Mike Ambersley and the Tampa Bay Rowdies have agreed on a three year contract extension that will keep the striker with the club through 2014.

The 29-year St. Louis native i was named to the North American Soccer League Best XI last season after leading Tampa Bay with 11 goals, tied for third-best in the league. Ambersley ranked third in the NASL and first on the team with seven assists while also leading the club in both points (29) and minutes played (2,275).

“Mike has proven to be one of the most dangerous goal scorers in our league and his consistent work rate and awareness on the field also create scoring chances for his teammates,” said Rowdies President/General Manager Andrew Nestor. “He is part of a strong core of leaders for this team on and off the field.”

“It is a relief to get this contract done and now I can purely focus on the soccer part of things,” said Ambersley. “It is a great organization, from the front office to my teammates to the fans. Those are three very important things you look for when you want to stay at a club for a long time, and I think Tampa has everything that my fiancé and I wanted. We are excited to be able to call this place home for quite awhile.”

Ambersley was named NASL Player of the Month for August 2011 after totaling three goals and three assists during that month, and garnered Offensive Player of the Week honors on June 13, 2011.

In his first season with the club in 2011, Ambersley tied for the team lead in both matches played with 27 and games started with 25. Led by his 11 goals, Tampa Bay ranked tied for second in the league with 41 goals a year ago. Prior to joining the Rowdies, Ambersley scored nine goals in 23 appearances in the 2010 season for AC St. Louis.

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“Dale Schilly, then the head coach of AC St. Louis, remembers the night of July 28, 2010.

That night produced one of the few positives in an otherwise miserable year for soccer in St. Louis. With AC, a first-year team, trying to survive — not just to make the playoffs in the USSF Division 2 Pro League, but to stay in business — St. Louisan Mike Ambersley took over the match that night at the Soccer Park against the Portland Timbers.

The compact forward from DeSmet High School hit the back of the net three times for the match’s only goals as AC scored an improbable 3-0 whitewash. The Timbers finished the regular season with the third-best point total in the league and moved up to Major League Soccer in 2011. AC limped to the league’s second-worst record, then closed shop, joining the St. Louis Athletica, which went belly-up in Women’s Professional Soccer barely a fourth of the way into the 2010 WPS season.

‘His hat trick vs. Portland came off of the heels of him scoring the game winner vs. Baltimore,’ Schilly said. ‘Those two games catapulted a team that was left for dead seven games into the season into playoff contenders.’

Although the playoffs remained out of reach and AC St. Louis became just another entry in a long list of U.S. pro soccer franchise failures, Ambersley has gone on to become one of the leading players in Division 2. Signing with FC Tampa Bay for 2011, Ambersley performed so well that he was named to the North American Soccer League’s Best XI at season’s end.

‘Mike getting into the league’s first 11 is not surprising,’ said Schilly, a longtime youth coach in the St. Louis area before taking over AC after the firing of original head coach Claude Anelka.’I have seen Mike compete since he was 11 years old.  Players change over the years, but Mike has always possessed certain qualities that have remained unchanged.  He always outworked his opponent. He fought for every chance he could create, and he could score goals.’”

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FC Tampa Bay reached the playoffs for the first time in 2011 and as part of the club’s “Year in Review” it did an interview with Mike Ambersley.  Ambersley was named to the NASL Best XI team and led FC Tampa Bay in every major offensive category in his first season with the organization.

Looking to build on an exciting 2011 season that saw the team earn its first-ever playoff berth and finish in third place overall in the regular season, Tampa Bay’s plans are already underway for an even better 2012.

On Tuesday, the organization exercised contract options for forward Mike Ambersley, goalkeeper Jeff Attinella, defender Frankie Sanfilippo and midfielder Keith Savage, ensuring their return for the 2012 season.

Ambersley led FC Tampa Bay in every major offensive category in his first season with the club, pacing the team in goals (11), assists (7), points (29), shots (70) and minutes (2,275). He was named one of two forwards on the NASL Best XI team as he ranked tied for third in the NASL with his 11 goals and third in the league with the seven assists.

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The North American Soccer League named the 2011 NASL Best XI team today. The Best XI was selected by a vote of the coaches of the eight teams that played in the 2011 season. This year’s Best XI in alphabetical order is as follows: Mike Ambersley, Etienne Barbara, Hassoun Camara, David Foley, Brad Knighton, Lance Laing, Kupono Low, Pascal Millien, Shaun Saiko, Toni Stahl, and Matt Watson.

Mike Ambersley joined FC Tampa Bay in 2011 after spending the 2010 season with AC St Louis.  He ranked tied for third in the NASL with a team-high 11 goals and third in the NASL with a team-best seven assists in 2011. He also led FC Tampa Bay in minutes played (2,275).

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This has been reposted from Inside Minnesota Soccer – we take no credit for writing this piece.

“Mike Ambersley may look young but the FC Tampa Bay player is a weathered veteran who’s been playing professionally since 2006. He was drafted by FC Dallas in the MLS SuperDraft. But life as a pro has not always been easy for the former Indiana Hoosier who was released by Dallas that same spring. Over the next 6 seasons Ambersley would play for 5 different teams.

Finally, the 28-year-old Ambersley has seen personal success the past two seasons. Some of that may be attributed to maturity but it certainly hasn’t hurt that he has stayed relatively healthy during that time. This year he’s logged minutes consistently with Tampa Bay and currently sits 9th overall in the league for minutes played with 2005. But a healthy Ambersley has not always been the case as the midfielder/forward had his share of struggles.

After playing the 2006 and 2007 seasons with the Rochester Rhinos and seeing 32 matches in 2 seasons with only 4 goals, Ambersley signed a contract with the Atlanta Silverbacks in 2008. While in preseason training, he went down with a season long knee injury. He returned to the Rochester Rhinos in 2009 but his comeback was slow. He made 20 appearances but scored only 2 goals.

In 2010, the St. Louis native signed a contract with the short-lived AC St. Louis team who were making an effort to sign local talent. Staying relatively injury free, Ambersley started living up to his potential, playing most of the season as an attacking midfielder and sometimes forward, he played in 23 games and scored 9 goals.

This year he is having even more success and not just individually, but collectively with his team. Currently he is tied with the RailHawks’ Pablo Campos and the Islanders’ Jonathan Faña for 2nd most goals scored in the NASL with 11.

Ambersley’s team, FC Tampa Bay, clinched a playoff spot on Tuesday evening with a win over the Minnesota Stars. While Ambersley did not score, his team still managed 2 away goals for the victory. In fact the Rowdies are now 3rd in the league for goals scored with 38. So it’s no surprise they have also climbed to 3rd in the NASL standings. What makes those numbers significant is Tampa had a slow start and struggled for goals early on. In their first two months of play the Rowdies scored only 7 goals in 9 games and were lingering towards the bottom of the standings with 2 wins, 3 loses and 4 draws.

Tampa are now living up to the preseason predictions of a high-flying offense. Ambersley’s success has helped his FC Tampa Bay teammates to also enjoy positive score lines and goals netted. The Rowdies have now scored 18 goals in their last 9 games and are heading into the playoffs on a tear.

After Tuesday night’s victory over Minnesota, which Ambersley called “ugly,” he claimed he didn’t care if he scored because his teammates had stepped up and gotten the job done and that’s all that mattered. He says the group’s slow start was not altogether unexpected although it was frustrating at times.

“I think more than anything it was just a new group,” said Ambersley. “We have seven new starters from last year’s team and I’m a new player on the team as well. So going into the season, defensively you knew we were going to be ahead of where we’d be offensively. We were just getting used to each other. After about 6 or 7 games we really started gelling and understanding what each player was going to do on and off the ball. You learn tendencies after playing with someone for a couple of months and that makes a big difference.”

“It was frustrating in the beginning but we knew it would come sooner or later because we just have too many good players on this team.”

Those “good players” will next play host to the same Stars team they saw Tuesday evening. But they will have to wait until Saturday, September 17th, as the team has a week off. FCTB will be shooting for another win to remain in the 3rd position in the NASL standings for seeding and home field advantage in the playoffs. FC Edmonton will play the Strikers this weekend at home and are only a point off from FCTB.

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FC Tampa Bay forward Mike Ambersley has been named the North American Soccer League (NASL) Player of the Month for August. Mike was named the NASL Player of the Month for July in the 2010 season.

Ambersley totaled three goals and three assists last month as FC Tampa Bay moved into third place in the NASL standings with three wins, one tie and just one loss in August.

“It is a great honor. I feel like this is a team award more than anything and I want to thank my teammates,” said Ambersley. “August was a big month for us. We knew we needed to get points and we really played well. It gives us a big momentum boost as we head into a critical stretch in September.”

Ambersley ranks second in the league with a team-high 11 goals in 2011 and his five assists are tied for fourth in the NASL. He leads the club with 27 points and is the only player to have appeared in all 23 matches, logging a team-high 1,915 minutes.

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Mike Ambersley was recently profiled by USA10Kit.com for his role in helping FC Tampa Bay into the NASL playoff picture.

“Ambersley was drafted by FC Dallas in 2006, but never suited up for the MLS-side before being released that spring. He bounced around to several clubs, including the Rochester Rhinos, Atlanta Silverbacks and AC St. Louis. He signed with Tampa Bay this January, after A.C. St. Louis folded. This season, Ambersley has netted 8 goals, tying him for second in the NASL.

‘On the field I look at my role to create scoring chances whether it’s me scoring or me creating a chance or getting an assist,’ Ambersley said. ‘I try to create as many chances as I can in the game, and we’ve been doing a great job as of late of scoring goals.’

Thanks to Tamp Bay’s tear, they have played their way back into playoff contention. At the end of the regular season, the top 6 teams from the 8-team league qualify for the playoffs, with the top two securing first-round byes. Although they currently sit in fifth place with 24 points, second-place Puerto Rico is a mere 5 points above them at 29. Ambersley and his teammates know that second spot is attainable, especially with their recent form, but are trying to focus on only their upcoming game against the Atlanta Silverbacks.

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Mike Ambersley led the way in FC Tampa Bay’s largest win in franchise history, defeating the Atlanta Silverbacks 4-0.

Keith Savage started the scoring for Tampa, assisted by Ambersley.  Mike found the net a few minutes later in the 33rd after a nice series of passing from Pascal Millian and Aaron King.  The goal was Ambersley’s 9th on the season.

The Tampa striker was not done yet, however.  The St. Louis native again found Keith Savage, this time in the 60th minute to give FC Tampa Bay a 3-0 lead.  The assist was his 4th on the season.

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FC Tampa Bay forward Mike Ambersley has been named the North American Soccer League Offensive Player of the Week, the league announced on Monday.

Ambersley scored a season-high two goals in FC Tampa Bay’s 3-2 victory over Atlanta on Sunday night at Al Lang Stadium. He now leads the team and ranks tied for second in the NASL with five goals this season.

“It is an honor to receive this award,” said Ambersley. “But for me, trying to win games is the most important thing for our team and it was crucial for us to get the three points at home and use that momentum to have a good game in Carolina this weekend. My teammates did a great job of finding me and Warren Ukah throughout the game, and giving us opportunities. And of course, the biggest play of the game was Aaron King scoring the late goal to get us three points.”

Ambersley has scored three goals in his last two matches. His first goal against the Silverbacks came in the 31st minute off a pass from midfielder Tsuyoshi Yoshitake and gave FC Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead. Ambersley added his second tally off a rebound in the 54th minute, which gave the team its second lead of the game at 2-1.

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