U.S. Soccer Player of the Year

As of 2013, Abby Wambach has won the U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year Award a record six times.
Clint Dempsey won the U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year Award in 2011

The U.S. Soccer Player of the Year is given by the United States Soccer Federation to the American soccer players judged best in the calendar year. It is considered the highest accolade for American soccer players.[1]

The U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year award originated in 1984, followed by the Female Player of the Year in 1985. Awards for Young Male and Young Female Players were added in 1998.[2] An award for Player of the Year with a Disability was added in 2012[3] but discontinued after 2020 and replaced with the non-player-specific "ADAPTandTHRIVE Disability Award," which "recognizes an individual making an impact in the United States' broad landscape of disability soccer."[4] In 2021, awards for female and male beach soccer as well as futsal are added.[4]

Public voting for the awards account for 50 percent of the results.[2] The other 50 percent are voted by members of the national media and U.S. Soccer representatives (from national team coaches to the National Board of Directors).[5]

U.S. Soccer Players of the Year

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As of January 11, 2024.
Year Female Player of the Year Male Player of the Year Young Female Player of the Year Young Male Player of the Year Player of the Year with a Disability
1984 Rick Davis
1985 Sharon McMurtry Perry Van der Beck
1986 April Heinrichs Paul Caligiuri
1987 Carin Jennings-Gabarra Brent Goulet
1988 Joy Biefield Peter Vermes
1989 April Heinrichs (2) Mike Windischmann
1990 Michelle Akers Tab Ramos
1991 Michelle Akers (2) Hugo Perez
1992 Carin Jennings-Gabarra (2) Marcelo Balboa
1993 Kristine Lilly Thomas Dooley
1994 Mia Hamm Marcelo Balboa (2)
1995 Mia Hamm (2) Alexi Lalas
1996 Mia Hamm (3) Eric Wynalda
1997 Mia Hamm (4) Kasey Keller
1998 Mia Hamm (5) Cobi Jones Cindy Parlow Josh Wolff
1999 Michelle Akers (3) Kasey Keller (2) Lorrie Fair Ben Olsen
2000 Tiffeny Milbrett Chris Armas Aly Wagner Landon Donovan
2001 Tiffeny Milbrett (2) Earnie Stewart Aleisha Cramer DaMarcus Beasley
2002 Shannon MacMillan Brad Friedel Lindsay Tarpley Bobby Convey
2003 Abby Wambach Landon Donovan Cat Reddick Freddy Adu
2004 Abby Wambach (2) Landon Donovan (2) Heather O'Reilly Eddie Johnson
2005 Kristine Lilly (2) Kasey Keller (3) Lori Chalupny Benny Feilhaber
2006 Kristine Lilly (3) Oguchi Onyewu Danesha Adams Jozy Altidore
2007 Abby Wambach (3) Clint Dempsey Lauren Cheney Michael Bradley
2008 Carli Lloyd Tim Howard Kristie Mewis Sacha Kljestan
2009 Hope Solo Landon Donovan (3) Tobin Heath Luis Gil
2010 Abby Wambach (4) Landon Donovan (4) Bianca Henninger Gale Agbossoumonde
2011 Abby Wambach (5) Clint Dempsey (2) Sydney Leroux Brek Shea
2012 Alex Morgan Clint Dempsey (3) Julie Johnston Rubio Rubin Felicia Schroeder
2013 Abby Wambach (6) Jozy Altidore Lindsey Horan Wil Trapp Rene Renteria
2014 Lauren Holiday Tim Howard (2) Morgan Brian DeAndre Yedlin Gavin Sibayan
2015 Carli Lloyd (2) Michael Bradley Mallory Pugh Matt Miazga Kevin Hensley
2016 Tobin Heath Jozy Altidore (2) Ashley Sanchez Christian Pulisic Adam Ballou
2017 Julie Ertz Christian Pulisic Sophia Smith Josh Sargent Sean Boyle
2018 Alex Morgan (2) Zack Steffen Tierna Davidson Alex Mendez Gracie Fitzgerald
2019 Julie Ertz (2) Christian Pulisic (2) Brianna Pinto Sergiño Dest Nick Mayhugh
2020 Sam Mewis Weston McKennie Naomi Girma Gio Reyna CP Soccer youth players
2021 Lindsey Horan Christian Pulisic (3) Trinity Rodman Ricardo Pepi
2022 Sophia Smith Tyler Adams Jaedyn Shaw Yunus Musah
2023 Naomi Girma Christian Pulisic (4) Olivia Moultrie Kevin Paredes

Multiple winners

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Landon Donovan and Christian Pulisic are the only male players to win the award four times. Marcelo Balboa was the first player to win the award twice, in 1992 and 1994, and Kasey Keller was the first player to win the award three times (1997, 1999 and 2005). Landon Donovan (2003 and 2004; 2009 and 2010) and Clint Dempsey (2011 and 2012) are the only players to have won the award in consecutive seasons.

Abby Wambach is the only female player to win the award six times, closely followed by Mia Hamm with 5. April Heinrichs was the first player to win the award twice, in 1986 and 1989, Mia Hamm was the first player to win the award three, four, and five times, and Abby Wambach was the first and only player to win the award six times. Hamm is the only player to have won the award five times in a row (1994–98), while Michelle Akers (1990 and 1991), Tiffeny Milbrett (2000 and 2001), Abby Wambach (2003 and 2004; 2010 and 2011) and Kristine Lilly (2005 and 2006) are the only players to have won the award in consecutive seasons.

Players that are still active in Europe are highlighted in boldface.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Di Veronica, Jeff (November 29, 2013). "Wambach wins record 6th U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year award". Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "About – U.S. SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR". US Soccer. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Colorado Rapids defender Shane O'Neill a finalist for US Soccer Young Male Athlete of the Year". Colorado Rapids. November 19, 2013. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  4. ^ a b "Nominees Set For 2021 U.S. Soccer Player Of The Year Awards". www.ussoccer.com.
  5. ^ U.S. Soccer Federation. "Voting Underway for 2011 Best of U.S. Soccer and Athlete of the Year Awards". www.ussoccer.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-17.
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