MLS Defender of the Year Award

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English The Major League Soccer Defender of the Year Award is an annual award handed out to the top defender in Major League Soccer annually since the league's inception in 1996.<ref name="mlsfef">Montreal Impact defender Laurent Ciman named 2015 MLS Defender of the Year Template:Webarchive, mlssoccer.com</ref> The award is decided based on votes from MLS players, MLS coaches and executives and media members.<ref name="auto">"The FC Dallas center back beat out the Galaxy’s Jelle Van Damme for the award", Goal.com, November 11, 2016.</ref>

John Doyle won the inaugural award with the San Jose Clash for the 1996 MLS season.

Winners

With three wins, Chad Marshall has won the most MLS Defender of the Year Awards.

File:Carlos-Bocanegra.jpg

US men's national team player Carlos Bocanegra is a two-time winner of the award.

File:Ike Opara Minnesota United - (33725990208) (cropped to square).jpg

Ike Opara won the award with both Sporting Kansas City and Minnesota United FC.

File:USMNT vs. Trinidad and Tobago (48124887166) (cropped) 2.jpg

Walker Zimmerman won the award back-to-back with Nashville SC

Season	Winner	Team	Finalists
1996	Template:Flagicon John Doyle	San Jose Clash
1997	Template:Flagicon Eddie Pope	D.C. United
1998	Template:Flagicon Luboš Kubík	Chicago Fire
1999	Template:Flagicon Robin Fraser	Los Angeles Galaxy
2000	Template:Flagicon Peter Vermes	Kansas City Wizards
2001	Template:Flagicon Jeff Agoos	San Jose Earthquakes
2002	Template:Flagicon Carlos Bocanegra	Chicago Fire
2003	Template:Flagicon Carlos Bocanegra (2)	Chicago Fire
2004<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Flagicon Robin Fraser (2)	Columbus Crew	Jimmy Conrad Eddie Pope
2005<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Flagicon Jimmy Conrad	Kansas City Wizards	Danny Califf Tyrone Marshall
2006<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Flagicon Bobby Boswell	D.C. United	Jimmy Conrad Jose Burciaga
2007	Template:Flagicon Michael Parkhurst	New England Revolution
2008<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Template:Flagicon Chad Marshall	Columbus Crew	Jimmy Conrad Bakary Soumare
2009	Template:Flagicon Chad Marshall (2)	Columbus Crew
2010<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Template:Flagicon Jámison Olave	Real Salt Lake	Omar Gonzalez Nat Borchers
2011	Template:Flagicon Omar Gonzalez	Los Angeles Galaxy	Jámison Olave Nat Borchers Carlos Valdés
2012	Template:Flagicon Matt Besler	Sporting Kansas City	Víctor Bernárdez Aurélien Collin Jay DeMerit
2013	Template:Flagicon José Gonçalves	New England Revolution	Matt Besler Omar Gonzalez Jámison Olave
2014	Template:Flagicon Chad Marshall (3)	Seattle Sounders FC	Bobby Boswell Omar Gonzalez Michael Parkhurst
2015	Template:Flagicon Laurent Ciman<ref name="mlsfef"/>	Montreal Impact	Kendall Waston Matt Hedges Matt Miazga
2016	Template:Flagicon Matt Hedges<ref name="auto"/>	FC Dallas	Jelle Van Damme Axel Sjöberg Walker Zimmerman Steve Birnbaum
2017	Template:Flagicon Ike Opara<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Sporting Kansas City	Justin Morrow Kendall Waston Leandro González Pírez Matt Besler
2018	Template:Flagicon Aaron Long<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	New York Red Bulls	Chad Marshall Michael Parkhurst Leandro González Pírez Kemar Lawrence
2019	Template:Flagicon Ike Opara<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> (2)	Minnesota United FC	Walker Zimmerman Miles Robinson Maxime Chanot Eddie Segura Aaron Long
2020	Template:Flagicon Walker Zimmerman<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Nashville SC	Mark McKenzie Jonathan Mensah Anton Tinnerholm Chris Mavinga Richie Laryea
2021	Template:Flagicon Walker Zimmerman<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> (2)	Nashville SC	Yeimar Gómez Andrade Miles Robinson Andreu Fontàs DeJuan Jones
2022	Template:Flagicon Jakob Glesnes<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Philadelphia Union	Kai Wagner Alexander Callens
2023	Template:Flagicon Matt Miazga<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	FC Cincinnati	Tim Parker Yeimar Gómez Andrade
2024	Template:Flagicon Steven Moreira<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Columbus Crew	Jordi Alba Jackson Ragen
2025	Template:Flagicon Tristan Blackmon<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Kai Wagner Jakob Glesnes

Wins by club

Club	Wins
Columbus Crew	4
Kansas City Wizards/Sporting KC	4
Chicago Fire	3
D.C. United	2
LA Galaxy	2
Nashville SC	2
New England Revolution	2
San Jose Clash/Earthquakes	2
FC Cincinnati	1
FC Dallas	1
Minnesota United FC	1
Montréal Impact/CF Montréal	1
New York Red Bulls	1
Philadelphia Union	1
Real Salt Lake	1
Seattle Sounders FC	1
FC Cincinnati	1
Vancouver Whitecaps FC	1

Wins by nationality

Nationality	Wins
Template:USA	25
Template:BEL	1
Template:CPV	1
Template:COL	1
Template:CZE	1
Template:NOR	1
Template:POR	1