Surprise trade to draft Andre Blake 10 years ago a franchise-defining moment

When the Philadelphia Union traded up to select Andre Blake with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft it sent shockwaves through the Union fanbase and the league.

It was a surprising move for an organization that had Zac MacMath as a promising young returning starter and a local kid named Zack Steffen training with the reserves. The mess with bringing in Rais M’bohli as a designated player was still six months away but it was the first in a series of moves involving the goalkeeper position in what was later dubbed “the year of the goalkeeper.”

A decade later the goalkeeper wheeling and dealing of Nick Sakiewicz and company is long in the rearview mirror and Blake has proven himself several times over more than deserving of the distinction of being the first and still only goalkeeper taken first overall. Looking back now it was a stroke of genius that has defined the organization ever since. While star players have come and gone, Blake has been a constant whose rise to the league’s best goalkeeper coincided with the Union’s rise to being among the league’s elite.

He’ll likely reach 300 appearances in all competitions this season and is in line to also hit the century mark in clean sheets.

There probably should already be a statue for him outside Subaru Park.

Back a decade ago, he was a raw talent out of the University of Connecticut with unmistakable tools to help both the Reggae Boyz and whatever team landed him in the draft. UConn’s head coach Ray Reid called Blake the “LeBron James of goalkeepers” at the time and he’s shown just that since he made the position his own in 2016.

DC United, which swapped picks with the Union and took defender Steve Birnbaum as the second pick, did okay too.

“He’s a special goalkeeper,” Ben Olsen, DC United’s head coach at the time, was quoted saying on draft day. “I think he’s the real thing. We don’t need one right now. There was a lot of interest in the pick.”

DC United didn’t need a keeper because they had homegrown Bill Hamid. He would go on to log the second most appearances of any player in club history and Birnbaum is right behind him at third in all-time appearances for the club.

MacMath, who logged most of the time at keeper in 2014, has carved out a lengthy career himself, making 114 appearances since he was traded away to the Colorado Rapids in 2015. He’s currently with Real Salt Lake after stints in Colorado and Vancouver.

Another interesting footnote from the 2014 draft is that Blake’s Reggae Boyz teammate Damion Lowe was targeted by the Union. Lowe was known in the organization for his time at Reading United but after dealing away their sixth pick to Colorado Lowe was snatched up before their next pick at No. 15. Lowe was acquired by the Union last year via trade for $225,000 in allocation and their first round pick in the 2024 SuperDraft.