Do You Remember Them #6- Brian McBride

Biodata

Full Name: Brian Robert McBride

Nationality: American

Date of Birth: 19 June 1972

Position: Striker

Former Clubs:

1994 Milwaukee Rampage

1994- 1995 VfL Wolfsburg

1996- 2003 Columbus Crew

2000- 2001 Preston North End (loan)

2003 Everton (loan)

2004- 2008 Fulham

2008- 2010 Chicago Fire

2012 Wembley

International Career:

1993- 2006 United States

Achievement:

Colombus Crew

2002 US Open Cup

United States

2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Career

The United States of America isn’t famous for its football standard. However, they had produced some good crops of football talent of recent years like Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan and Christian Pulisic. However, there is another American striker who is the national icon at the time that he played. He is the one who built a strong foundation for the upcoming American talent to make their mark in Europe. So who is he?

Brian McBride had played football since he was in his high school era. In his college days, McBride is one of the 22 college players to be part of the illustrated 40-40 club, which is the players who scored and assisted in their college career. This proved that he had showcased his talent at quite a young age. He then subsequently joined Milwaukee Rampage who was at the minor league. In his days in Milwaukee Rampage, he scored 17 goals and assisted another 18 goals. This form had attracted the attention from VfL Wolfsburg which at that time playing in the German Second Division and providing a platform for several aspiring American players to play in Europe. However, McBride’s time in Germany wasn’t great and returned to the United States when MLS was created.

In the inaugural season of MLS, McBride was the first overall pick of the MLS Inaugural Draft and joined Columbus Crew. He swiftly regained his form as he scored 62 goals and 45 assists in 161 league games. In his spell in Columbus Crew, he was also selected as the United States team in both 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cup tournaments. He also helped the United States national team to win the 2002 Gold Cup too. After proving his worth in Columbus, McBride had two successful loan spells in England. One with Preston North End and one with Everton. Which included four goals in eight games in Everton which saved them from getting relegated. With both of his loan spells were managed by David Moyes. Even though both of his loan spells were great, none of them materialised his stay in England permanently as MLS had blocked the move both times.

McBride finally gets his move to England in January 2004 as Fulham signed him. In the second half of the season, McBride scored five goals in 18 games in all competitions. His scoring form remained steady in each of his every season in the Craven Cottage. He also gets selected into the McBride’s most memorable season should be the 2006-2007 season as Fulham orchestrated a great escape and which he scored 12 goals in that season. He was also given the captain role in 2007. With his contribution to the club, Fulham renamed a bar inside Craven Cottage ‘McBride’s’ in June 2009.

On May 2008, McBride announced that he would be leaving Fulham to return to the United States. He joined Chicago Fire as the team exchange the top spot in the allocation with Toronto FC. He made his debut in his hometown club on August 2008 against DC United and scored his first goal against Houston Dynamo. In his debut campaign in Chicago Fire, McBride almost reached the MLS Playoff Final after his team was defeated by his another former club, Columbus Crew. On September 2010, McBride announced his retirement from football after the 2010 MLS Season ended. He eventually comes out from retirement to play for Wembley with several former internationals such as Ray Parlour and Claudio Caniggia. He didn’t make a single appearance while Wembley was knocked out in a replay in the FA Cup campaign.

Post Retirement

Nowadays, McBride is still a strong presence in the game back in the US. He works as an analyst for ESPN FC and, in July 2017, he was appointed as head coach of the MLS Homegrown Team who participate in the annual MLS Homegrown Game which showcases the young talent within the MLS League’s youth development system. McBride is also heavily involved in a number of businesses and is the co-founder of Tipevo, a website used by athletes to help simplify, understand and navigate the youth sports ecosystem in America.