With Jermain Defoe's move to Toronto FC, he will be one of many British players with a history in the Major League Soccer. Great Dane Football Blog takes a look on five of the most successful Brits in USA.






5. Robert Earnshaw, Toronto FC

The Zambian-born Welsh joined Toronto FC from Cardiff last winter, after having been on loan in the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv FC. After representing West Bromwich Albion, Norwich, Derby, Nottingham FOrest and Cardiff he made agreed to join the Canadian club and soon scored his first two goals helping Toronto to a 2-1 victory against Sporting Kansas City on the 9th of March last year. Furthermore, he has been awarded MLS Player of the Week for the two goal performance. So far Earnshaw has scored eight goals in 26 matches.

4. Nigel Reo-Coker, Vancouver Whitecaps FC

After a promising start on his career for Wimbledon,  he moved on to West Ham, and Aston Villa and a couple of less successful spells as Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town, Nigel Reo-Coker joined Vancouver Whitecaps FC in February 2013. Despite his Discovery Rights had been held by Portland Timbers, Reo-Coker expressed his desire to play for Vancouver, who traded their way to his rights. In his first match for the club,  he made 38 passes in 45 minutes. His first goal was scored against Seattle Sounders on the 9th October 2013 against Seattle Sounders. So far the midfielder has had 32 caps for the Canadian club.

3. Robbie Keane, LA Galaxy

The former Tottenham, Liverpool and Celtic striker, is known his many goals, and the streak has continued in LA Galaxy, in the MLS. Here, he became one of the club's three allowed designated players, alongside David Beckham and Landon Donovan. He made his debut against San Jose Earthquakes where he also scored his first goal. Since his debut, the Irish striker have developed into a key player for Galaxy and have so far scored 34 goals in 55 matches

2. Ronnie O'Brien, FC Dallas, Toronto FC and San Jose Earthquakes

The Irishman started a promising career in Middlesbrough at the age of 18. Despite not playing a single match for Middlesbrough Juventus signed the midfielder at the age of 20, but once again O'Brien did not make a single appearance, but was on loan to a number of clubs. Then in 2002 he made the unconventional decision to move to America and join the Dallas Burn (Now Dallas FC). After being injured for the most of his first season, O'Brien made it to the MLS Best Xi in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. In 2005, he moved to Toronto before being traded to San Jose Earthquakes in 2008. Here, he made 28 appearances and scored 4 goals. Today he is a coach of FC Dallas youth teams.


1. David Beckham, LA Galaxy

David Beckham needs no introduction. His signing with LA Galaxy made top news all across the globe with the news of a 5-year contract worth 32.5 US million dollars. The money was well spent by the club as the high-profile acquisition paid immediate financial dividends long before Beckham even moved to America. On the pitch,  Beckham was a success as well with 98 caps and 18 goals and a number of trophies. Today, he is working on making a new soccer club in the MLS.