Chris Brown (born March 10, 1977, in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

) is an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

who last played for

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

USL-1 The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second D ...

Youth

Brown is an

alumnus Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

High School in Portland Oregon where he played soccer under the guidance of Dave Nicholas, varsity coach for the Crusaders. Brown played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

at the

University of Portland The University of Portland (UP) is a private Catholic university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1901 and is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, which also founded UP's sister school, the University of Notre Da ...

from 1995 to 1998, scoring a total of 33 goals in his four years there, and being awarded for the MAC Award as a senior.

Professional

On February 2, 1999, Brown was selected fifth overall in the

1999 MLS College Draft The 1999 Major League Soccer College Draft was held on February 6 and 7, 1999 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The first round of the draft took place on February 6 with the second and third rounds on February 7. The College Draft was followed by th ...

by the

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The administrative offices are located in downtown K ...

. He immediately earned a spot in the Wizards rotation as a rookie, playing in 28 games and starting 19, while scoring four goals and making three assists. He saw reduced playing time in 2000 after the Wizards' acquisition of

Miklos Molnar Miklos Jon Molnar (; born 10 April 1970) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed the " Danish Dynamite", Molnar played for a number of European clubs as well as the Denmark national team. He was the top goa ...

, appearing in 22 games but only registering one assist; he did, however, make four appearances, two of them starts, assisting Kansas City in winning their first

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

. Brown regained his starting spot in 2001, and would fluctuate between being a starter and a valuable substitute for Kansas City for the next three years. However, during the 2003 season, the Wizards traded Brown along with Darío Fabbro to the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

in exchange for

Wolde Harris Wolde Selassie Harris (born 26 January 1974) is a Jamaican football coach and former player. He played as a striker in Major League Soccer and was the 1996 A-League MVP & Rookie of the Year. He earned twenty-eight caps with the Jamaica nation ...

and Jorge Vazquez. In his first start there, Brown's explosive scoring yielded him a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

. However, he was traded again during the 2003 off-season to the

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

the then reigning MLS champions, making it difficult for Brown to displace veteran team members and capture a starting position. In San Jose, he finished the season with two goals and one assist in eleven appearances. When the MLS announced two expansion teams, Brown was recruited by John Ellinger inaugural coach of Real Salt Lake to come and play for him there where he has remained a versatile and consistent starter. He was waived at the end of 2007 and signed for

side

in January, 2008. In January 2009, Brown announced his retirement from playing professional soccer.OregonLive

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Chris Living people 1977 births American men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Major League Soccer players New England Revolution players Portland Pilots men's soccer players Portland Timbers (2001–2010) players Real Salt Lake players San Jose Earthquakes players Soccer players from Portland, Oregon Sporting Kansas City players University of Portland alumni USL First Division players Sporting Kansas City draft picks