Chris Albright

Chris Albright
Personal information
Full name Christopher John Albright
Date of birth January 14, 1979 (1979-01-14) (age 33)
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)
2002–2007 Los Angeles Galaxy 116 (7)
2008–2009 New England Revolution 27 (0)
2010–2011 New York Red Bulls 26 (0)
National team
1999 United States U-20 4 (0)
2000 United States U-23 6 (2)
1999– United States 21 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of October 3 2011.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 4 April 2010

Christopher John Albright (born January 14, 1979 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American soccer player who most recently played for New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer.

Contents

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 leagues 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, Chris 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 clubs starting right back and helped New York capture the regular season Eastern Conference title.[2]

On November 30, 2011 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.

International

Albright's first attempt at playing defense came with United States national team coach Bruce Arena, who gave Chris 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.[4] 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

Personal

Chris Albright is married to model Leah Imperatore.

Honors

D.C. United

New England Revolution

Los Angeles Galaxy

Individual

See also

References

External links