RENTON — More than a decade later, it’s easy to forget the circumstances around the trade that brought Stefan Frei to the Seattle Sounders.
The Sounders had just endured what is still arguably the most tumultuous season in their MLS existence, ending the regular season on a seven-game winless run that saw them go from leading the Supporters’ Shield race to entering Decision Day at risk of missing the playoffs. Although they made the postseason, it was only so they could be eliminated by the Portland Timbers in the Western Conference semifinals, falling 5-3 on aggregate in a series that was considerably more lopsided than that.
Following the late-season collapse, the Sounders began a significant off-season overhaul. They parted ways with 10 players, including several starters, one of whom was goalkeeper Michael Gspurning.
While the trade that brought in centerback Chad Marshall got the most attention, it turned out that the move with arguably the biggest impact was the one that landed them Stefan Frei.
For the price of a conditional first-round pick in the 2015 SuperDraft — a pick that would ultimately be involved in three more trades before it was finally used by the Columbus Crew to select Jamaican centerback Sergio Campbell — the Sounders acquired a goalkeeper who would rewrite the club’s record book over the next decade-plus, deliver at least five major trophies and today is poised to become just the second goalkeeper in MLS history to make 400 appearances for one club.
“It feels great,” Frei told reporters following Thursday’s training session. “These are personal goals and I’m proud to achieve them because longevity means that you’re able to help the team. Hopefully that means you can have chances to win trophies, and that’s what it’s all about.
“The longer you can play, the more likely they are to maybe win a trophy. Hopefully, I can play a little bit longer, but, yeah, I’m proud of that.”
While the trade now looks like one of the all-time MLS heists in hindsight, at the time Frei’s career was at much more of a crossroads.
Frei was coming off five up and down seasons with Toronto FC. Although he had led them to three Canadian Championships (TFC won a fourth in which he didn’t play), they had also failed to make the playoffs each season. Even worse, Frei only made one appearance in his final two seasons after losing all of 2012 to a broken leg, breaking his nose during the following preseason and losing his grip on the starting spot.
To say he was ready for a fresh start is probably a gross understatement.
That offseason Frei got married and was pitching his wife on the possibility of trying his luck in Europe when he got a call from the Sounders while on his honeymoon.
Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid, then-General Manager Adrian Hanauer and goalkeeping coach Tommy Dutra pitched Frei on giving MLS one more try.
“They were really excited about me,” Frei recalled. “It had been a long time since someone was excited about me.
“I think the mental side of the game gets neglected a lot. When you have people that believe in you, maybe at a point when you are struggling to believe in yourself, that got me super, super excited.”
