Chad Marshall (born August 22, 1984) is an American former 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. During his 16-year career, he played for

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

and

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

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 ...

. Regarded as one of the league's greatest players of all time, he was a three-time

MLS Defender of the Year Award The Major League Soccer Defender of the Year Award is an annual award handed out to the top defender in Major League Soccer annually since the league's inception in 1996.

winner, two-time

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

winner, four-time

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 ...

winner, a U.S. Open Cup winner, and was selected to four

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

teams.

Youth and college career

Marshall attended Rubidoux High School in Jurupa Valley, California where he was an NCSAA All-American, ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'' All-America selection his junior and senior years, and ''Parades Best Defender in his senior year. Coming out of high school he was rated as the top college soccer recruit in the country by ''

Soccer America ''Soccer America'', the oldest soccer-specific media publisher in the United States, was founded in 1971 by Clay Berling in Albany, California. The magazine is headquartered in Oakland, California. History The magazine was founded by Clay Ber ...

''. In addition to his soccer exploits, Chad was also an avid equestrian. He played club soccer for the prestigious club soccer team Irvine Strikers coached by the legendary club coach Don Ebert, helping lead the team to four state titles. He attended the IMG Soccer Academy in fall 2000 through spring 2001. Chad attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

for college, and as a freshman in 2002, He started 20 of 21 regular season games en route to earning ''Soccer America'''s Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-Pac-10 honors. He scored two game-winning overtime goals in the NCAA College Cup playoffs, securing 2-1 victories against Furman in the third round and Creighton in the semifinals, while being named to that year's College Cup All-Tournament team. After two seasons with the

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

, he decided to turn pro.

Professional career

Marshall was drafted second overall in the

2004 MLS SuperDraft The 2004 MLS SuperDraft, held in Charlotte, North Carolina on January 16, 2004, was the fifth incarnation of the annual Major League Soccer MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft. The draft was most notable at the time for the selection of one of the younge ...

. He had an exemplary first year, anchoring the Crew defense along with

Robin Fraser Robin Fraser (born December 17, 1966) is an American soccer coach and former player. He is the head coach of Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. He previously served as head coach of Colorado Rapids and Chivas USA and as an assistant for Real ...

, who won the MLS Defender of the Year award that season, and helped the team to an eighteen-game unbeaten streak and the

MLS 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 ...

. He finished the season with twenty-seven starts, and was a close second to Clint Dempsey in the voting for the

MLS Rookie of the Year Award The MLS Young Player of the Year Award (known as the Rookie of the Year Award from 1996 to 2019) is an annual award given to the top player in Major League Soccer under the age of 22. The award was initially awarded to a rookie, or a player who ...

. He only played in twelve matches in 2007 due to ongoing

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

issues that threatened to end his career. Marshall's strongest campaign with the Crew came in 2008. He led the defense on the squad that won both the Supporters' Shield and the

MLS Cup 2008 MLS Cup 2008 was the 13th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS). The soccer match took place on November 23, 2008, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, near Los Angeles. It was contested betwee ...

, a game in which Marshall scored the game-winning goal. After the season, he was voted to the

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. The selection is determined by a collection of media, players, and MLS club technical staffs. Winners Appearances by player The following players ...

and was also awarded the MLS Defender of the Year award, beating competition from Bakary Soumaré and Jimmy Conrad. Marshall's contract ran out after the 2008 campaign. After a brief trial for part of December with German 2. Bundesliga side

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...

he re-signed with Columbus on December 26, 2008. In 2009, Marshall was awarded MLS Player of the Month award while playing every minute of the Crew’s four games that month, scoring two game-winning goals, and helping Columbus to three shutout victories. On March 17, 2011, Marshall was named captain of Columbus Crew for the 2011 season to fill the void left by departing captain Frankie Hejduk. In December 2011, Columbus signed Marshall to a long-term contract extension through the 2015 MLS season. During the 2012 season, Marshall missed eight games due to a concussion. On December 12, 2013, Marshall was traded to

in exchange for allocation money and a third-round 2015 MLS SuperDraft pick. He scored his first goal as a Sounder, a game-winning header in the 84th minute, against the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

on May 3. He was named MLS Defender of the Year for the third time as the Sounders won the

. On May 22, 2019, Marshall announced his retirement from professional soccer due to injury, concluding a historic 16-year Major League Soccer career at age 34.

International career

As a teenager, Marshall trained at the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...

's exclusive Bradenton Academy and has played for several United States youth national teams. He played for the United States at the

2003 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 14th FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December 2003. Brazil claimed their fourth title, becoming the first country to simultaneously ho ...

, now commonly known as the

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

, in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. He later moved up and earned time with the Under-23 team. Marshall earned his first cap and scored his first goal for the senior national team on March 9, 2005, against

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. Marshall was selected for the

2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was played from July 3 to 26, 2009 in the United Stat ...

for the United States and received his first cap since 2005 in the side's opening match against

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

. Marshall went on to play in five games throughout the tournament and garnered Gold Cup All-Tournament honors. On May 11, 2010, Bob Bradley, the U.S. Men's National Team head coach selected Marshall for the 30-man preliminary roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. On May 26, 2010, Bradley decided to keep Marshall off the 23 man roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. On January 6, 2017, after almost seven years of absence from international soccer, Marshall was called for the United States national team by coach

Bruce Arena Bruce Arena (born September 21, 1951) is an American soccer coach who currently serves as the head coach and sporting director of the San Jose Earthquakes. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and the NJCAA Lacrosse Hall of Fame. ...

Style of play

Marshall is known for his aerial ability, strength, consistency, defensive positioning, and his comfort with the ball at his feet.

Career statistics

Club statistics

International

:''United States score listed first, score column indicates score after each Marshall goal.''

Honors

Columbus Crew Columbus Crew *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Seattle Sounders *

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 ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

* U.S. Open Cup:

Individual * MLS Defender of the Year: 2008, 2009, 2014 *

: 2008, 2009, 2014, 2018 *MLS Player of the Month: August 2009, September 2016 *

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 ...

: 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015 *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

All-Tournament Team:

* MLS 400 Games Club Records * Columbus Crew all-time appearance holder: 277 total appearances

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Chad 1984 births Living people American men's soccer players Harding University alumni Soccer players from Riverside, California Stanford Cardinal men's soccer players Columbus Crew players Seattle Sounders FC players United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players Columbus Crew draft picks 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Men's association football defenders