Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia named MLS Comeback Player of 2015

This season will go down as a memorable one for Sporting Kansas City goalkeeper Tim Melia after the 29-year-old was voted the MLS Comeback Player of the Year for 2015, the club announced Wednesday.

"Any time you win a League award it's a great honor," Melia said, despite laughing off his nod back when nominees were revealed. "Comeback Player of the Year is an individual award, but so much of the credit has to go to my teammates who always gave 100 percent and put our team in a position to succeed.

"I look forward to building off this past season and helping the club win many trophies in the future."

The award, as voted by players, coaches, and members of select media, commemorates a player who overcame adversity to succeed in the course of the regular season.

Melia has been a back-up goalkeeper for much of his career, spending time on the bench at Real Salt Lake and the now-defunct Chivas USA from 2010 to 2014. After being cut by Chivas in July 2014, Melia served as an MLS pool goalkeeper, where Sporting KC called him up for emergency relief.

Over the next year, Melia emerged as the preferred option in between the sticks at Sporting Park, coming back from what looked like life in the outskirts of MLS to a prominent role in the league.

As such, Melia won the vote by a narrow margin, beating oft-injured Portland Timbers midfielder Diego Valeri by only five weighted total points. However, among the league's players, Melia placed third, with his fellow professional athletes preferring Valeri and Wil Trapp of the Columbus Crew.

In the end, Melia won the accolade, succeeding Rodney Wallace of the Timbers, who won in 2014.