FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution have signed midfielder Kelyn Rowe. An eight-year MLS veteran who spent the first seven seasons of his professional career with the Revolution, Rowe re-joins the club as a free agent signing after featuring for Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake in 2019.
Rowe, 28, owns 224 appearances with 169 starts, 29 goals, and 42 assists across 15,474 minutes played for his MLS career. With the Revolution, he recorded 206 games played with 160 starts, 29 goals, and 40 assists in 14,604 minutes played from 2012-18. He ranks among New England's all-time leaders in several categories, including games played (7th), games started (10th), minutes played (10th), goals (10th), and assists (T-4th). Rowe has made an additional nine appearances, including seven starts, with one goal and two assists in postseason play.
“Kelyn is a talented player with valuable experience in this league,” said Revolution Sporting Director and Head Coach Bruce Arena. “We are pleased to bring him back to New England and look forward to his contributions on and off the field next season.”
The Revolution initially acquired Rowe with the third-overall selection in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft. On Dec. 18, 2018, New England acquired defender Edgar Castillo in exchange for Rowe, who landed with Sporting Kansas City as part of a three-team trade with the Colorado Rapids. He registered two assists in 14 appearances for Kansas City, before being traded to Real Salt Lake on Aug. 7, 2019. Rowe made four regular-season appearances, as well as one appearance in the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, for Salt Lake.
On the international stage, Rowe has been capped four times by the United States. The Federal Way, Wash. native collected all four of his caps under Bruce Arena at the 2017 Concacaf Gold Cup, where he contributed one goal and one assist in the group stage. Rowe also represented the United States at the Under-23, Under-20, and Under-18 levels.
“New England is a special place to me that feels like home and I’m happy for the opportunity to represent the Revolution again,” said Kelyn Rowe. “I’m also very excited to work with Bruce. He had me briefly when I was at my best and wants to push me to become greater next season.”
Renowned for his extensive work in the New England community through a number of philanthropic causes – including fighting childhood cancer through his partnership with the Jesse Rees Foundation and Kelyn's NEGU Crew – Rowe was named the Revolution's Humanitarian of the Year four straight times from 2014-17.
TRANSACTION: New England Revolution signed midfielder Kelyn Rowe as a free agent on Dec. 4, 2019.
KELYN ROWE
Full Name: Kelyn Rowe
Pronunciation: KELL-len ROW
Position: Midfielder
Height: 5-8
Weight: 150
Hometown: Federal Way, Wash.
Date of Birth: Dec. 2, 1991 (Federal Way, Wash.)
Nationality: United States
Last Club: Real Salt Lake (MLS)
Acquired: Signed as a free agent on Dec. 4, 2019.
