After 14 years, 351 regular season appearances, 50 goals and 46 assists, MLS veteran Davy Arnaud is retiring.
The longtime midfielder announced his retirement from D.C. United on Thursday. The 35-year-old Texas-native will stay with D.C. United as an assistant under head coach Ben Olsen.
“Davy has had a remarkable playing career and we greatly appreciate what he has brought to our club over the past two seasons. He is one of the most hard-working, honest and competitive players I have worked with in the past 14 years at the club,” Dave Kasper, United general manager and VP of soccer operations, said in a team statement. “We are excited that he is starting his coaching career with us, and we know that he will bring the same passion and commitment to the club as a coach.”
Arnaud turned pro after three years at West Texas A&M University, getting picked by the Kansas City Wizards with the 50th overall selection in the 2002 MLS SuperDraft. He spent 10 years in Kansas City, making 240 regular season appearances with the team and staying with the club through their 2011 re-brand, even leading the team onto the field as captain at the inaugural game at Children’s Mercy Park in 2011.
He was traded to the Montreal Impact ahead of their inaugural season in 2012, sent to the expansion club by Kansas City in exchange for defender Seth Sinovic. He was named the first captain in the Impact’s MLS history, and scored the club’s first MLS goal in front of a crowd of nearly 60,000 at Olympic Stadium on March 17, 2012.
He was sent from Montreal to D.C. following the 2013 season, helping engineer United’s massive turnaround from their miserable 2013 season to their first-place finish in the Eastern Conference in the 2014 regular season. He appeared 54 regular season matches in two years with United, starting all but three of those contests and registering two goals and three assists.
