Brian Carroll (born July 20, 1981) is an American retired

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who last played for

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. He is currently the only player in MLS history to have won 4 consecutive Supporter Shields.

Career

Youth and college

While in high school, Carroll was th
''Washington Post'' All-Met Player of the Year
was twice named to th

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n team, and led the West Springfield Spartans to the final of the Virginia state tournament in 1998. He played college soccer at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Reynolda Campus, the un ...

from 2000 to 2002. Named captain as a sophomore, Carroll tied the school record for most assists in a game with three and finished the year as a second-team All-

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

selection. As a junior, he was again team captain, an All-American, and was a finalist for the

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

. After his junior year, he signed a

Project-40 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 MLS, completing his career at Wake Forest with 7 goals and 15 assists, having started all 61 games over the three years.

Club

DC United

Carroll was selected 11th overall in the

2003 MLS SuperDraft The 2003 MLS Superdraft was held January 17, 2003 in Kansas City, Missouri. It was the fifth annual SuperDraft held by Major League Soccer. Player selection Any player whose name is marked with an * was contracted under the Project-40 program ...

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

. Unfortunately for him, coach

Ray Hudson Raymond Wilfred Hudson (born 24 March 1955) is an English former professional football player and manager who currently works as a radio host for SiriusXM FC 157. He started playing professionally at 17, in 1973, with Newcastle United. Fans nic ...

preferred a lineup dominated by veterans, and although he saw time in

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

competition, Carroll did not appear in any regular season games.

Peter Nowak Piotr "Peter" Nowak (; born 5 July 1964) is a Polish professional football manager and former player. He was most recently in charge of Ekstraklasa club Jagiellonia Białystok. Nowak played in Europe for Polish clubs such as Zawisza Bydgoszcz ...

replaced Hudson following the 2003 season, and soon expressed incredulity that a player as talented as Carroll saw no playing time under Hudson. Carroll was a fixture in Nowak's lineup for the first game of the 2004 season, and would remain there all year long, appearing in all 30 of the team's games, starting 26 of them, earning his first MLS assist, and winning the

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

. In 2005, he led the team in minutes and games played, scored his first league goal, added three more assists, and led MLS in consecutive games played, at 62. Carroll was one of three players nominated for the 2005

MLS Fair Play Award The Fair Play Award in Major League Soccer was the award that was given to an individual player and a team who presented best overall sportsmanlike behavior in addition to receiving one of the lowest numbers of yellow Yellow is the color be ...

. Carroll started 31 games for the club in 2006, with 1 goal and 3 assists. Carroll lost his starting role with United to fellow defensive midfielder

Clyde Simms Clyde Simms (born August 21, 1982) is an American former soccer player. He played in Major League Soccer from 2005 to 2013. He also represented the United States at international level. Career College Born in Jamestown, North Carolina, and atte ...

midway through the 2007 season, but still had a productive year, with 4 assists to his credit. It was announced on 27 November 2006 that Carroll was on trial with French club

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

with hopes for an eventual transfer. However, on 23 January 2007 it was announced that Carroll had re-signed with D.C. United.

Columbus Crew

On November 21, 2007, Carroll was selected as part of the

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansion ...

to join the new

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

club. On November 26, he was traded to the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

in exchange for

Kei Kamara Kei Ansu Kamara (; born 1 September 1984) is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer who plays as a striker for CF Montréal of Major League Soccer. He is one of only eleven players to have scored 100 goals in MLS history, achieving the land ...

. In June 2010, Caroll signed a four-year contract extension with the Crew. On November 6, 2010, he missed the penalty which ended the Crew's playoff run, sending the ball over the crossbar.

Philadelphia Union

On November 22, 2010, Carroll was traded to

in exchange for a second-round draft pick and allocation money. Between 2004 and 2016 he made at least 21 appearances for 13 different seasons. Upon retirement he was praised for his professionalism and leadership.

International

Carroll has played on the Under-18, Under-20, and Under-23 national teams, including at the

2001 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Argentina between 17 June and 8 July 2001. The 2001 championship was the 13th contested. The tournament took part in six cities, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta, and Mar de ...

in Argentina and 2003 Olympic Qualifying. In his first game for the full national team (a World Cup qualifier vs.

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

on October 12, 2005), he was named Man of the Match. He ended his career with eight

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Personal

Carroll is the brother of fellow former professional soccer players

Jeff Carroll Jeffrey Bryan Carroll is an American scientific researcher in the field of Huntington's disease (HD). As a carrier of the abnormal gene that causes HD, he is also a public advocate for families affected by the disease, and co-founder of the HD re ...

and

Pat Carroll Patricia Ann Carroll (May 5, 1927 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress and comedian. She was known for voicing Ursula in ''The Little Mermaid'' and for appearances in CBS's ''The Danny Thomas Show'', ABC's ''Laverne & Shirley'', and NBC' ...

, both of whom have also played for

. He is a lifelong Catholic whose soccer career has been influenced by former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. Following retirement Carroll was planning to move to the

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

area to pursue a career in financial planning.

Honors

D.C. United

(1):

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 6 ...

* Eastern Conference (Playoffs) (1):

* Supporter's Shield (2):

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Columbus Crew

(1):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

* Eastern Conference (Playoffs) (1):

* Supporter's Shield (2):

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Gallery

File:BrianCarroll.jpg, Carroll at a DC United Meet the Team event, July 17, 2005

References

External links

*
Wake Forest bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Brian 1981 births Living people American soccer players Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer players D.C. United players Richmond Kickers players Columbus Crew players Philadelphia Union players Philadelphia Union II players Sportspeople from Fairfax County, Virginia United States men's international soccer players A-League (1995–2004) players Major League Soccer players Soccer players from Virginia 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 D.C. United draft picks People from Springfield, Virginia Association football midfielders