Major League Soccer had a set of emergency goalkeepers who were signed to a contract with the league and were loaned to teams during emergencies in which they were missing a goalkeeper due to injuries or suspensions. The pool goalkeeper trained with an MLS club or an affiliated team when not assigned to a team; some pool goalkeepers, including Tim Melia, have gone on to be signed to permanent contract with their assigned teams.

When originally created, the league had several goalkeepers on their pool roster as roster sizes were small (around 20 players), with teams commonly only having two goalkeepers signed to the roster. However, MLS rosters have since increased to include up to 30 players and teams are required to carry three goalkeepers. In addition, the league's "extreme hardship" roster rules allow teams to bring up a goalkeeper from its MLS Next Pro side or another affiliate on a short-term basis, which has resulted in the need for a pool goalkeeper lessening. Whereas prior years saw three to four pool goalkeepers signed, now there is usually only one or two keepers on the pool roster.

List

MLS Pool Goalkeepers
SeasonGoalkeepersReferences
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003Clint Baumstark
2004Clint Baumstark, Andrew Terris
2005Clint Baumstark
2006Sam Reynolds
2007David Monsalve, Boris Pardo, Sam Reynolds, Kenny Schoeni
2008Mike Graczyk, Andrew Kartunen, David Monsalve, Bryant Rueckner, Chris Sharpe
2009Miguel Benitez, Ben Dragavon, Kevin Guppy, Bryant Rueckner, Chris Sharpe
2010Kevin Guppy, Alex Horwath, Chris Sharpe
2011Kevin Guppy, Chris Konopka, Chris Sharpe
2012Scott Angevine, Brian Rowe, Chris Sharpe, Steve Spangler
2013Doug Herrick, Brad Stuver
2014Tim Melia, Daniel Withrow
2015Trey Mitchell
2016Trey Mitchell
2017Billy Heavner
2018Billy Heavner
2019Charlie Lyon
2020Charlie Lyon, Caleb Patterson-Sewell
2021Greg Ranjitsingh
2022Cody Cropper
2023Kenneth Vermeer
  • Lists prior to 2007 are incomplete