The Top 25 Oldest MLS Debuts

Also see: Top 25 Oldest MLS Players Top 25 Youngest MLS Players EDIT 7/19/2011: This season so far: Faryd Mondragon became the oldest debuting player in league history on opening day with Philadelphia. Frank Rost's recent debut with NY made him the 5th oldest. As a result, Kalin Bankov, Paulinho McLaren, and Martin Zuniga fall off the top 25. EDIT 8/19/2010: Two players who debuted in late July join the list: Blaise Nkufo entered at #21, knocking off Edwin Gorter. A week later, Eduardo Coudet came in at #15. No one exited, as two players are tied for 25th. We're getting very close to the point where all players on the list will be at least 35. EDIT 4/8/2010: Pena's debut (8th oldest) added; Carlos Valderrama now is off the top 25. EDIT 3/26/2010: Bumped for the new season. Former Brazilian international Andre Luiz debuted for the Earthquakes last August, and made the list at #17. Abel Xavier fell off the top 25 as a result. I expect to have to update this again shortly due to DC's signing of Juan Manuel Pena. EDIT 4/11/2009: And Berhalter makes his regular season debut. EDIT 4/8/2009: Gregg Berhalter debuted in an Open Cup qualifier and enters the all competitions list as the 15th oldest debutant. Blanco falls off the list. He should be entering the regular season chart at the same position very shortly. EDIT: 3/24/2009: Kasey Keller finally made his MLS debut at the age of 39. He's now number one on the list ahead of Lothar Matthaus. Nice to see any record of Lothar's broken. Carlos Ledesma (34.37) leaves the list. No other player currently on a league roster is in position to make the list. EDIT 7/20/2008: Francisco Lima became the 6th oldest player to debut, knocking off Lubik Kubik (34.17). Top 25 Oldest MLS Debuts - REGULAR SEASON ONLY Age Team Year 1 Mondragon, Faryd 39.74 PHI 2011 2 Keller, Kasey 39.30 SEA 2009 3 Matthaus, Lothar 39.01 NY 2000 4 Ravelli, Thomas 38.60 TB 1998 5 Rost, Frank 38.04 NY 2011 6 Sanchez, Hugo 37.85 DAL 1996 7 Hislop, Shaka 37.58 DAL 2006 8 Suarez, Claudio 37.29 CHV 2006 9 Lima, Francisco 37.26 SJ 2008 10 Pena, Juan Manuel 37.21 DC 2010 11 Djorkaeff, Youri 37.10 NY 2005 12 Zenga, Walter 36.92 NE 1997 13 Waterreus, Ronald 36.62 NY 2007 14 Woods, Chris 36.49 COL 1996 15 Dooley, Tom 36.11 CLB 1997 16 Guppy, Stephen 36.01 DC 2005 17 Coudet, Eduardo 35.88 PHI 2010 18 Bishop, Ian 35.86 MIA 2001 19 Berhalter, Gregg 35.69 LA 2009 20 Herzog, Andreas 35.56 LA 2004 21 Luiz, Andre 35.56 SJ 2009 22 Ramirez, Ramon 35.32 CHV 2005 23 Onstad, Pat 35.24 SJ 2003 24 Nkufo, Blaise 35.17 SEA 2010 25 Gough, Richard 35.07 KC 1997 The cutoff is about 3 years younger for oldest overall players compared to oldest debuts. Top 25 Oldest MLS Debuts - ALL COMPETITIONS Age Team Year 1 Mondragon, Faryd 39.74 PHI 2011 2 Keller, Kasey 39.30 SEA 2009 3 Matthaus, Lothar 39.01 NY 2000 4 Ravelli, Thomas 38.60 TB 1998 5 Rost, Frank 38.04 NY 2011 6 Sanchez, Hugo 37.85 DAL 1996 7 Hislop, Shaka 37.50 DAL 2006 8 Suarez, Claudio 37.29 CHV 2006 9 Lima, Francisco 37.26 SJ 2008 10 Pena, Juan Manuel 37.21 DC 2010 11 Djorkaeff, Youri 37.10 NY 2005 12 Zenga, Walter 36.92 NE 1997 13 Waterreus, Ronald 36.62 NY 2007 14 Woods, Chris 36.49 COL 1996 15 Dooley, Tom 36.11 CLB 1997 16 Guppy, Stephen 35.96 DC 2005 17 Coudet, Eduardo 35.88 PHI 2010 18 Bishop, Ian 35.86 MIA 2001 19 Berhalter, Gregg 35.68 LA 2009 20 Herzog, Andreas 35.56 LA 2004 21 Luiz, Andre 35.56 SJ 2009 22 Ramirez, Ramon 35.32 CHV 2005 23 Onstad, Pat 35.17 SJ 2003 24 Nkufo, Blaise 35.17 SEA 2010 25 Gough, Richard 35.07 KC 1997 Players in red have a different overall debut age compared to their MLS debut age.