THE RESEARCH INTRO

I recently finsihed all my research regarding US soccer field players abroad since 1990 (goalkeepers NOT included). I tracked the number of players playing in what I consider to be the top eight leagues in the world (England, Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, Brazil, Germany, and Holland). I would have typically included Argentina as well, however, since no American played in Argentina between 1990 and 2009, there was no point in adding them to this research. Other leagues, like Denmark, Norway, Sweden, etc, have not been included because they are not considered top flight leagues. 

MORE PLAYERS BETWEEN 04-08, BUT FEWER GAMES PLAYED

I have tracked the numbers of Americans in these top 8 leagues since 1990 so as to monitor the progress of US footballers abroad (are we growing or shrinking?). The numbers might surprise you. First, the players whose careers started or were predominantly between 1990 and 2000 played 1,994 games and scored 305 goals in these leagues. Americans whose career spanned mostly between 2001 and 2009 have 1,140 games played and 87 goals scored. However, between the years 1990 and 2000, there were 80 seasons where Americans rook part. Between 2001 and 2009, there were 99 seasons played by Americans--the only problem is that they got much less playing time.

GERMANY AND ENGLAND PROVIDE CHANCES BUT NUMBERS DROP IN 2009  

While Germany provided the most seasons of play to Americans since 1990 (67 seasons), it was England between 2006 and 2008 that had the most Americans playing in its leagues than any other top flight league. Between those years one might find 11 American players playing on the weekend (Dempsey, Onyewu, Spector, McBride, Bocanegra, Beasley, Reyna, Lewis, Convey, Demerit, Feilhaber).  It was a great time to be an American Premier League fan.

Unfortunately, by the end of the 2009 season their were only two American field players left in the premiership (Dempsey and Spector).  

OTHER DECREASES

Sadly, not only has the number Americans in the EPL shrank, the total number of players in general playing in the top 8 leagues has dropped recently. In fact, the last half of 08-09 season saw only 7 American playing in the top leagues--down 7 from the prior year--and the lowest number of Americans field players in the top leagues since 1997, when their was 6. Below, you'll find the numbers from year to year and a list of all Americans who have played in the top 8 leagues since 1990.

Year       Leagues

         ENG SPA ITA GER NED FRA POR BRA TOTAL

1990    1    0     0    1     2      0     0     0       4

1991     2   0     0    2     1      0     0     1       5

1992     4   0     0    2     1      1     0     0       8

1993     4   0     0    3     1      1     0     0       9

1994     3   1     1    4     1      1     0     0      11

1995     4   1     1    4     1      1     0     0      12

1996     1   0     1    4     2      1     0     0       9

1997     0   0     0    3     2      1     0     0       6

1998     0   0     0    5     3     0      0     0       8

1999    1    0     0    5     3     1      0     0      10

2000    2    0     0    3     2     1      0     0       8

2001    3    0     0    3     2     1      0     0       9

2002    4    0     0    4     2     1      0     0       11

2003    1    0     0    3     2     2      0     0        8

2004    4    0     0    5     2     1      0     0       12

2005    4    0     0    4     3     0      0     0       11

2006    6    0     0    3     3     0      0     0       12

2007   11   0     0    2     1     0      1     0       15

2008    8    1     0    3     1     0      1     0       14

2009    2   0     0     4     0     1      0     0         7 

The Players     Team, Country GM/GLS                                               

John Doyle/ Vfb Leipzig GER 1994-1995 , 7/0

John Harkes/ Sheffield Weds, West Ham ENG 1991-1993, 95-96, 70/ 5

Tab Ramos/ Real Betis SPA 1994-1995 0/ 0

Peter Vermes/ Volendam FC NED 1990 28/ 5

Eric Wynalda/ Vfl Bochum GER 1992-1993 31/ 9

Desmond Armstrong/ Santos BRA 1991 3/ 0

Paul Caligiuri/ Hansa Rostock, St Pauli GER 1991, 95-96 37/ 0

Thomas Dooley/ FC Homburg, Kaiserslautern, Leverkusen, Schalke GER 1986-1997 259/ 34

Earnie Stewart/ Willem II, NAC Breda NED 1990-2003 369/ 99

Roy Wegerle/ Queens Park R, Blackburn, Coventry City ENG 1990-1995, 127/ 42

Cobi Jones/ Coventry City ENG 1992-1995, 28/ 9

Joe Max Moore/ Everton ENG 1999-2002, 52/ 8

Claudio Reyna/ Bayern Leverkusen, Wolfsburg, Sunderland, Manchester City GER, ENG 1994-1999, 2001-2007, 179/ 13

Alexi Lalas/ Padova ITA 1994-1996, 44/ 2

Frankie Hejduk/ Bayer Leverkusen GER 1998-2002 19/ 1

David Regis/ Valenciennes, Strasbourg, Lens, Karlsruher, Metz, Troyes FRA, GER 1992 2003, 270/ 8

 Preki at Everton circa 1994.

Preki/ Everton, Portsmouth ENG 1992-1995, 86/ 9

Chad Deering/ Schalke, Wolfsburg GER 1993-1998, 47/ 5

Brian McBride/ Everton, Fulham ENG 2002, 2004-08, 161/ 44

Gregg Berhalter /Sparta Rotterdam, Cambuur Leeuwarden, Energie Cottbus NED, GER 1996-1999, 2002-06, 177/ 12

John O'brien Fc Utrecht, Ajax, ADO Den Haag NED 1998-2006, 107/ 5

Eddie Lewis/ Fulham, Derby ENG 2000-2002, 2007-08, 40/ 0

Clint Mathis/ Hannover 96 GER 2004-2005, 17/ 5

Steve Cherundolo/ Hannover 96 GER 1999-2009, 267/ 6

Damarcus Beasley/ PSV Eindhoven, Manchester City NED, GER 2004-2007, 74/ 13

Landon Donovan/ Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich GER 2004-2005, 2009, 13/ 0

Tony Sanneh Hertha Berlin/, Nurmberg GER 1998-2004, 84/ 6

Carlos Bocanegra/ Fulham, Rennes ENG, FRA 2004-2009, 158/ 13

Clint Dempsey/ Fulham ENG 2007-2009, 81/ 14

Eddie Johnson/ Fulham ENG 2008 6/ 0

Bobby Convey/ Reading ENG 2006-2008, 36/ 1

Oguchi Onyewu/ Metz, Newcastle Utd FRA, ENG 2003-2004, 2007, 14/ 0

Jay Demerit/ Watford ENG 2006-2007, 33/ 0

Jonathan Spector/ Manchester Utd, Charlton,  West Ham ENG 2004-2009, 82/ 0

Freddy Adu/ Benfica, Monaco POR, FRA 2007-2008 20/ 2

Michael Bradley/ Heerenveen, Bor. M'gladbach NED, GER 2005-2009 83/ 21

Benny Feilhaber /Hamburg SV, Derby GER, ENG 2006-2008 19/ 0

Jozy Altidore/ Villareal SPA 2008 6/ 1

Total number of seasons American field players have played since 1990 in the top 8 leagues:

ENG 65

SPA 3

ITA 3

GER 67

NED 35

FRA 14

POR 2

BRA 1