Longtime Union captain Alejandro Bedoya will retire at the end of the season
It is no secret that this was a while in coming, as the team's longtime captain has spoken for a few years about seeing the end on the horizon. Now it has arrived, and on his terms.
After over a decade with the Union and 17 years in professional soccer, Alejandro Bedoya has decided it’s finally time to step away from the field.
The 39-year-old announced Monday that he will retire from playing at the end of the season. The news was coming, as the longtime captain has spoken for a few years about seeing the end on the horizon.
Now it has arrived, and on his terms.
“When I look back on my time in Philadelphia, so many moments come to mind, from the big wins and incredible matches to the challenges we faced along the way,” Bedoya said in a statement. “However, what stands out most is everything beyond the game. I came here because I believed in what the club was building and wanted to be part of that vision.”
Not only has he been part of it, he played a key role in fostering it. Nine out of the Union’s 10 playoff seasons have come during his tenure, topped by a 2022 MLS Cup final appearance, as have both of the club’s Supporters’ Shield trophies for the best regular-season record.
He has also been an outstanding teacher of the many young Americans developed in the Union’s youth academy, from Brenden Aaronson in his early years to Cavan Sullivan, Neil Pierre, and Frankie Westfield now.
Along with a club career that currently stands at exactly 550 games across five teams — the Union, France’s Nantes, Scotland’s Rangers, and Sweden’s Örebro and Helsingborgs — Bedoya played 66 times for the U.S. national team. He was on the 2014 World Cup team and played in the 2016 Copa América Centenario a few weeks before joining the Union from Nantes.
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Thirteen of his caps were earned as a Union player, and there might have been more had the U.S. not stunningly failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Bedoya was forced to watch the historic loss at Trinidad & Tobago from the bench at the stadium.
Beyond his play, he has used his leadership skills to speak up off the field. The son of Colombian immigrants is a fierce champion of diversity in American soccer and the nation as a whole, and other causes he cares about.
One of them is combating gun violence, and that is the subject where he made his biggest mark. In 2019, after scoring a goal in a nationally televised game at D.C. United, Bedoya picked up a broadcast microphone on the field and shouted: “Hey, Congress: Do something now! End gun violence! Let’s go!”
That moment took place around a year after a mass shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., about 15 minutes from Bedoya’s former hometown of Weston, Fla. He grew up there with his family from age 9, after spending his earliest years in Englewood, N.J.
Despite the risks of speaking up as an athlete, Bedoya has generally been applauded by Union fans for his positions.
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This became another reason Bedoya embraced the city and the club, and put down roots here. He owns a house in Fishtown with his wife, Bea, a Norwegian native, whom he met while playing in Sweden in the early 2010s, and their two children.
“I especially want to thank my family, because without their love and support, I wouldn’t have been able to pursue this dream,” Bedoya said. “I’ll miss this city and this club tremendously, but I take comfort in knowing I’ve given everything I had on the pitch. Philadelphia and this club have given me more than I ever could have imagined when I first arrived, and I’ll always be grateful for that.”
In recent years, as Bedoya’s playing time wound down, he took on a new role as a front office ambassador for the Union. He also became a leading face of Philadelphia’s bid to host games in this year’s men’s World Cup, and during the tournament made a successful debut as a Spanish-language television analyst for Telemundo.
That opened another potential post-playing door for him, along with the business interests he has already cultivated.
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But all that will be put aside for a while longer, from Saturday’s regular-season finale against Toronto FC (4 p.m., Apple TV) through the playoff run that follows. Bedoya surely would have it no other way.
“As a captain, leader, and competitor, he set an example for those around him and played an important role in shaping our identity,” Union principal owner Jay Sugarman said in a statement. “Alejandro has left an indelible mark on this organization and on soccer in Philadelphia. We are incredibly grateful for his commitment to this club and everything he has contributed over the last 10 years, and we congratulate him on an outstanding career.”
