Robert Meschbach
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | June 17, 1959 | ||
| Place of birth | Galt, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1977–1980 | Indiana | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1981–1983 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 64 | (13) |
| 1983 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers (indoor) | 5 | (7) |
| 1984 | → Minnesota Strikers | 1 | (0) |
| 1984 | Chicago Sting | 18 | (0) |
| 1984–1985 | Chicago Sting (indoor) | 27 | (15) |
| 1985 | New York Cosmos (indoor) | 2 | (1) |
| 1985 | Chicago Maroons | ||
| 1985 | Chicago Sting (indoor) | 3 | (0) |
| 1985–1986 | Chicago Shoccers (indoor) | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Robert Meschbach is a retired Canadian-American soccer midfielder who played professionally in the North American Soccer League, Major Indoor Soccer League and American Indoor Soccer Association.
While born in Canada, Robert Meschbach was an All-American at Gordon Tech High School in Chicago, Illinois. In two seasons, he scored 105 goals. Seventy-one of those goals were scored in his final season, then a national record. Meschbach had trials with Rapid Vienna in the Austrian Bundesliga and Werder Bremen in the German Bundesliga but turned down a contract offer in lieu of a scholarship at Indiana University.
At Indiana University, Meschbach became a 1st team All-American in 1980, and runner-up for the Hermann Award (the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy). Meschbach had 61 total goals while at IU, leading the nation in scoring his senior year with 27. During his tenure at IU, the team had a 76-9-4 record with 2 final four appearances. Meschbach scored a hat-trick in 8 minutes, 50 seconds against the Cincinnati Bearcats on October 8, 1980, an NCAA record until 1985.
In 1980, Meschbach was the first player drafted for the Chicago Horizon of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He also was a first round draft pick in the North American Soccer League to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and opted to play for the Strikers. With the Strikers, Meschbach won Ft. Lauderdale Rookie of the Year honors, was voted NASL player of the week, and was considered one of the top Americans in the NASL. Robert's childhood idol was Gerd Müller, who also played for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. In 1984, Meschbach began the season with the Strikers but was traded to the Chicago Sting in exchange for John McGrane on May 7, 1984. He helped them win the 1984 NASL Championship. When the NASL collapsed at the end of the 1984 season, the Sting moved to the Major Indoor Soccer League. Meschbach began the season with the Sting, but was traded to the New York Cosmos in exchange for Dan Canter an undisclosed amount of cash on February 15, 1985. Meschbach played two games for the Cosmos before they folded mid-way through the season. During the summer of 1985, he played for the Chicago Maroons in the National Soccer League of Chicago. On October 24, 1985, Meschbach rejoined the Sting as a free agent. The Sting released him a month later. Meschbach later sued the Sting for severance pay while playing for the Chicago Shoccers of the American Indoor Soccer Association. On March 1, 1986, he signed a ten-day contract with the San Diego Sockers but the deal fell through when he didn't clear waivers from the AISA before the trade deadline. In 2006, Meschbach was invited to play for the American Team in the North American Soccer League Reunion game in Dallas.
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