Andrew Mikobi Farrell (born April 2, 1992) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a defender for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

. Born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, Farrell moved with his family to Peru at the age of five and played in the Esther Grande youth team. He moved back to the United States in 2007 and played for United 1996 before playing

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

. After playing three seasons with the Cardinals, Farrell signed a

Generation Adidas Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S ...

contract with

and was selected with the first overall pick in the

2013 MLS SuperDraft The 2013 MLS SuperDraft was the fourteenth SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. The draft took place on January 17, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Indiana Convention Center. The Colorado Rapids enjoyed returns from the 2013 draf ...

by the New England Revolution. He currently holds the record for most appearances in Revolution club history.

Early life

Farrell was born in

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, Kentucky, but was raised in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

from ages of five to 15, where his adoptive parents were

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

. He played there for the Esther Grande de Bentín (EGB) Academy and attended

Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt, The American School of Lima Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt is a K–12 school in Lima, Peru, founded by a group of American families in the mid-1940s, with the intent of providing an American Culture, American Education. While its first campus was in the San Isidro Di ...

. He later moved back to Louisville and finished high school at Atherton High School.

Career

College and amateur

Farrell moved to Louisville from Peru before his sophomore year in high school. That year, he began playing for United 1996 FC (based in Louisville), as well as Atherton High School. Near the end of high school, Farrell accepted a soccer scholarship to the University of Louisville. As a freshman at Louisville, Farrell started five games and appeared in 20 for the Cardinals being only one of two freshmen to break into the starting lineup. As a junior, he started in all 23 games for the Cardinals as a midfielder before moving back as a defender for the final nine games of the season. He was named to the NCAA Division I First-Team All-America and won the

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

Defensive Player of the Year Award after the Cardinals only allowed an average of 0.62 goals per game. Farrell also spent the 2012 season in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

with the

Bradenton Academics IMG Academy Bradenton is an American soccer team based in Bradenton, Florida, United States. Founded in 1998, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team is associated with IMG Academy and the Un ...

and the River City Rovers.

Professional

On January 3, 2013, Farrell signed a

contract with the MLS, making him eligible for early entry into the 2013 MLS SuperDraft. Two weeks later, he was drafted first overall in the MLS SuperDraft by the

, making him the first ever no. 1 pick in club history. On March 9, 2013, Farrell made his professional debut in the Revs 1–0 away victory over the Chicago Fire in the club's first game of the 2013 season. He made 32 appearances for the Revolution during his rookie season, and recorded his first assist in a Revolution jersey on June 2, 2013, setting up Kelyn Rowe's 94th-minute goal in the Revolution's 5–0 win over the

LA Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

. MLS listed Farrell at no. 9 on its annual "24 under 24" list of best young players. Farrell became a fixture on the Revolution over the coming seasons, leading the club in matches started in 2017, 2021, and 2022. He additionally led the team in minutes played in 2017 and 2021. Farrell was named Revolution team Defender of the Year a club-record five separate occasions (2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022). In doing so, he became the first Revolution player to win the honor in back-to-back seasons since

Michael Parkhurst Michael Finlay Parkhurst (born January 24, 1984) is an American former association football, soccer player who played as a Defender (association football), defender. The 2005 MLS Rookie of the Year Award, MLS Rookie of the Year and 2007 MLS Def ...

in 2007 and 2008, and the only Revolution player to ever win the honor in back-to-back seasons on two separate occasions. In 2016, Farrell was named an

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

. He was also named Revolution team Humanitarian of the Year in 2018, 2023, and 2024. Farrell's scored his first professional goal on April 6, 2018, in the Revolution's 4–0 win over the Montreal Impact. That game also marked Farrell's 163rd career start, which tied him with

Taylor Twellman Taylor Timothy Twellman (born February 29, 1980) is an American former soccer player who played professionally from 1999 to 2010. He now works in the media as a soccer television commentator for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Twellman is best kn ...

for 7th-most in club history. On August 8, 2021, Farrell set a new club record making his 255th career start in a 2–1 win over the Philadelphia Union, passing the previous all-time starts mark set by

Shalrie Joseph Shalrie Jamal Joseph (born May 24, 1978) is a Grenadian former professional footballer and coach. Youth and college career Joseph moved to Brooklyn, New York with his family as a teenager. He played college soccer at Bryant & Stratton College ...

. Farrell also holds the club record for minutes played, which was achieved on August 18, 2021, in a 3–2 win over

D.C. United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

. On September 30, 2023, Farrell made his 350th career start for the Revolution across all competitions, the most of any player in Revolution history. Following the conclusion of the 2024 season, The Revolution re-signed Farrell to a one-year contract that would also see him act in a Player Professional Development role as an assistant coach in the Revolution Academy in addition to his playing duties.

Career statistics

Club

Honors

New England Revolution *

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 199 ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Louisville Cardinals *

Red Division Champions: 2010, 2012 *

Tournament Champions: 2010 Individual * NCAA First-Team All-American: 2012 *

Defensive Player of the Year: 2012 *

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrell, Andrew 1992 births Living people African-American soccer players American men's soccer players Atherton High School alumni Louisville Cardinals men's soccer players IMG Academy Bradenton players Derby City Rovers players New England Revolution players Men's association football defenders First overall MLS draft picks Soccer players from Louisville, Kentucky New England Revolution draft picks USL League Two players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars American expatriate sportspeople in Peru All-American college men's soccer players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen