Alan Gordon

Alan Gordon

Gordon playing for LA Galaxy in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Alan Gordon
Date of birth	(1981-10-16) October 16, 1981 (age 30)
Place of birth	Long Beach, California, United States
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	San Jose Earthquakes
Number	16
Youth career
2000–2001	Yavapai Roughriders
2002–2003	Oregon State Beavers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004	Portland Timbers	32	(17)
2005–2010	Los Angeles Galaxy	99	(16)
2006	→ Portland Timbers (loan)	1	(0)
2010	Chivas USA	9	(1)
2011	Toronto FC	8	(4)
2011–	San Jose Earthquakes	9	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 May, 2012. † Appearances (Goals).

Alan Gordon (born October 16, 1981 in Long Beach, California) is an American soccer player who currently plays for San Jose Earthquakes in Major League Soccer.

Career

College

Gordon moved to Gilbert, Arizona in his mid-teens, and played two years of college soccer for Yavapai College, where he scored 39 goals in his two seasons, before attending Oregon State University, where he won All Pac-10 honors twice, and scored 11 goals as a junior and 15 as a senior.

Professional

Upon graduating, Gordon was drafted 53rd overall in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft by Los Angeles Galaxy. He was awarded number 16, but in 2006 changed his number to 21. However, Gordon did not make the team, and signed with the Portland Timbers of the A-League. With the Timbers, Gordon was an instant success, playing 27 games and scoring 17 goals, tying Dante Washington for the league lead, and helped the Timbers finish the regular season with the league's best record. In recognition of his achievement Gordon was named the league's Rookie of the Year, and was a finalist for the MVP Award. After the end of the A-League season, Gordon was loaned back to the Galaxy. During the 2006 season, Gordon saw increased playing time for the Galaxy, scoring 4 goals.

On July 21, 2007 during a friendly with Chelsea, Gordon was pulled for David Beckham's first appearance with the Galaxy in the 78th minute. On April 26, 2008, Gordon scored two goals off the bench in the Galaxy's 5-2 victory over rivals Chivas USA. He finished 2008 with a career year. He scored five goals and seven assists, even though he was not a full time starter.

In August 2010, he was traded to neighboring Chivas USA for allocation money just one match short of his 100 league appearances with the Galaxy, during which time he notched sixteen goals. On November 24, 2010, he was selected by Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft,^[1] but was immediately traded back to Chivas USA, along with Alejandro Moreno, for an international player spot.^[2]

He was traded to Toronto FC on March 11, 2011 in exchange for Nick LaBrocca.^[3] Gordon made his debut for Toronto on March 26 in a 2-0 home victory against Portland Timbers with both goals coming from Javier Martina.^[4] On April 2 Gordon scored his first goal for Toronto in a 1-1 tie against his former team Chivas.^[5] Gordon had a memorable return to The Home Depot Center on June 11 when he scored 2 goals against The Galaxy in a 2-2 thriller which saw two goals scored in injury time of the second half.^[6]

Following Toronto's designated player signing of Danny Koevermans Gordon became a dispensable asset and was traded along with Jacob Peterson and Nana Attakora to San Jose Earthquakes for Ryan Johnson on July 14, 2011.^[7] Gordon signed a new contract with San Jose in January 2012.^[8]

Honors

Portland Timbers

• A-League The Commissioner's Cup (1): 2004

Los Angeles Galaxy

• Major League Soccer MLS Cup (1): 2005
• Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship (2): 2005, 2009

Toronto FC

• Canadian Championship (1): 2011

Individual

• A-League Rookie of the Year: 2004
• A-League Top Scorer: 2004

See also

• List of current MLS players

References

External links

• MLS player profile