Jeff Cunningham

For the Australian rules player, see Geoff Cunningham.

Jeff Cunningham

Personal information
Full name	Jeff Cunningham
Date of birth	August 21, 1976 (1976-08-21)
Place of birth	Montego Bay, Jamaica
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Comunicaciones
Number	9
Youth career
1994–1997	South Florida Bulls
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–2004	Columbus Crew	182	(62)
2005	Colorado Rapids	26	(12)
2006–2007	Real Salt Lake	32	(19)
2007–2008	Toronto FC	32	(6)
2008–2010	FC Dallas	66	(33)
2011	Columbus Crew	22	(2)
2012–	Comunicaciones	1	(1)
National team‡
1999	Jamaica	1	(0)
2001–2010	United States	14	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of January 23, 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of March 5, 2010

Jeff Cunningham (born August 21, 1976, in Montego Bay) is a Jamaican-born American soccer player who currently plays for Comunicaciones in Guatemala's top division. He is the Major League Soccer all-time leader in regular-season goals scored with 134.

Career

College

Cunningham was born in Jamaica, but moved to Crystal River, Florida at the age of fourteen. He played college soccer at the University of South Florida from 1994 to 1997. As a sophomore and a junior, Cunningham was named first-team All-Conference USA, and as a senior he was named Conference USA Player of the Year. He finished his career at USF with forty-one goals and thirty-six assists.

Professional

Upon graduating, Cunningham was selected ninth overall in the 1998 MLS College Draft by the Columbus Crew. As a rookie, he played in twenty-five games, mostly as a substitute, and tied the rookie record for goals (since broken by Damani Ralph) with eight. Cunningham became a starter in 1999 and held that role for several years. In 182 games for Columbus, he scored sixty-two goals and notched forty-three assists. He was named to the MLS Best XI in 2002, after scoring sixteen goals and adding five assists. Cunningham was traded to the Colorado Rapids for a first-round draft pick after a disappointing 2004 season. He left the Crew tied with Brian McBride for the all-time team lead in goals.

Cunningham finished the 2005 season with twelve league goals for Colorado. He scored twice against Fulham F.C. of the Premier League in the 2005 MLS All-Star Game. His showing in an all-star game against Real Madrid also earned good reviews, despite MLS's 5–0 loss. However, after the year Colorado shipped him to Real Salt Lake for Clint Mathis. Cunningham was seventh on the all-time MLS goalscoring list entering the 2006 season.

During the 2006 season Cunningham led the league in scoring with sixteen goals, winning the MLS Golden Boot. He also tied for the second-most assists in the league with eleven. Both totals (16 goals and 11 assists) set single-season records for the RSL franchise.

On 22 May 2007, Cunningham was dealt to Toronto FC in exchange for Alecko Eskandarian and a first-round draft pick in the 2008 MLS SuperDraft. In Toronto, he wore the number 96 to represent the 96 MLS goals he had scored after the conclusion of his first season with Toronto FC.

Cunningham fell out of favor in his second season with Toronto FC, missing scoring a goal line ball that would have taken Toronto to the CONCACAF Champions League. After the match, TFC coach John Carver said "I am thinking, ‘How did he score 99 goals?’ That’s what I thought.’"

On 8 August 2008, Cunningham was traded to FC Dallas in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. He scored in his first match with FC Dallas on 16 August 2008 in a 2–1 loss to the Columbus Crew. It was Cunningham's 100th goal in MLS. Jeff played in 11 games with FC Dallas during the 2008 season scoring 5 goals.

Cunningham scored 17 goals in 2009, including four goals on August 1 against the Kansas City Wizards. After Kenny Cooper left the club for 1860 Munich, Cunningham emerged as the team's go-to goal scorer. He netted seven goals in five games in September, winning MLS Player of the Month and went on to win the 2009 MLS Golden Boot. Cunningham ended the 2010 season as the #2 career regular season MLS goalscorer with 132 goals.

After the 2010 MLS season FC Dallas declined Cunningham's contract option and Cunningham elected to participate in the 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft. On 15 December 2010 Cunningham was selected by Columbus Crew in Stage 2 of the Re-Entry draft. Prior to Columbus resigning him on 28 January 2011, Cunningham trained with Norwegian Premier League club IK Start and was rumored to be in talks for a permanent move, however no trade came to pass. His return to Columbus Crew was on 22 February 2011 in the second half of the Crew's CONCACAF Champions League quarter final game against Real Salt Lake. On July 7, 2011, Cunningham scored his 133rd career MLS Goal to tie the MLS All-Time Scoring Record. The goal came in the 90th minute on a header to win a game against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC by a score of 1-0. On August 27, 2011, Cunningham scored his 134th career goal, making him the all time leader in MLS soccer in a 6-2 loss to the Seattle Sounders.

At season's end, Columbus declined his 2012 contract option and he entered the 2011 MLS Re-Entry Draft. Cunningham was not selected in the draft and became a free agent. In January 2012, Cunningham signed on with first division side and current runner up CSD Comunicaciones of Guatemala for the 2012 Torneo Clausura.

International

In 1999 he played for Jamaica in a friendly international against Ghana. Cunningham became a U.S. citizen in November 2001, and received his first cap for the United States national team less than a month later, on December 9, in a friendly against South Korea. He made his first start in a World Cup qualifier on 7 September 2005, against Guatemala.

After a 4-year-long absence from the national team, Cunningham was called up by Bob Bradley for friendlies against Slovakia and Denmark in November 2009. In a friendly against Denmark on 18 November 2009, he scored his first career international goal.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
01.	18 November 2009	NRGi Park, Aarhus, Denmark	Denmark	1 – 0	1 – 3	Friendly

Personal

Jeff and his wife, Jocelyn have one child, Mikayla, born on 15 September 2008.

Honors

Columbus Crew

• Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (1): 2002
• Major League Soccer Supporters' Shield (1): 2004

FC Dallas

• Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship (1): 2010

Individual

• MLS Golden Boot Winner: 2006, 2009
• MLS Best XI: 2002, 2006, 2009

See also

• List of current MLS players

External links

• MLS player profile
• Jeff Cunningham at National-Football-Teams.com
• ESPN Profile