Edson Michael Buddle (born May 21, 1981) is an American retired soccer player who is currently the head coach of USL League Two side Westchester Flames. He is one of only 11 players to have scored 100 goals in Major League Soccer history.
Buddle began his career in North America in 2000 with the Long Island Rough Riders, who played in the A-League at that time. He then spent 2001 to 2010 in Major League Soccer, playing for the Columbus Crew, New York Red Bulls, Toronto FC, and LA Galaxy. After a one-year stint with FC Ingolstadt 04 in Germany's 2. Bundesliga he returned to Los Angeles. Buddle has also played for the United States national team, including two appearances at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Club career
College and Minor-League Career
Born in New Rochelle, New York, Buddle played one year of college soccer at State Fair Community College, leading them to the 1999 NJCAA Division I National Championship. Buddle began his professional career in 2000, when he signed with Long Island Rough Riders of the A-League. Buddle helped the team win the Northeast Division, scoring eleven goals and four assists, and was a finalist for the A-League Rookie of the Year Award.
Columbus Crew
His performance in the A-League attracted the interest of MLS, and Edson was selected twenty-seventh overall in the 2001 MLS SuperDraft by Columbus Crew. Buddle played only 556 minutes in his first year, but scored three goals and two assists. The next year, at the age of twenty-one, he scored nine goals and five assists in only 1304 minutes while helping the Crew to a U.S. Open Cup win. Plagued by injuries, he only started sixteen games the next year, but scored nine goals and four assists. The pattern repeated itself in 2004, as Buddle missed significant time to injury, but still scored eleven goals and two assists in twenty starts. His 2005 totals were nine goals and two assists.
New York Red Bulls
Before the 2006 season Buddle was traded to New York Red Bulls for Eddie Gaven and Chris Leitch. He had a disappointing year in his tenure with the team only scoring six goals because he was battling a foot injury. On November 22, 2006, Buddle was traded to Toronto FC for Tim Regan. He failed to score in 10 appearances for the Reds but assisted on the club's first ever goal, setting up Danny Dichio to score against Chicago Fire in front of the south stand at BMO Field.
Los Angeles Galaxy
On June 13, 2007, Buddle was traded to LA Galaxy for Tyrone Marshall. He scored his first goal for the Galaxy against Real Salt Lake.
Buddle was not expected to be a starting striker as the 2008 MLS season began, as the Galaxy already had three attacking forwards in Carlos Ruiz, Landon Donovan and Alan Gordon. In spite of this, Buddle became a prominent striker on the LA offense in 2008, filling in for the injured Guatemalan striker Ruiz or when Donovan and Ruiz were absent while on international duty.
He scored two hat tricks during his first season in Los Angeles: one in Week 8 against FC Dallas and one in Week 12 against San Jose Earthquakes, winning the MLS Player of the Week in both weeks. After his second hat trick, teammate David Beckham commented, "Edson is an individual who is getting better at the game. He's proved that tonight." After scoring his ninth goal against Columbus Crew on June 22, 2008, coach Ruud Gullit said he had become a "true professional" and that he was "very pleased" with him. ESPN's Andrea Canales noted that Buddle had once suffered from a reputation of being "maddeningly lazy at times, giving up on passes that didn't fall in his striking-sweet zone," but that he had improved due to guidance from Beckham and an improved self-confidence as he scored more goals. MLS Extratime's Shep Messing said, "I don't think there's a better tandem up top than Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle...They complement each other. They don't take away each other's space, making it better for each other."
After scoring just five goals in the 2009 season, Buddle opened the 2010 season on fire, scoring seven goals in the first four matches of the year. By mid-May, he had scored nine times, earning a surprising call-up to the national team roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He continued his strong form after returning from the World Cup, continuing to lead the league in scoring when the 2010 MLS All-Star Game rosters were announced despite having missed several matches on international duty. On October 24, 2010, Los Angeles Galaxy won the Western Conference and the Supporter's Shield, with Buddle winning the Galaxy's MVP, golden boot, and Humanitarian of the Year.