The nominees for the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015 were announced Thursday, and the list features several names with ties to Sounders FC.
Among the 31 nominees who will be voted on during the next month are former Sounders goalkeeper and current broadcaster Kasey Keller, current Sporting Director Chris Henderson and current Assistant Coach Ante Razov.
Nominees must appear on at least two-thirds of the ballots to gain election into the Hall. Voters include Hall of Famers, members of the media and all past and present U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Team coaches. Each voter can select up to 10 candidates.
Keller, who played keeper for the Rave Green during the team's first three MLS seasons, is in his first year of eligibility. In order to be eligible, a player must be retired for between three and 10 years and either have played in at least 20 matches for the U.S. National Team or have been recognized as an All-Star during his or her tenure in a top-flight league in America.
Keller represented the U.S. at four FIFA World Cups, totaling 102 caps during his career. Henderson, who along with Keller is a native of the Seattle area, had 51 goals and 80 assists in 12 MLS seasons while earning 79 caps with the National Team. Razov scored 114 goals in his MLS career, the fourth most in league history.
Here is an alphabetical list of all those who were nominated:
Chris Armas, Gregg Berhalter, Jimmy Conrad, Robin Fraser, Frankie Hejduk, Chris Henderson, Natasha Kai, Kasey Keller, Jovan Kirovski, Chris Klein, Jason Kreis, Eddie Lewis, Shannon MacMillan, Clint Mathis, Tiffeny Milbrett, Jaime Moreno, John O’Brien, Ben Olsen, Pat Onstad, Steve Ralston, Ante Razov, Tiffany Roberts, Eddie Robinson, Tony Sanneh, Briana Scurry, Diego Serna, Kate Sobrero Markgraf, Lindsay Tarpley, Taylor Twellman, Christie Welsh, Zach Thornton
First year of eligibility
** Final year of eligibility
