Best MLS Player ESPY Award

Last updated

Best MLS Player ESPY Award
Awarded forbest MLS player
CountryUnited States
Presented byESPN
First awarded2006
Currently held by Carlos Vela (MEX)
Most awards Landon Donovan (5 times)
Website www.espn.co.uk/espys/

The Best MLS Player ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of an individual from the world of Major League Soccer (MLS). [1] It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 2006. [2] The Best MLS Player ESPY Award trophy, designed by sculptor Lawrence Nowlan, [3] is presented to the MLS player adjudged to be the best in a given calendar year at the annual ESPY Awards ceremony in Los Angeles. [1] Balloting for the award is undertaken by fans over the Internet from between three and five nominees selected by the ESPN Select Nominating Committee, which is composed by a panel of experts. [1] It is conferred in July to reflect performance and achievement over the preceding twelve months, which generally includes a portion of each of two MLS seasons. [4]

Contents

The inaugural winner of the Best MLS Player ESPY Award was LA Galaxy forward Landon Donovan in 2006. [5] He is one of two people to have been presented with the award more than once in its history, winning it a further four times in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011; he also earned a nomination in 2008. English right midfielder David Beckham, also for LA Galaxy, has been the second most successful player, winning twice in 2008 and 2012. American players have been the most successful with five wins and twenty-eight nominations, while those who play in the position of a forward have been recognized on fourteen occasions, and those who have played for LA Galaxy have won a total of nine awards. It was not awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [6] The most recent winner of the award was Carlos Vela of Los Angeles FC in 2022. [7]

Winners and nominees

  Player's team won the MLS Cup
  Player's team lost in the MLS Cup
† MLS Cup MVP

Best MLS Player ESPY Award winners and nominees
YearImagePlayerNationTeamPositionOther nomineesRef(s)
2006 Landon Donovan 2004 MLS All-Star.jpg Landon Donovan Flag of the United States.svg  USA LA Galaxy Forward Dwayne De Rosario (Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  CAN) – San Jose Earthquakes
Jaime Moreno (Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg  BOL) – D.C. United
Taylor Twellman (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – New England Revolution 		[5] [2]
2007 LandonDonovan 20060410 (cropped).jpg Landon Donovan (2)Flag of the United States.svg  USA LA Galaxy Forward Jeff Cunningham (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – Toronto FC
Christian Gómez (Flag of Argentina.svg  ARG) – D.C. United
Matt Reis (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – New England Revolution 		[8] [9]
2008 Beckham LA Galaxy cropped.jpg David Beckham Flag of England.svg  ENG LA Galaxy Right midfielder Juan Pablo Ángel (Flag of Colombia.svg  COL) – New York Red Bulls
Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Flag of Mexico.svg  MEX) – Chicago Fire
Landon Donovan (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – LA Galaxy
Luciano Emílio (Flag of Brazil.svg  BRA) – D.C. United 		[9] [10]
2009 Landon Donovan warmup.jpg Landon Donovan (3)Flag of the United States.svg  USA LA Galaxy Forward Juan Pablo Ángel (Flag of Colombia.svg  COL) – New York Red Bulls
Jon Busch (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – Chicago Fire
Kenny Cooper (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – FC Dallas
Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Flag of Argentina.svg  ARG) – Columbus Crew 		[11]
2010 WikiLando (cropped).jpg Landon Donovan (4)Flag of the United States.svg  USA LA Galaxy Forward Conor Casey (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – Colorado Rapids
Jeff Cunningham (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – FC Dallas
Shalrie Joseph (Flag of Grenada.svg  GRD) – New England Revolution
Kasey Keller (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – Seattle Sounders FC 		[12] [13]
2011 Sounders vs Galaxy 2011 (cropped).jpg Landon Donovan (5)†Flag of the United States.svg  USA LA Galaxy Forward Edson Buddle (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – LA Galaxy
David Ferreira (Flag of Colombia.svg  COL) – FC Dallas
Chris Wondolowski (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – San Jose Earthquakes 		[14] [15]
2012 David Beckham at US Embassy in London (cropped).jpg David Beckham (2)Flag of England.svg  ENG LA Galaxy Right midfielder Dwayne De Rosario (Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  CAN) – D.C. United
Brad Davis (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – Houston Dynamo
Chris Wondolowski (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – San Jose Earthquakes 		[16] [17]
2013 Thierry Henry MLS All Star 2013.jpg Thierry Henry Flag of France.svg  FRA New York Red Bulls Forward Chris Wondolowski (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – San Jose Earthquakes
Graham Zusi (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – Sporting Kansas City 		[18]
2014 Tim Cahill, New York Red Bulls vs CD FAS 2014.jpg Tim Cahill Flag of Australia (converted).svg  AUS New York Red Bulls Forward Marco Di Vaio (Flag of Italy.svg  ITA) – Montreal Impact
Robbie Keane (Flag of Ireland.svg  IRL) – LA Galaxy
Mike Magee (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – Chicago Fire 		[19]
2015 2013 Robbie Keane (cropped).jpg Robbie Keane †Flag of Ireland.svg  IRL LA Galaxy Forward Obafemi Martins (Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA) – Seattle Sounders FC
Lee Nguyen (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – New England Revolution
Bradley Wright-Phillips (Flag of England.svg  ENG) – New York Red Bulls 		[20]
2016 Sebastian Giovinco 2015-05-23 Toronto FC (edited).jpg Sebastian Giovinco Flag of Italy.svg  ITA Toronto FC Forward Kei Kamara (Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  SLE) – New England Revolution
Laurent Ciman (Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  BEL) – Montreal Impact
Luis Robles (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – New York Red Bulls 		[21] [22]
2017 David Villa NYCFC vs. Houston Dynamo- 5-30-2015 (18289895465).jpg David Villa Flag of Spain.svg  ESP New York City FC Forward Andre Blake (Flag of Jamaica.svg  JAM) – Philadelphia Union
Stefan Frei (Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   SUI) – Seattle Sounders FC
Matt Hedges (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – FC Dallas
Bradley Wright-Phillips (Flag of England.svg  ENG) – New York Red Bulls 		[23]
2018 Nemanja Nikolic Columbus Crew SC vs Chicago Fire May 12 2018.jpg Nemanja Nikolić Flag of Hungary.svg  HUN Chicago Fire Forward Tim Melia (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – Sporting Kansas City
Ike Opara (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – Sporting Kansas City
Diego Valeri (Flag of Argentina.svg  ARG) – Portland Timbers 		[24] [25]
2019 Zlatan Ibrahimovic June 2018.jpg Zlatan Ibrahimović Flag of Sweden.svg  SWE LA Galaxy Forward Josef Martínez (Flag of Venezuela.svg  VEN) – Atlanta United FC
Aaron Long (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – New York Red Bulls
Wayne Rooney (Flag of England.svg  ENG) – D.C. United 		[26]
2020 Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic [6]
2021 Diego Rossi.jpg Diego Rossi Flag of Uruguay.svg  URU Los Angeles FC Forward Andre Blake (Flag of Jamaica.svg  JAM) – Philadelphia Union
Alejandro Pozuelo (Flag of Spain.svg  ESP) – Toronto FC
Lucas Zelarayán (Flag of Armenia.svg  ARM) – Columbus Crew 		[27] [28]
2022 Mex-Kor (21) (cropped).jpg Carlos Vela Flag of Mexico.svg  MEX Los Angeles FC Forward Valentín Castellanos (Flag of Argentina.svg  ARG) – New York City FC
Jesús Ferreira (Flag of the United States.svg  USA) – FC Dallas
Carles Gil (Flag of Spain.svg  ESP) – New England Revolution 		[7] [29]

Statistics

See also

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