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Chris Albright

Chris Albright
Albright at a United States practice in 2006
Personal information
Full name Christopher John Albright[1]
Date of birth (1979-01-14) January 14, 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s) Right-back
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1998 Virginia Cavaliers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2001 D.C. United 56 (4)
1999MLS Pro-40 (loan) 3 (0)
2002–2007 Los Angeles Galaxy 116 (7)
2008–2009 New England Revolution 27 (0)
2010–2011 New York Red Bulls 26 (0)
2012–2013 Philadelphia Union 10 (0)
Total 238 (11)
International career
1999 United States U20 4 (0)
2000 United States U23 6 (2)
1999–2007 United States 22 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 26, 2013
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of April 4, 2010

Christopher John Albright (born January 14, 1979) is an American former professional soccer player and current general manager for FC Cincinnati in Major League Soccer.[2]

Youth and college

Albright attended William Penn Charter School. A forward early in his career, Albright played college soccer at the University of Virginia for two years; he was named an All-American in 1999.

Club career

Considered one of the best attacking prospects in the country, he leveraged foreign interest into getting assigned to D.C. United,[3] despite the club being low on MLS's pecking order for Project-40 players. The league forced a trade with the Miami Fusion for future considerations, which turned out to be Roy Lassiter, but not until both Albright and Lassiter helped DC to the 1999 MLS Cup.

But Albright's club career did not live up to the lofty expectations. He struggled to find the back of the net, scoring just four goals total in his first three years in the league. D.C. dealt him to Los Angeles Galaxy for a draft pick prior to the 2002 season.

Albright drifted further onto the midfield, and then found himself in the back as the Galaxy's starting right defender for the 2003 and 2004 seasons. With Los Angeles Albright became one of the league's top right-backs, and was honored as an MLS Best XI selection in 2005. During his time with the Galaxy he helped the club capture two MLS Cup and one U.S. Open Cup title. He appeared in 116 league matches, scoring 7 goals.

On January 18, 2008, Albright was traded to New England Revolution in return for allocation money. During the 2008 season Albright was a fixture for New England at right-back appearing in 26 league matches; however during the 2009 season he suffered a season-ending injury that limited him to only one appearance.

Albright was traded to New York Red Bulls on January 14, 2010, in exchange for picks #31 and #48 in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft.[4] After beginning the 2010 season on injured reserve Albright regained his form and became the club's starting right-back and helped New York capture the regular season Eastern Conference title.[5]

Following the 2011 season, the Red Bulls declined the 2012 option on Albright's contract, making him eligible for the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft.[6] Albright was not selected in the draft and became a free agent.

On February 13, 2012, Albright signed to play for his hometown Philadelphia Union.[7] He retired at the conclusion of the 2013 season[8]

International career

Albright's first attempt at playing defense came with United States national team coach Bruce Arena, who gave him his first cap on September 8, 1999, against Jamaica. Albright scored his lone U.S. goal that day and has accumulated 21 caps as of 2007.

Albright was listed as an alternate for Bruce Arena's 23-man squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and made the final squad two days after the initial roster announcement due to the injury of Frankie Hejduk.[9] Albright did not appear in a match in the tournament.

International goals

Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 September 8, 1999 Kingston, Jamaica  Jamaica 2–2 2–2 Friendly match

Post playing career

In January 2014, Albright was announced as joining the Philadelphia Union's technical staff as assistant technical director.[10] His responsibilities would focus on assisting in player management and movement along with player and coaching decisions.[10]

In October 2021, FC Cincinnati announced Albright had been hired as the new general manager of the club.[2]

Career statistics

Club

As of June 29, 2013
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
USA League Open Cup League Cup North America Total
1999 D.C. United Major League Soccer 8 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 10 1
2000 25 3 3 2 0 0 1 0 29 5
2001 23 1 4 2 0 0 0 0 27 3
2002 Los Angeles Galaxy 15 0 2 2 5 1 0 0 22 3
2003 27 3 3 0 2 0 4 0 36 3
2004 24 1 0 0 3 0 0 0 27 1
2005 22 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 26 1
2006 23 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 24 2
2007 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
2008 New England Revolution 26 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 28 0
2009 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2010 New York Red Bulls 18 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 23 0
2011 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
2012 Philadelphia Union 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
2013 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Total USA 235 11 17 7 18 1 7 0 277 19
Career total 235 11 17 7 18 1 7 0 277 19

International

As of March 19, 2012
National team Year Apps Goals
United States
1999 1 1
2000 3 0
2001 3 0
2002 0 0
2003 0 0
2004 4 0
2005 7 0
2006 2 0
2007 2 0
Total 22 1

Honors

D.C. United

New England Revolution

Los Angeles Galaxy

Individual

Technical Director

Philadelphia Union

General Manager

FC Cincinnati

References

  1. ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: United States" (PDF). FIFA. March 21, 2014. p. 32. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 10, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "FC Cincinnati hire Chris Albright as new General Manager". fccincinnati.com. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  3. ^ "FC Cincinnati hire Chris Albright as new General Manager". FC Cincinnati. October 4, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2024.
  4. ^ "2010 MLS Draft (Pre-Draft Commentary)". Soccer By Ives. January 14, 2010. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
  5. ^ [1] Archived October 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "MLS names players available in Re-Entry Process (UPDATED)". MLSsoccer.com. December 2, 2011. Archived from the original on December 2, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
  7. ^ "Union sign veteran defender Albright | Philadelphia Union". Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
  8. ^ "Veteran defender Chris Albright to call it a career with hometown Philadelphia Union | MLSsoccer.com". Archived from the original on October 25, 2013.
  9. ^ "ESPN Soccernet". ESPN. May 3, 2006. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
  10. ^ a b "Philadelphia Union name Chris Albright assistant Technical Director". philadelphiaunion.com. January 14, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  11. ^ Major League Soccer [@MLS] (November 8, 2020). "SUPPORTERS' SHIELD WINNERS @PhilaUnion win their first trophy in club history! #DOOP" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ^ Sial, Jonathan (September 30, 2023). "FC Cincinnati win 2023 MLS Supporters' Shield". MLSSoccer.com. Major League Soccer.