Jeff Cunningham
Encyclopedia
Jeff Cunningham is a Jamaican-born American soccer player who played on multiple Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...

 teams. He is the MLS all-time leader in goals scored with 134.

College

Cunningham was born in Jamaica, but moved to Crystal River, Florida
Crystal River, Florida
Crystal River is a city in Citrus County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,485 at the 2000 census. . According to the U.S Census estimates of 2005, the city had a population of 3,539. The city was incorporated in 1903 and is the self professed "Home of the Manatee"....

 at the age of fourteen. He played college soccer
College soccer
College soccer is a term used to describe association football played by teams who are operated by colleges and universities as opposed to a professional league operated for exclusively financial purposes...

 at the University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...

 from 1994 to 1997. As a sophomore and a junior, Cunningham was named first-team All-Conference USA
Conference USA
Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports...

, and as a senior he was named Conference USA Player of the Year. He finished his career at USF with forty-one goals and thirty-six assists.

Professional

Upon graduating, Cunningham was selected ninth overall in the 1998 MLS College Draft
1998 MLS College Draft
The 1998 Major League Soccer College Draft was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 31 and February 1, 1998.-Format:On Saturday, January 31, 1997, Major League Soccer held the first round of its 1998 college draft during the halftime of the Umbro Select All-Star Classic at Lockhart Stadium. ...

 by the Columbus Crew
Columbus Crew
The Columbus Crew is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada...

. As a rookie, he played in twenty-five games, mostly as a substitute, and tied the rookie record for goals (since broken by Damani Ralph
Damani Ralph
Damani Ralph is a Jamaican football player, who last played for Russian team FC Rubin Kazan in Russia.- Amateur/College :...

) with eight. Cunningham became a starter in 1999 and held that role for several years. In 182 games for Columbus, he scored sixty-two goals and notched forty-three assists. He was named to the MLS Best XI
MLS Best XI
The MLS Best XI is an acknowledgement of the best eleven players in the league in a given season for Major League Soccer in Canada and the United States.-Winners:*Players in bold text also won the Major League Soccer MVP Award award for that season....

 in 2002, after scoring sixteen goals and adding five assists. Cunningham was traded to the Colorado Rapids
Colorado Rapids
The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having competed in the league...

 for a first-round draft pick after a disappointing 2004 season. He left the Crew tied with Brian McBride
Brian McBride
Brian Robert McBride is a retired American soccer player who finished his career for Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer , but spent the majority of his time in MLS playing for the Columbus Crew. For much of his career he played in Europe, notably for Fulham in the English Premier League...

 for the all-time team lead in goals.

Cunningham finished the 2005 season with twelve league goals for Colorado. He scored twice against Fulham F.C.
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

 of the Premier League in the 2005 MLS All-Star Game. His showing in an all-star game against Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...

 also earned good reviews, despite MLS's 5–0 loss. However, after the year Colorado shipped him to Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake is an American professional soccer club based in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. The team competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. They currently play their home games at Rio Tinto Stadium. Real Salt Lake won...

 for Clint Mathis
Clint Mathis
Clint Mathis is a retired American soccer player.-Youth and college:Mathis played club soccer at a young age for Rockdale Youth Soccer Association, and then for AFC Lightning, a Georgia powerhouse producing players such as current U.S. international Ricardo Clark, in Fayetteville...

. Cunningham was seventh on the all-time MLS goalscoring list entering the 2006 season.

During the 2006 season Cunningham led the league in scoring with sixteen goals, winning the MLS Golden Boot
MLS Golden Boot
The MLS Golden Boot has been awarded since the 2005 season to Major League Soccer's regular season leading scorer...

. He also tied for the second-most assists in the league with eleven. Both totals (16 goals and 11 assists) set single-season records for the RSL franchise.

On 22 May 2007, Cunningham was dealt to Toronto FC
Toronto FC
Toronto FC is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada....

 in exchange for Alecko Eskandarian
Alecko Eskandarian
Alecko Eskandarian is a former American soccer player who last played for Los Angeles Galaxy. He currently is the youth technical director for Philadelphia Union.-High School and College:...

 and a first-round draft pick in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft
2008 MLS SuperDraft
The 2008 MLS SuperDraft took place on January 18, 2008 in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the ninth annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The first selection was made by the Kansas City Wizards, after acquiring the selection from the expansion San Jose Earthquakes...

. In Toronto, he wore the number 96 to represent the 96 MLS goals he had scored after the conclusion of his first season with Toronto FC.

Cunningham fell out of favor in his second season with Toronto FC
Toronto FC
Toronto FC is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada....

, missing scoring a goal line ball that would have taken Toronto to the CONCACAF Champions League
CONCACAF Champions League
The CONCACAF Champions League is the annual international club football championship for teams from the CONCACAF region ....

. After the match, TFC coach John Carver said "I am thinking, ‘How did he score 99 goals?’ That’s what I thought.’"

On 8 August 2008, Cunningham was traded to FC Dallas
FC Dallas
FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States of America and Canada...

 in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft
2009 MLS SuperDraft
The 2009 MLS SuperDraft took place on January 15, 2009 in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the tenth annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The first selection was owned by the expansion Seattle Sounders FC...

. He scored in his first match with FC Dallas on 16 August 2008 in a 2–1 loss to the Columbus Crew
Columbus Crew
The Columbus Crew is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada...

. It was Cunningham's 100th goal in MLS. Jeff played in 11 games with FC Dallas
FC Dallas
FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States of America and Canada...

 during the 2008 season scoring 5 goals.

Cunningham scored 17 goals in 2009, including four goals on August 1 against the Kansas City Wizards
Kansas City Wizards
Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club based in Kansas City, Kansas that competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States of America and Canada...

. After Kenny Cooper
Kenny Cooper
Kenneth Scott Cooper, Jr. is an American soccer player who currently plays for Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer....

 left the club for 1860 Munich, Cunningham emerged as the team's go-to goal scorer. He netted seven goals in five games in September, winning MLS Player of the Month and went on to win the 2009 MLS Golden Boot
MLS Golden Boot
The MLS Golden Boot has been awarded since the 2005 season to Major League Soccer's regular season leading scorer...

.
Cunningham is ranked #2 in the MLS all time regular season goalscorers with 132 goals (at the end of 2010 season).

After the 2010 MLS season FC Dallas declined Cunningham's contract option and Cunningham elected to participate in the 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft
2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft
The two-stage 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 8, 2010 and December 15, 2010. The Stage 1 Draft of the Re-Entry Process took place on Wednesday, December 8, at 2 p.m. ET via teleconference. The Stage 2 Draft took place on Wednesday, December 15, at 2 p.m. ET...

. On 15 December 2010 Cunningham was selected by Columbus Crew
Columbus Crew
The Columbus Crew is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada...

 in Stage 2 of the Re-Entry draft. Prior to Columbus resigning him on 28 January 2011, Cunningham trained with Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 Premier League
Norwegian Premier League
Tippeligaen is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. The league is also unofficially known under its neutral name Eliteserien , although the name has never been official...

 club IK Start and was rumored to be in talks for a permanent move, however no trade came to pass. His return to the Columbus Crew was on 22 February 2011 in the second half of the Crew's CONCACAF Champions League
CONCACAF Champions League
The CONCACAF Champions League is the annual international club football championship for teams from the CONCACAF region ....

 quarter final game against Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake is an American professional soccer club based in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. The team competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada. They currently play their home games at Rio Tinto Stadium. Real Salt Lake won...

. On July 7, 2011, Cunningham scored his 133rd career MLS Goal to tie the MLS All-Time Scoring Record. The goal came in the 90th minute on a header to win a game against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC by a score of 1-0. On August 27, 2011, Cunningham scored his 134th career goal, making him the all time leader in MLS soccer in a 6-2 loss to the Seattle Sounders.

International

In 1999 he played for Jamaica
Jamaica national football team
The Jamaica national football team is the national team of Jamaica and is controlled by the Jamaica Football Federation. After decades in CONCACAF obscurity, they gained many fans throughout the world after they qualified for the 1998 FIFA World Cup...

 in a friendly international against Ghana. Cunningham became a U.S. citizen in November 2001, and received his first cap for the United States national team
United States men's national soccer team
The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competitions. It is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF...

 less than a month later, on December 9, in a friendly against South Korea. He made his first start in a World Cup qualifier on 7 September 2005, against Guatemala
Guatemala national football team
The Guatemala national football team is the association football team representing the country of Guatemala and is controlled by the Federación Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala. Founded in 1919, it affiliated to FIFA in 1946, and it is a member of CONCACAF....

.

After a 4-year-long absence from the national team, Cunningham was called up by Bob Bradley
Bob Bradley
Robert "Bob" Bradley is an American soccer coach and the current manager of the Egypt national football team, taking over in September 2011. He previously managed the United States men's national soccer team...

 for friendlies against Slovakia
Slovakia national football team
The Slovakia national football team represents Slovakia in association football and is controlled by the Slovak Football Association , the governing body for football in Slovakia. Slovakia's home stadium is Štadión Pasienky and their head coach is Vladimír Weiss...

 and Denmark
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...

 in November 2009. In a friendly against Denmark on 18 November 2009, he scored his first career international goal.

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
01. 18 November 2009 NRGi Park, Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...

, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

1 – 0 1 – 3 Friendly
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...


Columbus Crew

  • Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
    Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
    The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is a knockout tournament in American soccer. The tournament is the oldest ongoing American soccer competition and is presently open to all United States Soccer Federation affiliated teams, from amateur adult club teams to the professional clubs of Major League...

     (1):
    2002
    2002 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
    -Schedule:Note: Scorelines use the standard U.S. convention of placing the home team on the right-hand side of box scores.-First round:Seven D3 Pro League, five PDL, and four USASA teams start.-----Second round:Eight A-League teams enter....

  • Major League Soccer
    Major League Soccer
    Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...

     Supporters' Shield (1):
    2004

FC Dallas

  • Major League Soccer
    Major League Soccer
    Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...

     Western Conference Championship (1):
    2010
    2010 Major League Soccer season
    The 2010 Major League Soccer season was the 98th season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer, the 32nd with a national first-division league, in the United States and Canada, and the 15th in MLS history. It began on March 25 at Seattle's Qwest Field with Seattle Sounders FC defeating the expansion...


Individual

  • MLS Golden Boot
    MLS Golden Boot
    The MLS Golden Boot has been awarded since the 2005 season to Major League Soccer's regular season leading scorer...

     Winner
    : 2006, 2009
  • MLS Best XI
    MLS Best XI
    The MLS Best XI is an acknowledgement of the best eleven players in the league in a given season for Major League Soccer in Canada and the United States.-Winners:*Players in bold text also won the Major League Soccer MVP Award award for that season....

    : 2002, 2006, 2009

External links

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