Sporting Kansas City announced today that former midfielder and MLS All-Star Davy Arnaud has been selected as the newest member of Sporting Legends.
Arnaud, who starred for Kansas City from 2002-2011 and now serves as an assistant coach at Austin FC, will be officially inducted into the Sporting Legends hall of honor in a pre-match ceremony on June 12 before Sporting Kansas City hosts the New England Revolution at Children’s Mercy Park. Tickets for the matchup are available now at SeatGeek.com.
“Sporting KC and the city of Kansas City mean so much to me,” Arnaud said. “I had wonderful experiences during my time with the club and grew close to so many amazing people on and off the field. I would like to thank the Hunt Family, the Sporting Club ownership group, my teammates and coaches as well as the Cauldron and Sporting’s phenomenal fans who made my journey here so special. To join the company of other Sporting Legends is a great honor and something I will cherish forever. Kansas City will always be in my heart.”
Arnaud is the 12th club icon to join Sporting Legends, an initiative launched in 2013 that pays tribute to all-time greats while providing a platform for inductees to engage with the Kansas City community. He was selected through an online ballot of write-in votes submitted by fans earlier this spring.
Sporting Legends Inductees
- 2013: Bob Gansler, Tony Meola, Preki
- 2014: Jimmy Conrad, Lamar Hunt, Peter Vermes
- 2015: Chris Klein
- 2016: Kerry Zavagnin
- 2017: Mo Johnston
- 2019: Josh Wolff
- 2021: Jimmy Nielsen
- 2022: Davy Arnaud
Like the previous 11 Sporting Legends inductees, Arnaud will have his name adorned outside The Victory Suite in the northwest corner of Children’s Mercy Park. A new UMB Sporting Legends Pylon will also be erected at the stadium, showcasing special memorabilia items donated by Arnaud.
In 10 seasons at Sporting Kansas City, Arnaud established himself as one of the most accomplished players in team history. Unheralded out of college as a fifth-round MLS SuperDraft pick from West Texas A&M, he flourished into a prolific midfielder who became just the second Kansas City player to eclipse 50 goals and 40 assists for the club, alongside Preki. Across all competitions, Arnaud ranks third on the club’s all-time chart for goals (52), sixth in assists (40), fifth in combined goals and assists (92), fifth in appearances (273) and seventh in minutes played (21,637).
A fan favorite known for his industrious work rate and versatility on the field, Arnaud helped Kansas City make six playoff appearances and was an integral member of the 2004 team that won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and advanced to the MLS Cup as Western Conference champions. He was named an MLS All-Star in 2009 and parlayed his success with Kansas City into seven caps for the United States Men’s National Team from 2007-2009, notably scoring against Haiti in the 2009 Concacaf Gold Cup.
A native of Nederland, Texas, Arnaud played college soccer at West Texas A&M University, where he recorded 31 goals and 11 assists in three seasons. Kansas City would then score one of the best-value draft picks in MLS history, taking Arnaud at No. 50 overall in the 2002 SuperDraft. His career took off in 2004, when he tabbed nine goals and eight assists in 30 regular season starts and scored a brace in Kansas City’s 2-0 win over LA Galaxy in the Western Conference final at Arrowhead Stadium. He was an ever-present fixture under three different Wizards head coaches—Bob Gansler, Curt Onalfo and Peter Vermes—and had a knack for making clutch plays, as he is one of four Kansas City players with 10 match-winning goals and 10 match-winning assists in the regular season.
Arnaud donned the captain’s armband in 2010 and helped lead Sporting’s momentous transition to Children’s Mercy Park in 2011 before finishing his MLS playing career with CF Montreal (2012-2013) and D.C. United (2014-2015). He ended his fantastic 15-year journey in MLS with 50 goals and 46 assists in 351 regular season appearances as the league’s all-time leader in fouls suffered (746).
Arnaud went into coaching in 2016, serving as an assistant for D.C. United. He held the same role at Houston Dynamo FC from 2017-2019, including a short stint as the club’s interim head coach in 2019. In 2021, Arnaud stayed in his home state by joining expansion side Austin FC as an assistant under head coach and fellow Sporting Legend Josh Wolff, a former Kansas City forward who was inducted into the club’s hall of honor in 2019. Sporting will meet Arnaud and Austin twice during the 2022 regular season, playing host on July 30 and visiting Q2 Stadium on Aug. 13.
