MLS: Top 5 centre-backs in league history
By Matt Coles
4. Robin Fraser
Coming in at No.4 on our list of the best-ever central defenders in the league’s history is one of the two men on this list to have multiple MLS Defender of the Year awards, ten-year veteran Robin Fraser.
The centre-back, along with two others on this list, was part of the original 1996 Major League Soccer season, with Fraser having already been a professional footballer for seven years. He played for both Miami Sharks and Colorado Foxes in the American Professional Soccer League, the pre-cursor to MLS.
MLS Career & Honours:
- LA Galaxy (1996-2000)
- Colorado Rapids (2001-2003)
- Columbus Crew (2004-2005)
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- MLS Defender of the Year – 1999, 2004
- MLS Best XI – 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004
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- Supporters’ Shield – 1998, 2004
- CONCACAF Champions League – 2000
Fraser was LA Galaxy’s first selection in the 1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft, as the club chose the centre-back with the fourth overall pick in the draft, and he has been involved in the league, in one way or another, ever since, right the way through from player to management.
He became an immediate household name in the league’s debut season and was one of three LA Galaxy players named into the first-ever MLS Best XI, alongside Mauricio Cienfuegos and Eduardo Hurtado. It would be the first of several nominations to the Best XI for Fraser over his ten-year career in MLS.
After the Galaxy suffered a downturn in form and had a poor record in the 1997 term, the club bounced back in 1998 and went on to win the Supporters’ Shield, their first major trophy since their inception. Unsurprisingly, Fraser was a key part of that success and was named to the MLS Best XI for a second time, once again alongside Cienfuegos, with Cobi Jones being the third Galaxy member to make it into the team.
There would be a third Best XI nod for the centre-back following the 1999 season, but his performances pushed him to an even greater award, as he was named MLS Defender of the Year with the Galaxy topping the Western Conference for a third year in four. The Galaxy also went all the way to MLS Cup but lost out to D.C. United, who continued their era of dominance on the league.
The side from Los Angeles, with Fraser at the heart of their defence, would taste success on the continental stage in the 2000 season, as they defeated Honduran side, Olimpia, in the final of the 2000 CONCACAF Champions Cup, as its guise was then, to win their second major title and their first non-domestic title. Although the Galaxy were not as successful in MLS that year, Fraser received a fourth MLS Best XI nod for his performances as an individual.
The 2000 term would be Fraser’s last in Los Angeles, as he was traded to the Colorado Rapids ahead of the 2001 season. He would go on to spend three years with the side, but as a group, the team was unable to win any trophies, and it was noted that the centre-back’s career was now sliding towards retirement.
However, the American, who played 27 times for his country between 1988 and 2001, put those thoughts well and truly to bed as he bounced back in 2004 to win the MLS Defender of the Year award for a second time, five years after taking home the award for the first time. He did so after being signed by Columbus Crew, and as captain, Fraser led the team to the Supporters’ Shield, the club’s first trophy in the league, having previously lifted the U.S. Open Cup.
Fraser would play one more year of professional soccer before hanging up his boots following the end of the 2005 season, and he has since gone on to become a well-revered coach. After four seasons as an assistant at Real Salt Lake, he took on the Chivas USA head coaching job and has since also been an assistant with New England Revolution and Toronto FC. He is currently the head coach of the Colorado Rapids, the team he spent three seasons as a player in the early 2000s.