Bradley Howard Friedel (born May 18, 1971) is an American professional soccer coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper.
Friedel played 84 games for the United States national team between 1992 and 2005, and represented his country at three FIFA World Cup tournaments. He is the current holder of the Premier League record for most consecutive appearances with 310, a feat he achieved during spells at Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur. Until he was left out of the Tottenham team on October 7, 2012, the last Premier League games Friedel missed were Blackburn's final two fixtures of the 2003–04 season against Tottenham and Birmingham City, on May 10 and 15, 2004, respectively.
Friedel is also officially Aston Villa's oldest-ever player, a record he set on February 1, 2011, by playing in the club's Premier League fixture away at Manchester United. Friedel's age of 39 years and 259 days surpassed the previous record held by Ernie Callaghan, who last played for Villa against Grimsby Town in April 1947, aged 39 years and 257 days. Friedel's last appearance for Villa was on May 22, 2011, in a 1–0 home win against Liverpool, aged 40 years and four days.
On May 6, 2012, Friedel also became the oldest player to appear in a competitive match for Tottenham when he played in the club's Premier League fixture at Aston Villa, beating Jimmy Cantrell's near-80-year-old record. He ended his Premier League career after a total of 450 appearances, which remains a record for any North or South American player.
Born in Lakewood, Ohio, Friedel grew up in Bay Village, where he attended Westerly Elementary School, Bay Middle School and Bay High School. Growing up, Friedel played several sports, including soccer, basketball and tennis, and excelled at all three. He earned Bay High's Outstanding Athlete of the Year award in 1989. As an All-State basketball player in Ohio, he was invited to try out as a walk-on for UCLA's basketball team in 1990. He began as a forward on his youth soccer team before moving into goalkeeping. Friedel graduated from Bay High in 1989. In 2007, he was inducted into the Bay High Hall of Fame.
Friedel played college soccer at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In 1990, he kept goal for the Bruins to the NCAA championship. He was selected as the first team All-American goalkeeper in 1991 and 1992, and won the Hermann Trophy in 1993 as the top collegiate soccer player. He played 66 games for the UCLA, all of which he started. Soccer America magazine named Friedel to its College Team of the Century.
Friedel left UCLA early to pursue a professional career. He began by attempting to sign with Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough, but was denied a work permit, the first in several such failed attempts to move to England. Following a brief trial in Scotland with Celtic, Friedel instead registered with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and played exclusively with the United States national team as it prepared for the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Following the end of the World Cup, Friedel began searching for a professional club.
Friedel was signed by manager Kevin Keegan of Newcastle United, but again was denied a work permit. While awaiting approval from the British authorities, he practiced with Newcastle as an on-loan player from the USSF.
Friedel joined Danish Superliga club Brøndby IF in the spring of 1995. He stayed with that club for several months in 1995, as back-up to Mogens Krogh. Friedel remained with Brøndby until he returned to the U.S. to rejoin the national team, then preparing for the 1995 U.S. Cup and Copa America.
After the two tournaments, Friedel attempted a third time to join an English club, this time Sunderland. While awaiting a decision regarding his latest application for a work permit, Friedel spent time training with League of Ireland side St. Patrick's Athletic, who were managed at the time by Brian Kerr, a friend of Sunderland manager Peter Reid's. When Friedel again failed to receive a British work permit, his agent negotiated a $1.1 million transfer from the USSF to leading Turkish team Galatasaray in 1995. Galatasaray were managed by Friedel's future Blackburn Rovers manager Graeme Souness. In July 1996, following the end of the Turkish season, Friedel moved to the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer (MLS). In February 1997, he signed a three-year contract with the Crew as he was named the team's starter. That season, he was selected to the MLS Best XI and named the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.
Friedel completed a transfer to Liverpool, worth £1.7 million, in 1997. On December 23, 1997, Liverpool gained a work permit for Friedel on appeal after the first request was denied. He made his debut against Aston Villa on February 28, 1998. While Friedel had some initial success with the Reds, he soon had a difficult time, managing just over 30 games in almost three years, including two appearances in the UEFA Cup, as he sat behind first David James and later Sander Westerveld.
Having not played for over a year due to competition from Westerveld and Pegguy Arphexad, Friedel's work permit at Liverpool expired in 2000.
On November 7, 2000 Friedel was signed to Blackburn Rovers by his former Galatasaray manager Graeme Souness, on a free transfer. He made his debut in the Football League First Division on November 18 in a 1–0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, in which he made a close-range save from Tony Dinning. His team ended the 2000–01 season with promotion, ending a two-year spell outside the Premier League.
Freidel was named man of the match as Blackburn beat the odds to win the 2002 Football League Cup final on February 24, 2–1 against Tottenham Hotspur. He and goalscorer Andy Cole were singled out for praise by Souness after the match.
At the end of the 2002–03 season, Friedel's 15 clean sheets earned him Blackburn's Player of the Year award, as well as selection to the Premiership Starting XI. On February 21, 2004, in an away game against Charlton Athletic, Friedel scored a goal from open play in the 90th minute, from a corner kick. Friedel's goal equalized the game at 2–2, but seconds later Charlton scored again through Claus Jensen, and went on to win the match 3–2. He became just the second goalkeeper in Premier League history (excluding own goals) to score, after Peter Schmeichel for Aston Villa in 2001.
Friedel signed new contracts in September 2005, April 2007 and February 2008, stating on the last occasion that, "I am delighted to have extended the agreement. It was not a difficult decision to make. Blackburn Rovers is home to me. This is my club and I have a special affinity with it." He would, however, leave the club at the end of that season to join Aston Villa, just two league appearances short of Terry Gennoe's club record of 289 for a goalkeeper.
In February 2019 he was one of the first seven players to be inducted into the club's Hall of Fame.
Friedel had asked Blackburn for permission to let him speak with Aston Villa if an offer was accepted, with Manchester City reportedly interested in signing the American. The club accepted a transfer bid for Friedel, thought to be in the region of £2.5 million, subject to Blackburn themselves having a bid accepted for a replacement goalkeeper. Villa held talks with Friedel on July 25, and he signed a three-year contract with Villa the day after. He was unveiled at half-time during Villa's Intertoto Cup match against Odense, and made his debut against Reading on August 2 at the Madejski Stadium; just ten minutes in, the hosts were awarded a penalty, which Friedel then saved. His competitive debut came in the UEFA Cup second qualifying round, first leg, against Hafnarfjorður away from home. Villa won the match 4–1. Friedel played his first league match for Villa on August 17, 2008, the first match for Villa in the 2008–09 season, in which Villa beat Manchester City 4–2 at home.