Brian Robert McBride (born June 19, 1972) is an American former
soccer player who played as a
forward for
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 ...
,
Fulham and
Chicago Fire. He is the fifth-highest all-time leading goalscorer for the
United States national team.
For much of his career, he played in United States with stints in both Germany and England. During his time at Fulham, McBride became a fan favorite, as well as team
captain. He was eventually voted "Player of the Season" two times. After leaving the club, they renamed the sports bar at
Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against ...
''McBride's'' in his honor.
Early career
High school
Born in
Arlington Heights,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
, McBride played
varsity soccer at
Buffalo Grove High School
Buffalo Grove High School (BGHS) is a public high school located in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago. It is one of six four-year comprehensive high schools in Township High School District 214, serving portions of the village ...
, under coach John Erfort, where he led the Bison to the Illinois state championship in 1988, his junior year. During a playoff game against
Fremd
William Fremd High School, or Fremd (initially Palatine High School South), is a public four-year high school located in Palatine, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Township High School Distric ...
, McBride broke his nose in the first half, but came back into the game to score the game-winning goal. In his four years in high school, he scored 80 goals, 33 as a senior despite playing his senior season as a defender.
In the regional final, during McBride's senior season, against
Stevenson High School, he played goalkeeper. In the final, McBride stopped four of eight penalty kicks taken against him, and he scored the fifth, and winning, goal on a counterattack in extra time after the game ended tied at regulation. McBride was also named an All-American by Parade Magazine.
Later, as a professional, he signed a contract with
Nike
Nike often refers to:
* Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory
* Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment
Nike may also refer to:
People
* Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...
with the condition that the boys' varsity soccer team receive new uniforms every two years.
College
McBride had an illustrious career with
Saint Louis University, from which he graduated in 1993. In his four seasons with the Billikens, he played (and started) in 89 games, and set career records for goals (72), assists (40) and total points (184).
While at school, McBride was a 1992 second team and a 1993
first-team All-American. He also was named
Most Valuable Player of the
Great Midwest Conference
The Great Midwest Conference was an NCAA Division I athletics conference that existed from 1991 to 1995.
History
It was formed in 1990 with six members: Cincinnati and Memphis State (now Memphis) from the Metro Conference, UAB from the Sun Bel ...
three years straight, as well as being named to the All-Conference first-team during this stretch. He trained at the world-famous Magna Fitness Center. After being such a versatile player in his amateur career, McBride decided to become a striker at the professional level.
Craig Burley
Craig William Burley (born 24 September 1971) is a Scottish former professional footballer and sports television pundit and co-commentator for ESPN.
As a player he was a midfielder from 1989 until 2004, notably playing in the Premier League for ...
warned McBride that he should expect to get clattered playing that position.
McBride is one of 22 college players to be part of the
40-40 club
4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures.
In mathematics
Four is the smalle ...
, having both 40 goals and 40 assists in their college career.
Club career
Milwaukee Rampage
McBride briefly played for the minor league
Milwaukee Rampage
The Milwaukee Rampage are a former defunct professional American soccer team, that was located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which played in the A-League.
History
Founded in 1993 by Milwaukee area businessmen Dan Doucette and Jim Hock, the Rampage p ...
. In 18 games, he scored 17 goals and assisted another 18. That year also saw
Tony Sanneh
Anthony Sanneh (born June 1, 1971) is an American retired professional soccer player who played as a defender or midfielder.
Club career
Youth and college
Tony Sanneh was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota to an African father from Gambia and an ...
playing with the Rampage. Both Sanneh and McBride played professionally in Germany, in MLS and on the
United States men's national team.
They linked up for a historic goal at the
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...
. In a game against
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, Sanneh, playing right back, played a cross into the box which McBride put into the top corner. After the game, McBride mentioned, "We joked about it in the locker room, it is a play we have done a thousand times
hile teammates with the Milwaukee Rampage "I took a step in at the far post and lost my marker. He delivered a beautiful cross and I knocked it home."
VfL Wolfsburg
In 1994, McBride left the United States to ply his trade in Germany. At the time,
VfL Wolfsburg
Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...
played in the
German Second Division and provided several aspiring American players an opportunity to play soccer in Europe. These included
Chad Deering
Chad Deering (born September 2, 1970) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. Deering spent his professional career in Germany, Norway, Major League Soccer and Major Indoor Soccer League. He earned eighteen ...
,
Claudio Reyna
Claudio Reyna (born July 20, 1973) is an American former professional soccer player and current executive. He most recently served as sporting director of Austin FC.
A former midfielder, he spent most of his professional career in Europe, pla ...
and
Mike Lapper
Michael Steven Lapper (born August 28, 1970 in Redondo Beach, California) is an American retired soccer defender. During his fifteen-year playing career, most of it spent as a sweeper, he played in England, Germany and the United States. He ...
, as well as McBride. McBride struggled to find playing time with the club and also had difficulty scoring. However, one of his two goals came in a 2–1 victory over
Bayern Munich's reserve team in the
DFB-Pokal
The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...
quarterfinals – Wolfsburg went on to reach the final, although McBride did not feature. At the end of the season, McBride gained a release from Wolfsburg and when MLS was created, chose to return to play in the United States.
Columbus Crew
McBride returned to America in 1996 for the inaugural season of
Major League Soccer, for whom he was the first overall pick of the
MLS Inaugural Draft. McBride played eight years with the Columbus Crew, scoring 62 goals (no longer tied for the club record with
Jeff Cunningham
Jeff Cunningham (born August 21, 1976) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He is Major League Soccer's third-all-time leader in regular-season goals scored with 134.
Youth and college
Cunningham was born ...
) and 45 assists in 161 league games, before his move to England. In 2005, he was named to the
MLS All-Time Best XI.
In 2011, the Crew honored McBride by naming him the inaugural member of its Circle of Honor.
Loan spells
Whilst playing for Columbus, McBride had two loan spells in England. The first came in 2000 when McBride played for
Preston North End, then managed by
David Moyes. While McBride played well for the club, he sat out several games after having a blood clot surgically removed from his arm, which consisted of having a
rib removed.
The clot came as a result of a hard collision McBride had suffered during his first game with Preston. As McBride's loan spell came to an end, Preston attempted to purchase his contract from MLS for $1.8 million. MLS rejected it, considering McBride to be worth twice that amount.
Two years later,
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
club
Everton were beginning to slide down the table. David Moyes, by then with Everton, remembered McBride's success with Preston and sought the forward's services. During McBride's three months with the club, he did not disappoint Moyes, scoring four goals in eight games, including his first game with the club, a 4–3 defeat to
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
. He made close friends during the short time with players such as
Leon Osman (with whom he still plays soccer) and
Richard Wright.
Everton, unlike Preston, merely sought to extend McBride's loan period, but MLS rejected it, preferring a transfer over an extended loan for McBride.
Fulham
In January 2004,
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
club
Fulham bought McBride's rights from MLS for $1.5 million. He played 18 games during the last half of the 2003–04 season, scoring a total of five goals. His scoring pace remained steady through the next two seasons. In 2004–05, he played 31 league games and six cup games, scoring six league and three cup goals. In 2005–06, he played 38 league games and one cup game, scoring ten league goals and one cup goal. McBride's original contract with Fulham continued only through the 2005–06 season. However, on March 10, 2006, he signed a one-year extension which took him through the end of the 2006–07 season. On February 2, 2007, he signed yet another one-year extension, taking him through the 2007–2008 season. He has a reputation as a battler with a high work rate, a trait prized in English soccer.
McBride was Fulham's top scorer for their 2006–07 Premier League campaign with twelve goals to his name. He was given Fulham's captaincy in August 2007.
When scoring the opening goal in a home match against
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
on August 18, 2007, McBride dislocated his kneecap. He did not make his return to action until a friendly against
Cardiff City in late January 2008, and resumed his Premier League duties as a substitute against
Aston Villa on February 3, 2008. McBride scored his first goal since his injury against
Everton at
Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against ...
on March 16, 2008, in a 1–0 victory for Fulham. The then-Fulham manager
Chris Coleman commented it was such a shame that McBride had not been 'discovered' earlier in his career, and played more in England.
After scoring twelve goals in 2006–07 season which helped Fulham retain their Premier League status, on May 14, 2007, McBride won the club's Player of the Year award. He won it again in 2008, and became such a popular figure that the club renamed a bar inside Craven Cottage "McBride's" in June 2009.
On May 28, 2008, McBride announced that he would be leaving Fulham to return to the United States to play in MLS.
Chicago Fire
Following the end of his one-year contract extension, McBride decided to return to the United States to end his career in MLS. He expressed his desire to play for Chicago, his hometown. However,
Toronto FC
Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...
held the top spot in the allocation order, the process by which U.S. National Team players returning to MLS find teams in the league.
On July 30, 2008, the top spot in the allocation order was traded to the
Chicago Fire for
Chad Barrett
Chad Randall Barrett (born April 30, 1985) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward.
Career
College
Born in San Diego, Barrett played two seasons of college soccer at UCLA and led the team in assists his seco ...
, a first round pick in the MLS SuperDraft and conditional future considerations. The Fire used the top spot to obtain McBride. He made his Fire debut on August 16, 2008, coming on as a second-half substitute against
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 ...
.
McBride scored his first goal against Houston Dynamo. McBride scored the first goal in the MLS Playoff Eastern Conference Championship against the Columbus Crew, his former club. However, Chicago lost that game 2–1 and was kept from being in the MLS Playoff final.
McBride scored nine goals during the 2009 season, including two goals in the three
SuperLiga games in which he played.
On September 3, 2010, McBride announced that he would retire following the
2010 MLS season. McBride scored his 80th career goal (in MLS) during his final match before being substituted off to a standing ovation.
Wembley
In June 2012, he was one of several former professional players who agreed to join
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
to play in their FA Cup campaign for the new season. McBride and fellow former internationals
Ray Parlour
Raymond Parlour (born 7 March 1973) is an English former professional footballer and sports radio pundit for BBC Radio 5 Live and Talksport.
He was a midfielder from 1992 to 2007, and spent his career playing for Arsenal, Middlesbrough and Hul ...
,
Martin Keown
Martin Raymond Keown (; born 24 July 1966) is an English football pundit and former professional footballer who played as a defender from 1984 to 2005, notably in the Premier League for Arsenal, where he made over 400 appearances for the club a ...
,
Claudio Caniggia
Claudio Paul Caniggia (; born 9 January 1967) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as forward or winger. Caniggia played 50 times for the Argentina national team. He appeared in three World Cups, and was a member of both ...
,
Jaime Moreno,
Danny Dichio
Daniele Salvatore Ernest Dichio (born 19 October 1974) is an English retired professional footballer and coach.
Dichio scored the first goal in Toronto FC history against the Chicago Fire on 12 May 2007. Later in that same game he became the ...
and
Graeme Le Saux
Graeme Pierre Le Saux ( ; born 17 October 1968) is an English former professional footballer and television pundit.
As a versatile left sided player he played most of his career at left back with two spells at Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers, Southamp ...
, plus
David Seaman
David Andrew Seaman (born 19 September 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In a career lasting from 1981 to 2004, he is best known for his time playing for Arsenal. He won 75 caps for England, and is the country's ...
(goalkeeping coach) and former England manager
Terry Venables
Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...
(technical advisor), came out of retirement to play for Wembley. They were knocked out in a replay by
Uxbridge
Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...
after initially setting up the tie by knocking
Langford out in the previous round.
International career
McBride was a significant player for the
United States national team, earning 96
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 Ja ...
and scoring 30 goals in his senior international career. He made his national team debut in 1993, though he was not a member of the squad for the
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...
.
He is the first-ever spokesperson for the Central Ohio Diabetes Association and donated $100 to the association for every goal and assist he tallied for the U.S. National Team.
He was part of the U.S. team that played at the
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
,
2002, and
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...
s. He scored at the 1998 and 2002 tournaments and in doing so, became the first American player to score at two World Cups. (Fellow
Landon Donovan and
Clint Dempsey
Clinton Drew Dempsey (; born March 9, 1983) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward and midfielder. During his career, he played in the Premier League for Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur and in Major League Soccer ...
have since equaled this feat, the latter surpassing them with three.) He was the only American player that scored in the 1998 tournament, which was in a 2–1 defeat to Iran. Overall McBride is fourth behind
Bert Patenaude
Bertrand "Bert" Arthur Patenaude (; November 4, 1909November 4, 1974) was an American soccer player who played as a forward. Although it was formerly disputed, he is now officially credited by FIFA as scorer of the first hat-trick in the World ...
, Dempsey and Donovan for the most World Cup goals for an American with three.
On May 2, 2006, McBride was named to the U.S. roster for his third consecutive
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
. At the
2006 World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
, McBride was severely bloodied in a group stage match against Italy after being elbowed in the face by
Daniele De Rossi
Daniele De Rossi (; born 24 July 1983) is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder and is currently manager of side SPAL. He is mostly known for his time playing with his hometown club Roma in Serie A, as ...
. He needed three stitches. As punishment, De Rossi was banned for four matches and fined
CHF 10,000. Following the end of the tournament, McBride announced his retirement from international duty on July 26, 2006.
In 2008 McBride briefly came out of international retirement after being named as one of the three overage players on the U.S. team for the
2008 Beijing Olympics and served as
captain as the team finished in third place in the group stage for their group.
Coaching
McBride established the Brian McBride Soccer Academy which is based in Lake Zurich, Illinois.
In January 2020, McBride was named general manager of the
United States men's national team.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list the United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each McBride goal.''
Honors
Columbus Crew
*
U.S. Open Cup:
2002
United States
*
CONCACAF Gold Cup
The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...
:
2002
Individual
*
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 Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a tr ...
:
1996,
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
,
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
,
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...
,
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
* MLS 50/50 Club
*
MLS Goal of the Year Award
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 ...
: 1998
* CONCACAF Gold Cup MVP:
2002
* CONCACAF Gold Cup Golden Shoe: 2002
*
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 ...
: 2003
* Fulham Player of the Year: 2005, 2006
* Chicago Fire Team Player of the Year: 2009
* Chicago Fire Golden Boot: 2009
*
National Soccer Hall of Fame: 2014
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McBride, Brian
1972 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Arlington Heights, Illinois
Soccer players from Cook County, Illinois
Men's association football forwards
All-American college men's soccer players
American men's soccer players
American expatriate men's soccer players
American expatriate soccer players in Germany
Expatriate men's footballers in England
Chicago Fire FC players
Columbus Crew players
Everton F.C. players
Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Fulham F.C. players
Major League Soccer All-Stars
Major League Soccer players
Milwaukee Rampage players
Olympic soccer players for the United States
Premier League players
Preston North End F.C. players
Saint Louis University alumni
Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer players
English Football League players
USISL players
United States men's under-23 international soccer players
United States men's international soccer players
VfL Wolfsburg players
CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players
1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
1998 FIFA World Cup players
1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players
2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
2002 FIFA World Cup players
2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players
2006 FIFA World Cup players
2. Bundesliga players
American expatriate sportspeople in England
Wembley F.C. players
National Soccer Hall of Fame members