U.S. Soccer has announced the first four winners of the 2009 Best of U.S. Soccer Awards following the conclusion of nearly three weeks of fan voting on ussoccer.com. Fans can view videos on ussoccer.com, where the winners for Best Clutch Moment, Best Photo, Best Soccer Blog and Best ussoccer.com Video are revealed. Eight more winners will be revealed Thursday and Friday.

Designated Player, Ives Garcelep and soccerbyives.net won Best Soccer Blog!!!
Good job bro! The first of a few “the Macallan” in New York is on me!

Video and winners of the other three categories after the jump….

Introduced in 2007, “Best Soccer Blog” is one of the newest categories in the Best of U.S. Soccer Awards lineup. In three years the award has become one of the most popular on ussoccer.com and this year was no exception, with the award featuring the third-most total votes on the ballot. ”Soccer by Ives,” led by Editor-in-chief Ives Galarcep of New Jersey, won for the second consecutive year, garnering an impressive 33 percent of the vote. Soccer Insider, the 2007 winner, placed second with 16 percent while ussoccer.com’s own WNT Blog came in third (14 percent).

Best Soccer Blog

1. Soccer By Ives 33%
2. Soccer Insider 16%
3. WNT Blog 14%

Best Clutch Moment

1. U.S. Defense vs. Spain, June 24 24%
2. Jonathan Bornstein’s Goal, Oct. 14 22%
3. Abby Wambach’s 100th Goal, July 19 14%

Best Photo

1. Spain Slips 17%
2. Celebration Road 15%
3. Hometown Hero 14%

Best ussoccer.com Video

1. Behind the Scenes, Oct. 14 17%
2. Behind the Scenes with Jonathan Spector 16%
3. Behind the Scenes, Oct. 10 15%