Only includes players who have actually gotten onto the field in a meaningful game. Simply being on the roster doesn't count.
Six players joined the list in 2009, the most of any year.
The 25 Players who have played for 5 MLS Teams
Zak Ibsen | 2001-04-07 | NE, DAL, CHI, LA, SJ | Pete Marino | 2001-04-07 | CLB, KC, TB, DC, MIA | Raul Diaz Arce | 2001-06-16 | DC, NE, SJ, TB, COL | John DeBrito | 2001-06-27 | NE, NY, KC, CLB, DAL | Andy Williams | 2003-04-13 | CLB, MIA, NE, NY, CHI, RSL | Manny Lagos | 2004-05-08 | NY, CHI, TB, SJ, CLB | Ezra Hendrickson | 2005-04-02 | NY, LA, DAL, DC, CHV, CLB | Brian Kamler | 2005-04-02 | DC, MIA, NY, NE, RSL | Brian Dunseth | 2005-04-16 | NE, MIA, CLB, DAL, RSL, LA | Diego Serna | 2005-09-24 | MIA, NY, NE, LA, COL | Scott Garlick | 2006-04-02 | DC, TB, COL, DAL, RSL | Chris Henderson | 2006-04-02 | COL, KC, MIA, CLB, NY | Ante Razov | 2006-04-02 | LA, CHI, CLB, NY, CHV | John Wolyniec | 2006-05-13 | NY, CHI, NE, CLB, LA | Ritchie Kotschau | 2007-06-02 | CHI, TB, COL, CLB, RSL | Kelly Gray | 2008-04-12 | CHI, SJ, HOU, LA, COL | Eric Denton | 2008-04-30 | DC, TB, CLB, COL, SJ | Carey Talley | 2008-05-24 | DC, KC, DAL, RSL, CHV | Jeff Cunningham | 2008-08-16 | CLB, COL, RSL, TOR, DAL | Tyrone Marshall | 2009-03-19 | COL, MIA, LA, TOR, SEA | Dema Kovalenko | 2009-03-22 | CHI, DC, NY, RSL, LA | Tony Sanneh | 2009-03-22 | DC, CLB, CHI, COL, LA | Cornell Glen
| 2009-05-27
| NY, CLB, COL, LA, SJ
| Alecko Eskandarian
| 2009-07-04
| DC, TOR, RSL, CHV, LA
| Daniel Hernandez
| 2009-09-12
| LA, TB, NY, NE, DAL
| Marino is probably the first player to do it considering that the game was in Miami, whereas Ibsen and SJ played at LA.
DeBrito only played in 80 games for his 5 MLS teams, the lowest among the 22. (EDIT: Glen has played only 62 games). His last stint in MLS consisted of one Open Cup start for Dallas. Marino's the only one close at 108.
And now, the number of the 25 players who have played for each of the 17 current and past MLS teams:
CLB | 14 | LA
| 13 | COL
| 11 | NY | 12 | DC
| 10
| CHI
| 9
| NE | 9
| RSL | 9
| DAL | 8
| MIA | 7 | TB | 7
| SJ | 6
| KC | 4 | CHV | 4
| TOR | 3
| HOU | 1 | SEA | 1 | New York has used the most players overall, but they don't top the list.
Finally, let's create a separate list for the 6-team guys:
Players who have played for 6 MLS Teams
(also included on the previous list)
Andy Williams | 2005-04-02 | CLB, MIA, NE, NY, CHI, RSL | Brian Dunseth | 2006-03-08 | NE, MIA, CLB, DAL, RSL, LA | Ezra Hendrickson | 2006-05-06 | NY, LA, DAL, DC, CHV, CLB | Williams is obviously the first guy you would think of if I asked you who has played for 6 teams. He joined this list the same day his teammate Kamler joined the 5 team list above. However, Dunseth has actually been on the roster of 7 different teams, including Chivas USA before being traded to the Galaxy.You may not remember him playing for the Galaxy, as his only appearance was as a sub in the 2006 Champions Cup game @ Saprissa.Labels: andy williams, brian dunseth, ezra hendrickson |
Comments on "Played for 5+ MLS teams"
Given the ridiculous overhaul Sigi's done to Columbus's roster, it's not surprising they'd start to climb that list. From the 2005 Andrulis/Warzycha-coached team to today, there are 3 guys still on the roster: Hejduk, Marshall, and Oughton. Everyone else from 2005 is gone, and in fact, most of the season-opening 2006 team photo is gone, with only about 5 guys still there.
Great stuff, thanks! Kinda funny that Andy Williams ended up sticking around RSL for such a long time.
Of the active players who've played for five teams, Kelly Gray is by far the youngest at 28. All the others are at least 31.
Interesting: Columbus, Colorado, LA and NY top the list of teams these guys have played for, but no one on the list has played for each of those four. I bet that's not actually that much of an oddity in a pure statistics/odds sense, but I do think it's interesting.
Scary,
do you have a list of how many different stadiums MLS games have played in and which players have played in the most or scored goals in the most?
Baseball loves stats so much they keep track of homerun hitters in various parks - but different stadiums have more impact on baseball stats than I imagine they do on soccer.
I'm still enjoying crumbling RFK along with all its resident rats but once the Red Bulls move DC United will be the last original MLS team playing in its initial home.
The stadiums comment is from me (garbaggio on BigSoccer).
I don't have a list of the stadiums, but I think Voros does (because he did some kind of attendance analysis a while ago).
Cornell Glen was very briefly on the books at FC Dallas before the 2005 season. I think he got traded before the season started to Columbus. Maybe he was traded to make way for Carlos Ruiz? Can't remember in that much detail. But you could put an asterisk by his name since he was on the roster of FCD and played in preseason but I don't think he ever played in a regular season game.