Chris Albright

Chris Albright

Personal information
Full name	Christopher John Albright
Date of birth	January 14, 1979
Place of birth	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Defender
Youth career
1997–1998	Virginia Cavaliers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2001	D.C. United	56	(4)
1999	→ MLS Pro-40 (loan)	3	(0)
2002–2007	Los Angeles Galaxy	116	(7)
2008–2009	New England Revolution	27	(0)
2010–2011	New York Red Bulls	26	(0)
2012–2013	Philadelphia Union	10	(0)
National team^‡
1999	United States U20	4	(0)
2000	United States U23	6	(2)
1999–2007	United States	22	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of October 26, 2013. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of April 4, 2010

Christopher John Albright (born January 14, 1979 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a retired American soccer player.

Career

Youth and college

Albright attended William Penn Charter School. A forward early in his career, Albright played college soccer at the University of Virginia for two years; he was named an All-American in 1999.

Professional

Considered one of the best attacking prospects in the country, he leveraged foreign interest into getting assigned to D.C. United, despite the club being low on MLS's pecking order for Project-40 players. The league forced a trade with the Miami Fusion for future considerations, which turned out to be Roy Lassiter, but not until both Albright and Lassiter helped DC to the 1999 MLS Cup.

But Albright's club career did not live up to the lofty expectations. He struggled to find the back of the net, scoring just four goals total in his first three years in the league. D.C. dealt him to Los Angeles Galaxy for a draft pick prior to the 2002 season. Albright drifted further onto the midfield, and then found himself in the back as the Galaxy's starting right defender for the 2003 and 2004 seasons. With Los Angeles Albright became one of the league's top right backs, and was honored as an MLS Best XI selection in 2005. During his time with the Galaxy he helped the club capture two MLS Cup and one U.S. Open Cup title. He appeared in 116 league matches, scoring 7 goals.

On January 18, 2008, Albright was traded to New England Revolution in return for allocation money. During the 2008 season Albright was a fixture for New England at right back appearing in 26 league matches, however during the 2009 season he suffered a season-ending injury that limited him to only one appearance.

Albright was traded to New York Red Bulls on January 14, 2010 in exchange for picks #31 and #48 in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft.^[1] After beginning the 2010 season on injured reserve Albright regained his form and became the club's starting right back and helped New York capture the regular season Eastern Conference title.^[2]

Following the 2011 season, the Red Bulls declined the 2012 option on Albright's contract, making him eligible for the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft.^[3] Albright was not selected in the draft and became a free agent.

On February 13, 2012, Albright signed to play for his hometown Philadelphia Union.^[4] He retired at the conclusion of the 2013 season^[5]

International

Albright's first attempt at playing defense came with United States national team coach Bruce Arena, who gave him his first cap on September 8, 1999, against Jamaica. Albright scored his lone U.S. goal that day and has accumulated 21 caps as of 2007.

Albright was listed as an alternate for Bruce Arena's 23-man squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and made the final squad two days after the initial roster announcement due to the injury of Frankie Hejduk.^[6] Albright did not appear in a match in the tournament.

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	September 8, 1999	Kingston, Jamaica	Jamaica	2–2	2–2	Friendly match

Career statistics

Club

As of June 29, 2013

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
USA			League		Open Cup		League Cup		North America		Total
1999	D.C. United	Major League Soccer	8	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	10	1
2000			25	3	3	2	0	0	1	0	29	5
2001			23	1	4	2	0	0	0	0	27	3
2002	Los Angeles Galaxy		15	0	2	2	5	1	0	0	22	3
2003			27	3	3	0	2	0	4	0	36	3
2004			24	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	27	1
2005			22	1	0	0	4	0	0	0	26	1
2006			23	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	24	2
2007			5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
2008	New England Revolution		26	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	28	0
2009			1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2010	New York Red Bulls		18	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	23	0
2011			8	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
2012	Philadelphia Union		8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
2013			2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Total	USA		235	11	17	7	18	1	7	0	277	19
Career total			235	11	17	7	18	1	7	0	277	19

International

As of March 19, 2012

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
United States
	1999	1	1
	2000	3	0
	2001	3	0
	2002	0	0
	2003	0	0
	2004	4	0
	2005	7	0
	2006	2	0
	2007	2	0
Total		22	1

Honors

D.C. United

• Major League Soccer MLS Cup (1): 1999
• Major League Soccer MLS Supporters Shield (1): 1999

New England Revolution

• North American SuperLiga (1): 2008

Los Angeles Galaxy

• Major League Soccer MLS Cup (2): 2002, 2005
• Major League Soccer MLS Supporters Shield (1): 2002
• Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup U.S. Open Cup (1): 2005

Individual

• MLS Best XI: 2005

References

1. "2010 MLS Draft (Pre-Draft Commentary)". Soccer By Ives. 2010-01-14. Retrieved 2012-02-13.
2. Archived October 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
3. "MLS names players available in Re-Entry Process (UPDATED)". MLSsoccer.com. 2011-12-02. Retrieved 2012-02-13.
4. http://www.philadelphiaunion.com/news/2012/02/union-sign-veteran-defender-albright
5. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/10/23/veteran-defender-chris-albright-call-it-career-hometown-philadelphia-union
6. "ESPN Soccernet". Soccernet.espn.go.com. 2006-05-03. Retrieved 2012-02-13.

External links

• MLS player profile
• FIFA Profile
• Chris Albright at National-Football-Teams.com