Iain Fraser (born April 3, 1964 in

Jedburgh Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in s ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

) is a former

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

professional soccer player. Fraser is known as one of the first players drafted by Major League Soccer upon its creation, as well as the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit ''

Fraser v. Major League Soccer ''Fraser v. Major League Soccer'', 284 F.3d 47 ( 1st Cir. 2002), was an antitrust suit filed by eight Major League Soccer players against MLS, the league's investors, and the United States Soccer Federation. The Court found that Major League Socc ...

'' against the league. The sporadic nature of professional soccer in the 1980s and 1990s in North America forced Fraser to become something of a journeyman, playing in numerous indoor and outdoor leagues.

Club career

Early years

Although born in

, he grew up in Burlington,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. Fraser attended

Hartwick College Hartwick College is a private liberal arts college in Oneonta, New York. The institution's origin is rooted in the founding of Hartwick Seminary in 1797 through the will of John Christopher Hartwick. In 1927, the Seminary moved to expand into a ...

in New York on a soccer scholarship. Graduating in 1986, Fraser played on three Division I NCAA tournament teams at Hartwick, playing in the Final Four in both 1984 and 1985. He was inducted into the Hartwick College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997.

Indoor soccer

After graduating, Fraser was drafted in the second round by the Kansas City Comets of the original Major Indoor Soccer League. He would play for the indoor club for five years before joining the

Baltimore Blast The Baltimore Blast is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The team is a part of the Major Arena Soccer League. The team has won 10 championships since it was founded in 1980. Beginning with ...

for the 1991/92 season. After the MISL folded, Fraser joined the

Kansas City Attack The Kansas City Attack, previously the Atlanta Attack and later known as the Kansas City Comets, were an indoor soccer team based for most of its existence in Kansas City, Missouri. In its various incarnations the franchise played in the National ...

of the indoor National Professional Soccer League in 1994. He stayed with Kansas City for three years despite interest from the rival Continental Indoor Soccer League.

Outdoor soccer

Due to the founding of the Canadian Soccer League in 1987, Fraser played indoor and outdoor soccer simultaneously, notably for

Montreal Supra Montreal Supra was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Montreal, Quebec that played in the Canadian Soccer League from 1988 to 1992. History Montreal Supra joined the Canadian Soccer League as an expansion franchise for the league's se ...

. This was common for many Canadian soccer players. In 1993 Fraser returned to outdoor soccer for two seasons with the

Colorado Foxes The Colorado Foxes were a professional soccer team, based in Commerce City, Colorado, that played in the American Professional Soccer League, and later in the A-League, between 1990 and 1997. The Foxes won two APSL titles, in 1992 and 1993. In 19 ...

of the American Professional Soccer League.

Major League Soccer

Fraser was the fifth player selected overall in the inaugural Major League Soccer draft. Fraser spent only one season in the MLS, playing for the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compe ...

in 1996. Although he missed the first few games due to injury, once he hit the field Fraser played every minute of every game after that. That year, the New England Revolution also featured midfielder Geoff Aunger and

Mark Watson Mark Andrew Watson (born 13 February 1980) is a British comedian and novelist. Early life Watson was born in Bristol to a Welsh mother and English father. He has younger twin sisters and a brother, Paul. He attended Bristol Grammar School, ...

, both his teammates from the Canada national team. Fraser is also known for his involvement in a 1997 antitrust lawsuit brought against Major League Soccer. The case alleged that the league's single entity structure, whereby all players are contracted to the league (and not to individual teams) was in fact an illegal monopoly. He was the first

plaintiff A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of t ...

listed in the lawsuit, leading the case to be known as ''Fraser vs Major League Soccer''.

Sacramento Knights and retirement

He then joined the

Sacramento Knights Sacramento Knights were an indoor soccer team that played from 1993 to 2001 in ARCO Arena and were owned by the NBA's Sacramento Kings. The team played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League from 1993 to 1997. The team then moved to the Wo ...

of the

World Indoor Soccer League The World Indoor Soccer League (WISL) was a United States-based indoor soccer league that existed from 1998 to 2001 and consisted of nine teams. History After the demise of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, four of its teams decided to crea ...

, where he was employed simultaneously as a player, Head Coach, and Director of Operations. Fraser is one of the few professionals to win honours both on-field and off-field in the same seasons, as he was both named defender of the year and coach of the year in 1999 and 2001. He stayed with the Knights until the WISL folded. Fraser continues to be a top youth soccer coach for San Juan Soccer Club which is based in Sacramento, California.

International career

He made his debut for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in a June 1994 friendly match against

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

. He earned a total of 30 caps, scoring no goals. He has represented Canada in 10 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.Record at FIFA Tournaments
- FIFA His final international was a November 1997 World Cup qualification match against Costa Rica, a game after which

Randy Samuel Randolph FitzGerald Samuel (born 23 December 1963) is a Trinidad-born Canadian former soccer player who played as a defender. His 82 international caps were a Canada national team record until he was surpassed by Paul Stalteri in September ...

, Alex Bunbury, Paul Dolan,

Frank Yallop Frank Walter Yallop (born 4 April 1964) is a British-Canadian professional soccer coach. Yallop is currently the head coach and sporting director of USL Championship side Monterey Bay FC. He played 13 years in England for Ipswich, including the ...

and Colin Miller also said farewell to the national team.

Personal life

He is married to Dineen, has three children (Isabella, Dylan and Brandon) and makes his home in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, holding dual Canadian and American

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

References

External links

Player profile
- CanadaSoccer *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Iain 1964 births Living people People from Jedburgh Soccer people from Ontario Sportspeople from Burlington, Ontario American Professional Soccer League players Men's association football defenders Baltimore Blast (1980–1992) players Colorado Foxes players Canadian men's soccer players Canada men's international soccer players 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Hamilton Steelers (1981–1992) players Hartwick Hawks men's soccer players Kansas City Attack (NPSL) players Kansas City Comets (original MISL) players Major League Soccer players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players Montreal Supra players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Naturalized citizens of Canada New England Revolution players Sacramento Knights players Scottish emigrants to Canada Sportspeople from the Scottish Borders Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993) players World Indoor Soccer League players