39 Facts About Jon Busch

Jon Busch was born on August 18,1976 and is an American professional soccer coach and former player, who played as a goalkeeper.

Jon Busch is best remembered for his captivating saves, despite his shorter stature for an elite goalkeeper, and spent most of his 21-year professional playing years in Major League Soccer, appearing for the Columbus Crew, Chicago Fire and San Jose Earthquakes.

Jon Busch represented the United States at both youth and senior level.

Jon Busch played at Guilderland High School in Guilderland, New York, near Albany, where he was named a high school All-American.

Jon Busch was ranked within the top 25 best players in the nation as a senior.

In college, Jon Busch was a NSCAA First Team All-American in 1996, when he help lead UNC Charlotte to their first ever appearance in the College Cup and a school-record 19 wins.

Jon Busch recorded a career-high 12 shutouts that season, including two in the NCAA Tournament and a career-low 0.89 goals against average en route to being named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year.

Jon Busch was undrafted out of college by Major League Soccer.

Jon Busch was drafted in 1997 by Nashville Metros with the 2nd overall pick in the A-League draft, but opted to split his first year with Worcester Wildfire and Carolina Dynamo.

Jon Busch then moved on to Hampton Roads Mariners, where he spent 3 seasons.

Jon Busch was named the team MVP in his second season.

Jon Busch won 14 games and posted 13 shutouts while leading the team to the A-League National Championship match.

Jon Busch was named the A-League Goalkeeper of the Year and was selected the Division II circuit's first-team All-League keeper.

Major League Soccer took note of his USL play and it resulted in Jon Busch being drafted by Columbus Crew with the 23rd overall pick of the 2002 MLS SuperDraft.

Jon Busch did not become a starter for the Crew immediately, sharing the duties in his first MLS season with incumbent Tom Presthus.

Jon Busch became a starter by 2003, but did not do very well as Columbus floundered in the standings.

In contrast, both the Crew and Jon Busch had terrific 2004 regular seasons, as the team, led by Jon Busch's goaltending, embarked on a league-record 18-game undefeated streak.

Jon Busch was a finalist for the 2004 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Award for his performance, and his impact on the team's season was cited as the third-highest impact of any MLS player on any MLS team in the history of the league by MLSnet writer Jeff Bradley.

The Crew's goalkeeping injury woes intensified in 2006, as Jon Busch was one of several injured keepers on the team roster, managing only eight games.

Jon Busch found himself the only player picked in the 2007 MLS Waiver Draft, selected by Toronto FC.

Jon Busch was traded to Chicago Fire in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2009 MLS Supplemental Draft.

Jon Busch was to serve primarily as a backup keeper in 2007 and only made it into three matches all season.

However, with the departure of starter Matt Pickens to Queens Park Rangers of England's second-tier Football League Championship, Jon Busch ultimately inherited the starter's role with the Fire to start the 2008 season.

Jon Busch was named Fire MVP for the 2008 season after being the only Fire player to start and play 90 minutes in every MLS match during the regular season.

Jon Busch posted the best saves percentage in the league after making 122 saves on 156 shots faced.

Jon Busch tied for most shutouts in the league, while tying a Fire single season shutout record shared with Matt Pickens for his 10 shutouts in 2007.

In March 2010, Jon Busch was waived by the Chicago Fire.

Shortly after being waived, Jon Busch was signed by San Jose Earthquakes.

In 2014, Jon Busch recorded a league best and franchise record 138 saves in a season, besting Joe Cannon's mark set in 2000.

Jon Busch returned to Chicago for his second stint with the club in January 2015.

In January 2016, Jon Busch signed as a free agent with the NASL club Indy Eleven.

Jon Busch will serve as the club's Director of Goalkeeping, with duties to include first team coaching and scouting, serving as a guest coach with the Indy Eleven NPSL squad and assisting with the Indy Eleven Summer Soccer Clinic series.

In May 2018, Jon Busch made one last transfer move back to his first MLS club, Columbus Crew SC.

Jon Busch earned his first and only cap for the United States on March 9,2005.

Jon Busch shut out Colombia in a friendly, but despite the performance was not called back into the squad.

Jon Busch has represented the US at the U-17 and U-20 levels, as well as having played in the 1993 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Japan.

Jon Busch became the academy goalkeeping coach at Indy Eleven in 2017, while working with United States youth squads.

Jon Busch was appointed to a coaching position at Scottish club Hibernian in February 2022.

In January 2023, Jon Busch was appointed goalkeeping coach for the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the USL Championship.