(WSB photo: Zach Scott signing autographs at 2011 Lafayette Elementary playground celebration)

After the Seattle Sounders FC‘s 1-0 win over Vancouver at CenturyLink Field today, fans have three more regular-season chances to cheer for the West Seattle-residing player who has announced this is his last season. 36-year-old Zach Scott plans to retire after what the team describes as “a distinguished 15-year professional career in Seattle at the USL and MLS levels, making 347 all-time appearances in a Sounders uniform, including the last eight seasons in MLS.” Scott “won seven trophies throughout his time in Seattle, including two USL league titles, four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups and the 2014 Supporters’ Shield.” In addition, the club notes that Scott “is one of three remaining original players from Sounders FC’s expansion season in 2009, and he ranks fifth in club history with 116 career regular-season appearances, starting 91.”

Scott grew up in Hawai’i and lives in West Seattle with his wife Alana and their three children. When not on the field, he’s given a lot of his time to community involvement – some of which is chronicled in WSB coverage archives, like his visits to the West Seattle Cup community soccer event in June 2014:

(June 2014 photo contributed by Steph – that’s her son Zach Arthur with Zach Scott at the West Seattle Cup)

The Sounders announcement of Scott’s upcoming retirement quotes him as saying, “The time has come for me to turn the page on my soccer career and start a new chapter of my life. When I signed with the USL Sounders in 2002, I never imagined that I would have a professional career that lasted 15 years, and it’s been a rare blessing to have played in the same city the entire time. That said, I have much more to offer in this life and I couldn’t be more excited to see what’s next. … It’s unlike me to draw individual attention to myself, and my focus for the rest of the season remains on helping my teammates and this club get to the playoffs. However, my family and I owe so much to the overall Seattle community and the organization, so we wanted to share these final weeks with everyone. I wouldn’t have wanted my career to go any other way and I couldn’t have picked a better place for us to put down roots as a family.”

(Sounders file photo of Zach Scott, by Corky Trewin, used with permission)

The Sounders’ schedule for the rest of the season is here; the three home games are two Wednesdays (7:30 pm), September 28th vs. Chicago and October 12th vs. Houston, and one Sunday (1 pm), October 23rd vs. Salt Lake.