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MLS: Top 5 full-backs in league history

By Matt Coles

GENOA, ITALY - FEBRUARY 29: Carlos Bocanegra of USA looks on prior to the international friendly match between Italy and USA at Luigi Ferraris Stadium on February 29, 2012 in Genoa, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
GENOA, ITALY - FEBRUARY 29: Carlos Bocanegra of USA looks on prior to the international friendly match between Italy and USA at Luigi Ferraris Stadium on February 29, 2012 in Genoa, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images) /
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6 May 2000: Greg Vanney #3 of the Los Angeles Galaxy moves with the ball during the game against the Kansas City Wizards at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The Wizards tied the Galaxy 0-0.Mandatory Credit: Jeff Gross /Allsport
6 May 2000: Greg Vanney #3 of the Los Angeles Galaxy moves with the ball during the game against the Kansas City Wizards at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The Wizards tied the Galaxy 0-0.Mandatory Credit: Jeff Gross /Allsport /

3. Greg Vanney

Taking the bronze medal spot on our list of the best ever full-backs to have played in Major League Soccer is another man who spent time at LA Galaxy, Greg Vanney.

The full-back made his way into Major League Soccer in its inaugural season in 1996, following a short spell with Florida International University prior to a three-year run with the UCLA Bruins from 1993-1995, where he was an All-American honourable mention.

MLS Career & Honours:

  • LA Galaxy (1996-2001, 2008)
  • FC Dallas (2005-2006)
  • Colorado Rapids (2007)
  • D.C. United (2007)

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  • MLS Best XI – 2000, 2001

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  • Supporters’ Shield – 1998, 2007
  • U.S. Open Cup – 2001
  • CONCACAF Champions League – 2000
  • CONCACAF Gold Cup – 2005

Vanney was selected by the LA Galaxy with the 17th overall pick in the 1996 MLS College Draft, and after a short loan spell with the Sacramento Scorpions in the United Soccer League, he joined up with the Galaxy, playing 35 times in his rookie season, including in all six post-season matches as the side went all the way to the MLS Cup final, losing out to D.C. United for the inaugural championship.

The full-back was then a key part of the Galaxy set-up that brought about their first Supporters’ Shield triumph in 1998, with Vanney reaching the 30-game mark in the regular-season for the first time in his career. He achieved the same feat a year later, when starting all 31 regular-season matches he featured in, whilst tallying a career-high seven assists across the campaign. The Galaxy made it to MLS Cup 1999, but once again lost out to D.C. United, who took home their third title in the first four seasons since the league’s inception.

Vanney’s good form for his club continued into the new millennium, as he was named to the MLS Best XI in both 2000 and 2001 for his performances. He scored six goals in both campaigns, despite playing left-back for the majority, and also playing just 22 times in the latter of those two campaigns.

The 2000 term saw the defender, and the Galaxy, lift more silverware, as they won the premier continental tournament, the CONCACAF Champions Cup. They qualified for the tournament after finishing runners-up in the MLS Cup the year before and got through both the quarter-final against Honduran side Real Espana and the semi-final versus MLS Cup champions D.C. United, on penalties, before downing a second Honduran side, in Olimpia, in the final.

SEATTLE, WA – NOVEMBER 09: Head coach of Toronto FC, Greg Vanney talks to the media during the Toronto FC press conference at CenturyLink Field on November 9, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA – NOVEMBER 09: Head coach of Toronto FC, Greg Vanney talks to the media during the Toronto FC press conference at CenturyLink Field on November 9, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images) /

That victory laid down the foundations for the Galaxy’s prolonged period of success over the next decade or so, and the club went on to lift the U.S. Open Cup title a year later, defeating New England Revolution in extra time to win the domestic cup competition for the first time in their history.

After the 2001 season, Vanney left American shores and tried his hand in European football, signing for French First Division side SC Bastia, where he was a key part of the club’s defence as they reached the final of the Coupe de France for the first time in almost two decades.

He returned to Major League Soccer after three years in France, signing for FC Dallas ahead of the 2005 term. The defender was part of the United States Men’s National Team that secured the CONCACAF Gold Cup trophy that year, in the latter stages of his 11-year international career with the American side.

After a couple of seasons in Dallas, in which he played over 50 times during the regular-season, Vanney then had short spells with both Colorado Rapids and D.C. United during the 2007 term, being part of the capital’s side that lifted the Supporters’ Shield at the end of the campaign. He then rejoined LA Galaxy for the 2008 season, the year which would be his last as a professional footballer.

Vanney finished his MLS career after two stints, comprising of ten years in the league, playing in 270 regular-season matches and 32 post-season games, taking his total tally to over 300 matches. He scored 27 goals and recorded 29 assists in that time, and remains on the great defenders of the league, especially from the early years of its 25-year history.

The full-back has since gone on to have success as a head coach as well, presiding over Toronto FC’s unprecedented treble-winning year in 2017, when the club won the Canadian Championship, Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup, becoming the first side to ever win the league stage, playoffs and domestic cup competition in the same season.

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