2018 National Soccer Hall of Fame Ballot Looking Orange

This week US Soccer announced the 2018 nominees for the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Brian Ching and Pat Onstad were joined by Stuart Holden on this year’s ballot. All three players were part of the back-to-back MLS Championships in Houston.

Stuart Holden joined the Dynamo in 2006 and stayed with the club until 2010 when he headed to England to play for the Bolton Wanderers. He appeared 99 times for the Dynamo in the MLS regular season and playoffs, scoring 16 goals and assisting on 14 others. He was part of the youth national team that competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He earned 25 caps as a member of the USMNT making the roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was also part of the 2013 Gold Cup-winning team. Holden retired from soccer in 2013.

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Brian Ching remains the all time leading scorer for the Houston Dynamo with 56 goals in MLS regular-season play and 69 across all competitions. In the 2006 MLS Cup Ching scored the game-tying goal in overtime and converted the winning penalty kick in the penalty shootout to help Houston win the MLS Cup.

Also a member of the USMNT he was capped 45 times by the U.S. Men’s National Team and scored 11 goals. Ching was part of the 2006 FIFA World Cup squad. This is Ching’s second year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame.

Goalkeeper Pat Onstad played in 136 regular season games for Houston and holds a number of the club’s goalkeeping records. Onstad holds club records for wins, shutouts, saves and Goals-Against Average. He played for the San Jose Earthquakes, Houston Dynamo and DC United during his MLS career.

He made his senior national team debut for the Canadian Men’s National team on February 18, 1988 and played for the team over the course of 22 years. In that time Onstad was capped 57 times. 2018 is the fourth year that Onstad has been eligible for the Hall of Fame.

Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images

Voting started on Monday, March 12 and runs through Monday, March 26 for the Player, Veteran Player and Builder categories. The National Soccer Hall of Fame is set to open at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas on October 20. The 2018 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place later that day.

2018 National Soccer Hall of Fame Player Ballot

Juan Pablo Angel*

David Beckham

Gregg Berhalter

Carlos Bocanegra*

Steve Cherundolo

Brian Ching

Bobby Convey*

Jeff Cunningham

Jay DeMerit*

Brad Friedel*

Kevin Hartman

Frankie Hejduk

Thierry Henry*

Stuart Holden*

Eddie Johnson*

Chris Klein

Eddie Lewis

Lori Lindsey*

Kate Sobrero Markgraf

Pablo Mastroeni

Clint Mathis

Tiffeny Milbrett

Heather Mitts

Jaime Moreno

Ben Olsen

Pat Onstad

Steve Ralston

Ante Razov**

Tony Sanneh

Taylor Twellman

Aly Wagner

Josh Wolff

*First year of eligibility

**Final year of eligibility; moves to Veteran ballot in 2019

2018 National Soccer Hall of Fame Veteran Ballot

Mike Burns

Kevin Crow

John Doyle

Marco Etcheverry

Linda Hamilton

Shep Messing

Cindy Parlow

Tiffany Roberts

Tisha Venturini-Hoch

2018 National Soccer Hall of Fame Builder Ballot

Esse Baharmast

Dr. Robert Contiguglia

Joe Cummings

Tim Leiweke

Francisco Marcos

Kevin Payne

Steve Sampson