Michael Parkhurst Named Atlanta United's First Captain

Atlanta United has named Michael Parkhurst the first captain in club history, giving Tata Martino’s expansion roster a veteran defender with a track record in the role.

Parkhurst wore the armband in Atlanta United’s preseason opener at Chattanooga, and the club has now made the role official as it moves into the Carolina Challenge Cup and toward its first MLS match.

Parkhurst joined Atlanta United in December through a trade with the Columbus Crew, with Atlanta sending GAM ( General Allocation Money ) to Columbus. The deal came during the league’s half-day trade window and gave Atlanta another experienced piece for a roster that had already drawn attention through bigger attacking moves.

Atlanta United has built much of its early public identity around speed, ambition and attacking talent. Miguel Almirón, Héctor Villalba and Josef Martínez give Martino the pieces to make Atlanta dangerous in the final third. Parkhurst brings the experience behind Atlanta’s ambition. He can organize the back line, steady a new locker room and step into a captaincy role he has already held in MLS.

Parkhurst captained Columbus for the previous three seasons. He also brought experience from New England, Columbus, Europe and the United States men’s national team. Atlanta United is giving the armband to a player who has already led an MLS locker room and played through the demands of a full league season.

The appointment also fits the way Atlanta United has built its first roster. The club has paired young attacking signings and international talent with experienced players across the field. Parkhurst, Greg Garza, Tyrone Mears and Jeff Larentowicz give Martino a veteran base around players such as Miguel Almirón, Héctor Villalba and Josef Martínez.

For Parkhurst, the move to Atlanta was already a new challenge. He left an established MLS club for an expansion team with a new locker room and a new coaching staff. The role asks more than minutes at center back. It asks a veteran player to help define how the first Atlanta United team trains, communicates and handles pressure.

Carlos Bocanegra and Martino told Parkhurst at the training field, turning the captaincy into another marker in Atlanta United’s preseason build. Martino called the appointment “merecido,” deserved, in the club’s announcement.

Atlanta United needed more than a center back when it acquired Parkhurst from Columbus. It needed someone who could help organize a new team from the inside.

The armband now belongs to Parkhurst. Atlanta United has its first captain, and its first locker room has a veteran voice at the center of it.