MLS FC Dallas

FC Dallas announces 2005 award recipients

October 17, 2005 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


DALLAS, Texas - FC Dallas Interim General Manager John Alper announced Saturday the individual team awards for FC Dallas during the 2005 season. The players were honored with a brief ceremony following this evening's regular season ending 2-2 draw with the Kansas City Wizards at Pizza Hut Park. The Honda Most Valuable Player and the Defender of the Year awards were voted on by local media members while the FC Dallas Community Relations Department was instrumental in selecting the U.S. Soccer Foundation's Humanitarian of the Year winner.

HONDA MOST VALUABLE PLAYER - Ronnie O'Brien, Midfielder

One of FC Dallas' unquestioned leaders and stars, Ronnie O'Brien is the recipient of the team's Honda Most Valuable Player Award for the 2005 season. The 26-year old Irishman is in his fourth year with the squad, and has once again shown his value to the team with his inspirational play on the field. O'Brien, who missed just four games all season, is third on the team with a career-high six goals and second in all of MLS with 12 assists, also a career-high. On September 21, he became just the third Dallas player to record consecutive 10 assists or more seasons for the organization. His heady and inspired play has won the midfielder plaudits both here in the U.S., as well as abroad, and has seen him be named as a starter for the MLS All-Star Team and the MLS Select XI that traveled to Spain to play Real Madrid in August, as well as being a likely candidate for the Radio Shack MLS Best XI for the second straight year.

BUDWEISER SCORING CHAMPION - Carlos Ruiz, Forward

Given to the player who led the team in scoring, Ruiz finished the year with 11 goals, four ahead of his nearest competition, Roberto Mina. Ruiz came to Dallas from Los Angeles in one of the biggest trades in franchise history just prior to the start of the 2005 campaign. A natural goalscorer, Ruiz quickly showed his prowess in front of goal, scoring 11 goals in just 19 games, a figure that would surely be higher if it were not for a series of niggling injures and international callups. This was Ruiz's fourth season in Major League Soccer, and the fourth time that he has led his team in scoring. The Guatemalan international now ranks 12th all-time in league history with 61 goals in just 91 games, and is just one goal away from reaching the league's all-time top ten.

U.S. SOCCER FOUNDATION HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR - Richard Mulrooney, Midfielder

Despite being lost to injury just seven games into the season, FC Dallas midfielder Richard Mulrooney has remained an ever-present and integral member of the community. After spending the first six years of his MLS career in San Jose, the Memphis, Tenn. native quickly immersed himself with several community projects while also serving as the team's spokesman for U.S. Youth Soccer and Hunt 4 Soccer Foundation. Mulrooney willingly auctioned off his cleats on multiple occasions early in the season to raise money for various organization while also leading a series of youth clinics and player appearances.

DEFENDER OF THE YEAR - Greg Vanney, Defender

A key component in both the FC Dallas and United States National Team backline, Vanney quickly established himself as one of the league's best defenders during his first season in Dallas. After spending the past three seasons with Bastia of France's Ligue 1, Vanney returned to MLS this season and quickly left opposing attackers wishing that he had remained overseas. The Chandler, Arizona native has started all 25 of the matches that he played in this season, while serving as the lynchpin of the Dallas defense, both as a central defender and a left back for the statistically fifth-best defense in Major League Soccer this season.

Check out the FC Dallas Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from October 17, 2005


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central