About a year ago, the Seattle Sounders announced a new program meant to honor the club’s past. The inaugural entry into the Eternal Sounders Circle of Legends was, fittingly, the 1974 NASL squad that kickstarted this whole venture.
This year, though, will be the first time that anyone can be voted in and this first “ballot class” aims to honor some of the club’s most revered legends from three separate categories, as Jimmy Gabriel (builder), Sigi Schmid (coach) and Kasey Keller (player) were all nominated.
Each year a nominating committee made up of four Sounders FC Alumni, two Alliance Council members, two ownership representatives, two Sounders FC staff and one WA State Legends of Soccer representative will nominate up to four people who fit the criteria for players, coaches or builders.
To actually gain entry into the Circle of Legends, the nominees will need to receive 75% of the weighted vote by Alliance members (25%), Sounders alumni (20%), Alliance Council (15%), Sounders FC ownership (15%), Seattle soccer media (15%) and Sounders FC staff (10%). Voters can choose to cast ballots for as many or as few of the nominees they believe are deserving.
Voting will take place from Oct. 4-12 and will be conducted both online and in person at the upcoming matches against the Portland Timbers and Real Salt Lake.
About the nominees:
Kasey Keller
The Olympia native was the captain of the Sounders during their inaugural MLS campaign and played three seasons here, culminating with an MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award in 2011. He also helped lead the Sounders to three consecutive U.S. Open Cup titles.
Before that, he became the first American to play in a top-flight European league on a U.S. passport when he broke in as a starter for Millwall. He would go on to play in over 500 first-division matches for seven different clubs in three countries over 16 seasons. He also won 102 caps for the United States national team and participated in four World Cups (1990, 1998, 2002 and 2006).
Sigi Schmid
One of the most decorated coaches in American soccer history at both the college and MLS levels, Schmid led the Sounders during their first eights seasons in MLS. He led the Sounders to four U.S. Open Cups and the 2014 Supporters’ Shield, going 115-79-56 in the regular season.
Prior to joining the Sounders, he won three College Cups at UCLA; a Concacaf Champions Cup (2000), U.S. Open Cup (2001), MLS Cup (2002) and Supporters’ Shield (2002) with the LA Galaxy; and a Supporters’ Shield (2008) and MLS Cup (2008) with the Columbus Crew. He finished his MLS coaching career with 240 career regular-season wins.
Jimmy Gabriel
Gabriel is known as the “original Mr. Sounder” after captaining the 1974 team, then serving as a player-coach from 1977-79, and then served in various roles with multiple iterations of professional soccer in Seattle over four decades. Gabriel served as the coach for the Seattle Storm (which bridged the gap between the demise of the NASL team and the club’s rebirth in the A-League/USL), was an assistant coach during the A-League era and is considered a mentor to many of the people currently involved with the Sounders.
