Utah Youth Soccer is excited to announce and welcome 2017 MLS Referee of Year, Allen Chapman, to UYSA's 40th AGM Awards Gala,as the keynote speaker. The Awards Gala will be held at 7:00pm on February 2, at the Zermatt Resort in Midway.
BIO
Allen Chapman developed a love for the game at an early age and went on to receive All-State Honors his Junior and Senior years of high school. He was selected for the NM ODP team his junior year and then selected for the High School All-Star game his senior year. He ended his high school career leading his team to the 1991 State Championship Game. In 1992, he won the New Mexico U-18 Boys State Championship with the Albuquerque United Football Club.
After high school he went on to play college club soccer at UVCC (now UVU) and NMSU later transferring to D2 Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO. After college he signed his first professional contract with the Albuquerque Geckos in the USL D3 league. After moving to AZ he played one year of PDL for the Northern AZ Prospectors. He then signed and played with the USL D3 Arizona Sahuaros team.
In addition to playing, Allen began his coaching career in 1999 with the Chandler-Gilbert Community College and Gilbert Arsenal Soccer Club and later Highland High School and San Tan Legacy Soccer Club. He coached until 2006 when he decided to make a difference in the game he loves and became a referee.
Starting as a Grade 8 he was honored to be an AR on the Region IV U-19 Boys Championship game. The following year he was the center referee on the Region IV U-19 Boys Championship and also selected to go to the US Club National Championship Tournament. The following year he was selected as a Grade 6 to referee at the US Soccer Youth National Championship Tournament as well as the ODP Youth National Championship. He was later invited to the Amateur Regional and National Championships.
In 2010, after climbing the ranks in a short period Allen became a professional referee with the Women’s Professional Soccer League. In 2011, he became a 4th Official for MLS as well as refereeing the lower professional leagues. On May 2nd 2012, he had his MLS debut as referee and later that year was only one of two rookie referees in the history of MLS to referee a playoff game.
Later in 2012 he was one of ten referees to be offered a full time contract with Professional Referee Organization (PRO). He has now worked over 100 MLS games. In 2016 he was the referee for the NASL Championship Game, 4th Official on the MLS Cup, one of four referees selected to pilot the new video review and was the first Video Assistant Referee for a live professional match.
In 2017 he was selected to referee the MLS All-Stars vs. Real Madrid, the 2017 MLS Cup and was named the MLS Referee of the Year.
Throughout his career Allen has also had the privilege to referee legendary clubs including Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Real Madrid.
Allen resides in Utah with his wife, Melissa and three children. Allen periodically volunteers as a coach for his children’s teams, referees NCAA games, and is a mentor to up and coming referees.