Harry Shipp announces retirement from MLS

After seven years with the Chicago Fire, Montreal Impact and Seattle Sounders, Lake Forest’s Harry Shipp is retiring from Major League Soccer.

“This was not an easy decision because of all the amazing people at the Sounders, but I am excited to take this next step in my life,” said Shipp in a Sounders release. “I am grateful that I was I was able to live out my childhood dreams. I grew up going to MLS games, was part of an MLS Academy in its infancy, and then got the opportunity to play for three clubs all over the continent. I am also grateful that my last full season ended in an MLS championship with Seattle. Thank you to all the fans who committed time and money to allow me to kick a ball for a living. Thank you to all my teammates over the years. You gave me more cultural learning experiences than I ever could have imagined from a job. Thank you to all the support staff who help make a team and club actually function. You all work way harder than any of us players. Thank you to my family, especially my wife, for being incredibly supportive on this journey. Thanks to the people of Seattle for making this feel like home for the past four years. I look forward to coming back to games as a fan!”

Shipp scored ten MLS goals in two seasons with the Fire, in 2014 and 2015. After helping to lead the Sounders players through the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations as a player representative, he’s coming home to Illinois to enroll in Northwestern University’s MBA program. Sounder at Heart reports Shipp had been thinking about retirement for some time, and had hoped to finish out the year, but the prolonged coronavirus hiatus caused him to have second thoughts.