Ray Gaddis has been a pillar of the Philadelphia Union organization since he was drafted in the second round of the 2012 MLS SuperDraft. This past Saturday against Columbus Crew SC, Gaddis stepped up for the Union and hit a career milestone.
At halftime of the match, Gaddis entered the contest as a substitution replacing an injured Fabinho. With the appearance, Gaddis has now played 145 MLS matches in his career, all with Philadelphia. In the final 45 minutes of action, Gaddis proved his veteran leadership by taking over on the left side of the backline.
Gaddis finished the match strong with 45 minutes of hard work to help solidify the shutout and keep Gyasi Zardes and the Crew off the scoresheet. Gaddis was on the left side of the pitch with 19-year-old Auston Trusty as the Union earned a tough point against Columbus.
As for Gaddis, stepping up on the pitch has been his mantra. In his first four seasons with Philadelphia, Gaddis appeared in 111 MLS regular-season matches. In his third season with the club, Gaddis started every match for Philadelphia, logging over 3,000 minutes and recorded a personal best for assists in a season.
On top of Gaddis’ 145 MLS regular season appearances which ranks third all-time in club history, the West Virginia Mountaineer has logged 12,215 minutes played, just 46 minutes shy of moving into third all-time in Union history. Gaddis would then trail only Sebastian Le Toux and Brian Carroll for most all-time in both categories.
As the club still evaluates the status of Fabinho’s injury, one thing remains certain, Philadelphia fans can count on Gaddis to step up in any situation that he’s called upon.
