged were sports agent Harvey LaKind and broker Bruce Black, the latter Messing worked with at brokerage firm Woodmere Securities.

Between 1987–1989, the trio convinced athletes (including basketballer players Darryl Dawkins, Kim Hughes and Al Skinner) to give money to LaKind for safe investments. Instead, the money was transferred out into their own accounts for personal use. – however, prosecutor Andrew Maloney alleged that LaKind used a portion of his share to buy a new Mercedes-Benz and to pay for his daughter's wedding. The ordeal caused him to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the same year, confirmed in 1998. It also led to his return to the football from the brokerage world, creating a player agency and returning to sports broadcasting. This has led some, including Washington Post soccer reporter Steven Goff, to question his objectivity in his work as an analyst.

He is a member of the New York Sports Hall of Fame and the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and the author of a book on soccer, while appearing in several films on the sport.

In 2006, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame. Messing has been the color analyst for Madison Square Garden for twelve years broadcasting the New York Red Bulls games in Major League Soccer. He has also been the color analyst for the 2002, 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups for ESPN.

Messing served as an analyst for NBC Sports coverage of soccer at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.

In 2023, Messing was named a studio analyst for the MLS Season Pass coverage team as all MLS coverage moved to a streaming service.

Autobiography

Messing wrote an autobiography entitled The Education of an American Soccer Player which was published in hardcover in 1978 by Dodd, Mead and in paperback in 1979 by Bantam Books.

Other media appearances Messing appeared nude as a centerfold in a 1974 issue of Viva magazine..