Sébastien Le Toux is a retired French footballer who spent the majority of his professional career at Philadelphia Union and last played for D.C. United. The versatile attacker, who became Philadelphia's first All-Star representative in 2010, was widely regarded as one of the hardest workers in the league. Le Toux won the MLS Individual Fair Play Award in both 2010 and 2011. Le Toux racked up over 263 career MLS appearances with 59 goals and 57 assists in nine years in MLS.
Career
Professional
Le Toux was part of the youth setup at Rennes, and briefly played for Lorient in Ligue 2, prior to moving to the United States. Le Toux unsuccessfully tried out for MLS side FC Dallas, before eventually signing with the Seattle Sounders of the USL First Division in early 2007. Le Toux netted 10 goals for the Sounders in 2007, tying him with Charles Gbeke of the Montreal Impact as the division's top goal-scorer; he would eventually go on to score 24 goals in 54 league appearances for the team. On 28 September 2007, Le Toux became Seattle's fourth USL First Division Most Valuable Player. On 8 May 2008, Le Toux became the first player to be signed by the Seattle Sounders FC following their expansion into Major League Soccer. He scored the first goal in a 1–1 draw against the Los Angeles Galaxy. He had more success in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on the run to the 2009 Open Cup Final and had an assist on the winning goal to Roger Levesque in the 2–1 victory at RFK Stadium against D.C. United.
Philadelphia Union
Le Toux was not among Seattle's protected 11 players for the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft. He was selected by Philadelphia Union in the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft. He scored a hat trick in the Philadelphia Union's first official home match in Major League Soccer as the Union defeated D.C. United 3–2. Sebastien Le Toux's eighth goal of the season gave the Union a first half lead in front of 18,137 fans at PPL Park. He scored his 10th goal of the season in the 33rd minute for the Union, taking a pass from rookie Danny Mwanga and sending a clean shot past Wizards goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen. His 11th league goal of the season in the 36th minute, leading the Philadelphia Union over Chicago 1–0. Le Toux scored on a penalty deep into stoppage time to give the Philadelphia Union a 2–1 win over Toronto FC. He scored once again against his former club Seattle Sounders, trailing 1–0 entering the second half, Le Toux got the equalizer on a penalty kick in the 54th minute. He finished the 2010 MLS season with 14 league goals. On 8 June, Le Toux was named a nominee for the Major League Soccer All-Star Game. On 18 January 2012, Le Toux, on his personal Twitter page, said that he was "on a jet plane to England" and the day afterBolton Wanderers manager Owen Coyle confirmed that the striker was having a trial with the Premier League side. The trial, however, did not lead to a contract offer.
On 31 January 2012, Philadelphia traded Le Toux to Vancouver Whitecaps FC for allocation money. Le Toux scored four minutes into his MLS debut for the Whitecaps on 10 March, a 2–0 home victory over new side Montreal Impact.
Le Toux was traded to New York Red Bulls on 13 July 2012 in exchange for Dane Richards and allocation money. He scored 24 minutes into his first game with the Red Bulls vs. Seattle Sounders on 15 July 2012 in a match that ended in a 2–2 draw. In his second game, the 1–0 home win against Chicago Fire, Le Toux got the assist for a goal from Thierry Henry with a cross-field ball to the striker.
Return to Philadelphia
On 6 December 2012 Le Toux was traded back to Philadelphia Union in a sign-and-trade from New York Red Bulls. Philadelphia sent allocation money along with Josué Martínez to New York. He scored in the 17th minute of his debut back with the Philadelphia Union and the 2013 Major League Soccer season opener, doing so two years in a row.
On 3 August 2016, Le Toux was traded to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for General Allocation Money.
D.C. United
On 24 January 2017, Le Toux was signed to D.C. United as a free agent. He scored his first goal for DC against the New England Revolution on April 22, 2017. In the next game, he would score his second and last goal for DC against Atlanta United FC on April 30, 2017. Le Toux and United mutually agreed to terminate his contract on 17 August 2017.
International
Le Toux has not been capped by France at any level. In an interview on 2 July 2008, he declared himself available and willing to play for the United States national team.
Personal
Le Toux was born and raised in Rennes, France. He has two brothers and one sister. On 5 August 2010, it was announced that Le Toux has received a United States green card, making him a permanent resident of the country and qualifying him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.
