Veteran midfielder Kyle Beckerman is returning to Real Salt Lake in 2020 for his 21st Major League Soccer season.
RSL signed Beckerman to a new contract Monday, continuing the 37-year-old’s streak as the league’s longest-tenured active player. Beckerman’s MLS career started in 2000 with the now-defunct Miami Fusion. He first joined Salt Lake in 2007 via a mid-season trade with the Colorado Rapids.
“Over the last 13 seasons, Utah has been home for me and I’m proud of Real Salt Lake’s role on and off the field in building the soccer community here,” Beckerman said in a prepared statement. “The fans have welcomed me from Day One and I am eager to get back on the field for another season with RSL because there is still so much more to accomplish. I know I have a role to play in reaching those goals for myself and the club.”
RSL joined MLS as an expansion team in 2005, meaning Beckerman, who turns 38 in April, has been on the field for most of the club’s seminal moments, including the 2009 MLS Cup victory, 2013 MLS and U.S. Open Cup final runs and 2011 Concacaf Champions League final appearance.
Beckerman has captained Real Salt Lake and has recorded 34 goals 43 assists in 399 appearances across all competitions. He converted five assists in 25 starts last season while earning $325,000 in guaranteed compensation, according to MLS Players Association figures.
In addition to his contributions at the club level, Beckerman made 59 appearances for the US men’s national team between 2007-16 and played at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
“We’re incredibly excited to have Kyle back in 2020,” RSL coach Freddy Juarez added. “He’s so important to us in so many ways as a player, a leader and has been a great representative of our club. Everything that this club has done has happened with him leading the team.
He’s always a great leader through both good and bad times and we expect nothing different from him again this year.”