Major League Soccer announced three finalists for each of its 2014 awards on Thursday, with the winners to be announced in the coming weeks.
The finalists for each award, listed in alphabetical order below, earned the most votes in polling of three voting groups:
- Current MLS players
- MLS clubs (coaches, technical directors, chief business officers, communications)
- Media members who covered MLS regularly in 2014
The 2014 Volkswagen MLS Most Valuable Player award will be presented on Wednesday, Dec. 3. For the first time since 2010, all three MVP finalists are in contention to hoist MLS Cup, as Robbie Keane, Obafemi Martins and Lee Nguyen will all take part in the Conference Championships this weekend.
2014 Major League Soccer Awards Finalists
(Listed in alphabetical order by last name within each award category)
Volkswagen Most Valuable Player Finalists
- Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy)
- Obafemi Martins (Seattle Sounders)
- Lee Nguyen (New England Revolution)
AT&T Rookie of the Year Finalists
- Tesho Akindele (FC Dallas)
- Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United)
- Harry Shipp (Chicago Fire)
Defender of the Year Finalists
- Bobby Boswell (D.C. United)
- Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy)
- Chad Marshall (Seattle Sounders)
Coach of the Year Finalists
- Gregg Berhalter (Columbus Crew SC)
- Ben Olsen (D.C. United)
- Sigi Schmid (Seattle Sounders)
Comeback Player of the Year Finalists
- Charlie Davies (New England Revolution)
- Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders)
- Rodney Wallace (Portland Timbers)
Allstate Goalkeeper of the Year Finalists
- Steve Clark (Columbus Crew SC)
- Bill Hamid (D.C. United)
- Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
Newcomer of the Year Finalists
- Stefan Ishizaki (LA Galaxy)
- Jermaine Jones (New England Revolution)
- Pedro Morales (Vancouver Whitecaps)
MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Year Finalists
- Diego Chara (Portland Timbers)
- AJ DeLaGarza (LA Galaxy)
- Zach Loyd (FC Dallas)
Xbox Individual Fair Play Finalists
- Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers)
- Michael Parkhurst (Columbus Crew SC)
- Harry Shipp (Chicago Fire)
Selected by MLS based on objective criteria such as fouls committed, cards received, games & minutes played, as well as subjective evaluation of sportsmanlike behavior.
Xbox Team Fair Play Finalists
LA Galaxy
Philadelphia Union
Real Salt Lake
Selected by MLS based on objective criteria such as fewest fouls committed, cards received, and on subjective evaluation of sportsmanlike behavior.
Referee of the Year Finalists
Mark Geiger
Jair Marrufo
Alan Kelly
Assistant Referee of the Year Finalists
Peter Manikowski
Paul Scott
Adam Wienckowski
Awards Announcements Schedule:
Schedule subject to change
- Nov. 24: AT&T Rookie of the Year, Xbox Fair Play Individual and Team of the Year
- Nov. 25: MLS Defender of the Year, MLS WORKS Humanitarian of the Year, and Referee/Assistant Referee of the Year
- Dec. 2: MLS Coach of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year and MLS Best XI
- Dec. 3: Allstate Goalkeeper of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Volkswagen MLS MVP
- Dec. 4: AT&T Goal of the Year, MLS Save of the Year
