Chad Marshall won’t be leaving Columbus anytime soon.
The Crew announced on Monday that the club had signed the veteran defender and team captain to a multi-year contract extension that will run through the 2015 season. Per club and league policy, no further terms of the deal were disclosed.
"Chad is our captain and he is one of the best defenders in the league, so he is obviously a very important part of our team," head coach Robert Warzycha said in a statement. "He is also one of the best players in club history and he's still in his prime, so we couldn't be happier to get him signed to this new contract."
Marshall was named club MVP in 2011 and is one of the most decorated defenders in the league, having won back-to-back MLS Defender of the Year awards in 2008 and 2009. The contract extension will keep him in Columbus, the city in which he has spent his entire eight-year professional career, for the foreseeable future.
The 27-year-old center back was selected by the Crew with the second overall pick in the 2004 SuperDraft and has made 199 appearances since then, starting 196 of those games and scoring 13 goals to go along with 10 assists. Those exploits have earned Marshall 11 caps with the US national team while in Columbus’ colors.
He appeared in 32 games and recorded one assist in 2011, helping guide the Crew to the MLS Cup Playoffs, where they lost to Colorado in the Wild Card round. He was a crucial member of the side that won MLS Cup in 2008, scoring the game-winning goal in the final against New York. Only Mike Clark (221) has more appearances for the club.
