Seattle Sounders MLS Cup 2016: Where are they now?
By Matt Coles
CB – Chad Marshall – Retired
The second central defender the day Seattle made history with their first-ever MLS Cup title was the now-retired Chad Marshall. Like his defensive partner, the American played all 570 minutes of post-season action, totalling 36 games during the entire 2016 campaign.
Marshall was drafted by the Columbus Crew in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. The Crew took him with the second overall pick. It turned out to be a good one. He helped the side to lift the Supporters’ Shield in his first season, as well as in back-to-back years, in 2008 and 2009.
In the latter two, he was also named MLS Defender of the Year, becoming only the second man to win it in consecutive seasons, with the Crew also going on to lift the MLS Cup in 2008. During his ten years with the club, he made over 270 appearances.
He was traded to the Seattle Sounders in 2014 and helped the side to win the U.S. Open Cup in his first campaign with the club. They also lifted the Supporters’ Shield as Marshall went on to be named MLS Defender of the Year for a third time, the only man in history to have won the award in three separate years.
Two years later, and the defender was integral to their MLS Cup-winning run, as he played 36 times in all, scoring four goals in the regular season. Marshall played for Seattle for another two and a half years before announcing his retirement from the game in May 2019.