Home  News Jeff Agoos & Joy Fawcett Elected To National Soccer Hall of Fame
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Jeff Agoos & Joy Fawcett Elected To National Soccer Hall of Fame
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Soccer Hall of Fame
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ONEONTA, NY (January 15, 2009) – Five-time MLS Champion Jeff Agoos and two-time World Champion Joy Fawcett have been elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame. In a national television announcement on Fox Soccer Channel’s Center Circle Live broadcast from St. Louis, Hall of Fame President Steve Baumann introduced the two players before an audience of soccer coaches attending the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Annual Convention.
“The Hall of Fame is proud to honor the two newest players to be elected to the Hall of Fame, Jeff Agoos and Joy Fawcett,” Baumann said as the two entered the studio area. “These players have distinguished themselves and soccer in the United States through outstanding careers of championships and accomplishments. Each has represented the United States in international competition at the highest level and earned the distinction I am pleased to announce tonight.”
Agoos, currently the Sporting Director of MLS club New York Red Bulls, played 134 times for the U.S. Men’s National Team, the second most in the team’s history. His national team career included participation in two World Cups (1998 and 2002) and the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He began his Major League Soccer career with D.C. United and won the MLS Cup in the league’s first year, 1996. He went on to win an additional four MLS Cups, two more with D.C. United and two with the San Jose Earthquakes, for whom he played in the 2001 through 2004 seasons. He retired from his MLS career with the New York MetroStars, now Red Bulls, following the 2005 season. Agoos played collegiate soccer at the University of Virginia, winning an NCAA Division I championship in 1989.
Fawcett won two FIFA Women’s World Cups (1991 and 1999) and two Olympic Gold Medals (Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004) in a career of epic proportions. Her 239 international matches played is fourth in U.S. Women’s National Team history, surpassed only by the currently active Kristine Lilly and Hall of Famers Julie Foudy and Mia Hamm (Class of 2007). In her remarkable 15-year national team career, often paired with Hall of Famer Carla Overbeck (Class of 2006) in the central defense, she received just two yellow cards and was never red carded. The Women’s National Team played in four FIFA Women’s World Cups and three Olympic Games during her career, with Joy playing every minute of the World Cup matches in 1991, 1995, and 1999. She played three seasons in the Women’s United Soccer Association for the San Diego Spirit and was a WUSA All Star in 2003. She was a 3-time NSCAA All America player for the University of California, Berkeley. She currently directs the Saddleback United Soccer Club located in Mission Viejo, CA.
A total of 159 ballots were cast in the Players Election. Agoos was named on 108 ballots (67.9%) and Fawcett was selected on 106 ballots (66.7%). A player must be selected on 66.7% of the ballots cast to be elected to the Hall of Fame. The other top ten in the election were:
Preki Rasosavljevic 96 votes 60.4%
Thomas Dooley 85 votes 53.5%
Marco Etcheverry 78 votes 49.1%
Earnie Stewart 68 votes 42.8%
Joe-Max Moore 67 votes 42.1%
Carlos Valderrama 59 votes 37.1%
Shannon MacMillan 51 votes 32.1%
Peter Vermes 50 votes 31.4%
The Induction 2009 ceremony will be held on Sunday, August 2nd at the Hall of Fame and Museum located in Oneonta, NY. The weekend will include the Big 3 Enshrinement Ceremony on Saturday, August 1st and numerous other fan-oriented activities. For full details on the weekend, visit www.soccerhall.org.
About the Hall of Fame
The Mission of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum is to Celebrate the History, Honor the Heroes,
Inspire the Youth and Preserve the Legacy of Soccer in the United States.
The Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution.
Located in Oneonta, NY, the National Soccer Hall of Fame opened a 30,000 sq.ft., state-of-the-art multimedia museum in 1999. The Hall of Fame tells the story of soccer in America through artifacts, photographs, video and written narratives. The main VideoWall portrays some of the greatest moments and the greatest goals in soccer history as well as live soccer action from the World Cup, MLS, and U.S. Soccer matches. The Hall features an extensive interactive, youth oriented Kicks Zone, including a kid-sized indoor field, where visitors have fun kicking, heading and playing video soccer games. Among the unique and rare artifacts on exhibit are the Dewar Challenge Cup, the oldest team trophy in U.S. sport, the Women’s World Cup won by the USA in 1999, the uniforms of Pele and Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly’s golden shoes, and NASL championship rings. That and so much more are all at the National Soccer Hall of Fame. In addition to the interactive Museum, the National Soccer Hall of Fame’s 61-acre complex boasts the Kicks Hall of Fame Museum Store, a research library, four world-class soccer fields and office/meeting facilities. Visit the Hall of Fame at www.soccerhall.org
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