ATLANTA – U.S. Men’s National Team defender Chris Richards has been voted the 2025 U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year after an outstanding year in which he started 11 of 12 matches for which he was available for the USMNT and all six matches leading to the 2025 Gold Cup Final, a tournament in which he recorded two goals and earned a spot on the Best XI.
The Birmingham native has become a staple in the English Premier League with Crystal Palace FC, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in both domestic trophy wins, the FA Cup and Community Shield.
“It means a lot to me to join a very prestigious list of players,” Richards said. “This has been a big year, and we have an even bigger year coming up. This shows how well we’ve done as a team and the momentum we are building towards the World Cup.”
This is Richards’ first U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year award and it comes in his first year being nominated. First recognized in 1984, a total of 28 players have won the award. The 25-year-old becomes the second consecutive defender to earn this recognition after Antonee Robinson won the award in 2024, marking the first time two defenders have won the award consecutively since Marcelo Balboa and Alexi Lalas in 1994 and 1995.
Richards was surprised with the news during an interview with Pat McAfee on the eponymous The Pat McAfee Show, which aired on ESPN earlier this afternoon.
“It was sick. I see Pat all the time on College GameDay. It was cool for him to announce this on his show and to give a shoutout,” Richards added. “It just shows how much the game is growing in the U.S., how much respect there is for the sport, and how much the excitement is building for the World Cup this summer.”
In a list of nominees that included defender Max Arfsten, defender Alex Freeman, goalkeeper Matt Freese and midfielder Malik Tillman, Richards won with 48.6 percent of the weighted total, followed by Tillman (21.7%) and Freeman (13%).
In addition to fan voting, votes for U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year are collected from National Team coaches, USMNT players who earned a cap in 2025, members of the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors, U.S. Soccer Athletes’ Council, professional league head coaches and sporting directors, select media members and former players and administrators.
In 2025, Richards played the most games (12) and minutes (1004) of his career in a calendar year. The 25-year-old started at the center of defense for the U.S. in every game on the way to the 2025 Gold Cup Final, a tournament that he scored twice, including a header in the final against Mexico. A combination of leadership and strong performances led to his inclusion in the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup Best XI.
At the club level, Richards has established himself as a key fixture within the Crystal Palace defense. Throughout the 2024-25 season with The Eagles, he made 32 total appearances in all competitions, registering a goal and assist.
Richards backstopped Crystal Palace to a trophy at the end of the season, defeating Manchester City 1-0 in the 2025 FA Cup Final to collect the first FA Cup trophy in the club’s history which dates back to 1861. Later that summer, Richards and Palace opened the 2025-26 season with a victory over Liverpool in penalty kicks in the 2025 Community Shield, with Richards once again going the distance.
