Kavan Sullivan has become the youngest player to participate in a Major League Soccer match at the age of 14 years and 293 days when he came on as a substitute for the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday. He appeared in the 85th minute of the match held at his team's home against New England Revolution, just a minute after his older brother, Quinn Sullivan (20 years old), scored the final goal in Philadelphia's 5-1 victory. Sullivan is 13 days younger than the previous record holder, Freddy Adu, who made his debut with D.C. United in 2004 at the age of 14 years and 306 days.
This record is not just significant in soccer but also across all American team sports and in major European leagues, where it is believed that Ethan Nwaneri is the youngest player to participate in a match when he played for Arsenal at 15 years and 181 days.
Sullivan remarked, "It’s awesome to hold the record for age; this is just the beginning." He added, "I’m very happy to have achieved this, but it’s just the start, there’s a long journey ahead of me. I know it's about where I will end up, not just where I started." He continued, "So I will just keep working and developing here. My main focus is on Philadelphia and the season ahead of us.”
Sullivan signed a record contract in the MLS for a domestic player in May, which reportedly includes a clause that allows him to leave for English club Manchester City when he turns 18. While this clause has not been officially confirmed, Sullivan told ESPN that the collaboration between Philadelphia and the Manchester City group was a key reason for him signing the record deal.
