Leighton O'Brien (born March 14, 1976 in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Pa ...

) is an American soccer player who is serving as the Technical Director for the Pacific Northwest Soccer Club. O'Brien is noted most significantly for his tenure with the

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

of the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system ...

, where the Tacoma native helped the Sounders claim the double, and as well as several other titles. Most of his personal achievements derived from his time with Seattle. In February, 2010 he was ranked 11th in the

Top 25 of the Decade, which announced a list of the best and most influential players of the previous decade.

Career

Youth and college

He grew up in the Pacific Northwest, graduating from

Federal Way High School Federal Way High School is a public high school located in Federal Way, Washington. It was originally built in 1938. A new campus opened in the fall of 2016. Academics * Advanced Placement courses: Calculus, Statistics, and Photography. * Pre-A ...

in 1994. He played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United K ...

at the University of San Diego, redshirting his freshman season after an early season injury sidelined him.

Professional

O'Brien was drafted by 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 the third round of the 1999 MLS College Draft. He never played for the Revs before being waived on March 31, 1999. On April 5, 1999, the San Jose Clash claimed O'Brien in the waiver draft. He spent most of the season on loan with MLS Pro-40 and only four games with the Clash first team before being released at the end of the season. In 2000, he signed with the

San Diego Flash San Diego Flash was an American soccer team based in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1998, the team returned to competitive play in 2011 and most recently played in the Southern Conference of the West Division of the National ...

of the

USL A-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

. At some point, he also played for 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 ...

. On April 30, 2001, Leighton signed with the

, where he had a successful season by posting 11 goals and seven assists, All-League honors. Following the completion of the USL season, he signed with the

of the

for the remainder of their season. In 2002, the Sounders loaned him to the Clash. In 2002, he had another successful campaign with the Sounders where his 13 goals and 11 assists helped the Sounders claim the regular season championship. His efforts also earned him All-League recognition, Assist Leader honor, and was named the

MVP. He then signed on loan from the Sounders with the

Milwaukee Wave The Milwaukee Wave is an American professional indoor soccer team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1984, they have been the oldest continuously operating professional soccer team in the United States and are seven-time league champions, m ...

of Major Indoor Soccer League for the 2002–2003 season. He played two winter indoor seasons, 2002–2003 and 2003–2004 with the Wave. The Sounders signed O'Brien to a three-year contract before the 2003 season, but he played only three games in Seattle before moving on loan to

Bodens BK Bodens BK is a Swedish football club located in Boden in Norrbotten. The club was formed on 2 November 1916 and began playing soccer in 1918. It is currently playing in the fourth tier of Swedish football, Division 2. Linguistics Note tha ...

in the Swedish Second Division. He played 23 games, scoring six goals and adding nine assists. In 2004, he returned to Boden for the 2004 season, but lost most of the season with a groin injury. On November 14, 2005, the Wave traded O'Brien's rights to the California Cougars in exchange for Pat White, but did not play for the Cougers. On March 29, 2005, he signed with the expansion

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 2 ...

of Major League Soccer. At the time, he was still under contract with the Sounders. The Sounders released him to Salt Lake in exchange for the team to play an exhibition against Seattle. Salt Lake loaned O'Brien back to Seattle several times during the season before releasing him on August 19, 2005. O'Brien immediately signed with the Sounders. His free kick in the 2005 USL-1 Final started what would become

tying goal. His kick was redirected twice before Maykel Galindo scored Seattle's goal in a 1-1 draw with Richmond Kickers. O'Brien then scored one of four penalty kicks for Seattle as they won the 2005 Championship in penalty kicks. Leighton signed back on with Seattle for the 2006 season, and in 2007, he helped the Sounders claim the double. He remained with the club for its final season as the team folded at the end of 2008 due to Seattle Sounders FC joining Major League Soccer. Having been unable to secure a professional contract, O'Brien signed with

Tacoma Tide Sound FC is an American soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington. Founded in 2006, the team most recently played in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. History 2006–2009: Playoffs The Tacoma team was introduced i ...

of the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syst ...

for the 2009 season. On August 7, 2009 O'Brien signed a contract for the remainder of the season with the Montreal Impact, joining his brother

Ciaran O'Brien Ciaran Patrick O'Brien (born November 17, 1987) is an American soccer coach and former player. Early life and education O'Brien played center midfield for four years at Decatur High School in Federal Way, Washington, where he earned NSCAA A ...

who was on loan with the same team. On September 29, O'Brien was released by Impact. As of January 2019, O'Brien is the technical director for Pacific Northwest Soccer Club in the Seattle, Washington area.

Personal

O'Brien is the son of former

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

international player Fran O'Brien, and the brother of fellow professional soccer player

. His uncle Derek O'Brien (footballer) former Irish professional football player, his sons Mark O'Brien, Neil O'Brien, Colin O'Brien are all Irish football players.

Honors

Seattle Sounders

Championship (2): 2005, 2007 *

Commissioner's Cup (1): 2007 *Pacific Division Champions (1): 2002 *

Cascadia Cup The Cascadia Cup is the name of the trophy created in 2004 by supporters of the Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders, and Vancouver Whitecaps, which is awarded each season to the best soccer team in the Pacific Northwest. The cup is named for the ...

(2): 2006, 2007

Individual

* A-League **MVP (1): 2002 **Assist Leader (1): 2002

References

External links

2007 Sounders Media Guide
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Leighton 1976 births Living people American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden American soccer coaches American soccer players Bodens BK players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate footballers in Sweden American people of Irish descent Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2008) players Major League Soccer players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players MLS Pro-40 players Milwaukee Wave players New England Revolution draft picks Real Salt Lake players Sacramento Knights players San Diego Flash players San Diego Toreros men's soccer players San Jose Earthquakes players Seattle Sounders (1994–2008) players Soccer players from Tacoma, Washington Seattle Sounders FC U-23 players A-League (1995–2004) players USL First Division players USL League Two players World Indoor Soccer League players Association football midfielders Tacoma Stars (2003–) players