Clint Dempsey

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

A native of Nacogdoches, Texas, Dempsey spent his youth career with the Dallas Texans before joining Furman University's men's soccer team in 2001. In 2004, he was drafted by the New England Revolution, where he was named MLS Rookie of the Year in 2004 and named to the MLS Best XI in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, Dempsey signed for Premier League club Fulham for £2 million. With Fulham, he was an integral part of the team that were runners-up to Atlético Madrid for the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League. He was awarded Fulham Player of the Season for 2010–11 and 2011–12, where he was the club's top scorer for both. In 2012, Dempsey became the first American player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League. He is Fulham's all-time top Premier League goalscorer with 50 goals. In 2012, Tottenham Hotspur signed Dempsey for a fee of $9.6 million, then a league record signing for an American. He scored 12 goals across all competitions in his one season with Tottenham including 7 league goals. He was signed by the Seattle Sounders the following year, and played 115 matches for the club, scoring 47 goals, and leading the club to win the 2014 Supporters' Shield. During the 2016 season, Dempsey was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat and missed the team's run to the MLS Cup. He returned the following season, winning the 2017 MLS Comeback Player of the Year Award before announcing his retirement from professional soccer in 2018. Dempsey represented the United States at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship and made his first appearance with the senior team on November 17, 2004. He earned more than 140 caps and scored 57 international goals, making him the nation's fourth-most capped player and tying him with Landon Donovan as the top all-time scorer with 57 goals. Dempsey is the only American to have scored in three different FIFA World Cups; 2006, 2010, and 2014; with the latter edition he scored the 5th fastest goal in World Cup history. He was runner-up of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, where he received the Bronze Ball. Dempsey won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2005, 2007, and 2017; also winning the Golden Boot of the 2015 edition. Individually, Dempsey won both the U.S. Soccer Player of the Year award three times, and the Fútbol de Primera Player of the Year three times. In 2022, he was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

In Their Own Story

Dempsey represented the United States at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship and made his first senior team appearance on November 17, 2004. He earned more than 140 caps and scored 57 international goals, making him the nation's fourth-most capped player and tying him with Landon Donovan as the top all-time scorer. Dempsey is the only American to have scored in three different FIFA World Cups: 2006, 2010, and 2014. In the 2014 World Cup, he scored the 5th fastest goal in World Cup history. He was runner-up of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, where he received the Bronze Ball. Dempsey won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2005, 2007, and 2017, also winning the Golden Boot of the 2015 edition. Individually, Dempsey won the U.S. Soccer Player of the Year award three times and the Fútbol de Primera Player of the Year three times. In 2022, he was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Reader's Guide

Dempsey was born in Nacogdoches, Texas, and is of Irish ancestry on his father's side. For much of his childhood, Dempsey's family lived in a trailer park where he and his siblings grew up playing soccer with the complex's large population of Hispanic immigrants. In his teens, Dempsey maintained these ties playing in a local Mexican-dominated adult league. His older brother, Ryan, was offered a tryout for the Dallas Texans, an elite youth soccer club, and brought Dempsey, who was noticed and recruited while passing time juggling a ball on the sidelines. Dempsey became a standout on the team at an early age but had to quit due to financial constraints as his eldest sister Jennifer was becoming a ranked youth tennis player. Several parents of his teammates with the Texans offered to assist the Dempseys with expenses and travel, allowing him to rejoin the club. On November 27, 1995, Dempsey's 16-year-old sister Jennifer died from a brain aneurysm. Dempsey was devastated with the family's loss and later explained that this event helped him develop a deeper motivation to pursue soccer in honor of his sister. He went on to be the captain and high scorer of the Texans and was honored with the MVP of the Tampa Bay Sun Bowl tournament. Dempsey studied the play of Argentina's national team, especially Diego Maradona, and was heartbroken when the news came to Nacogdoches that Maradona would not be playing in the 1994 World Cup game played in the Cotton Bowl. He attended Furman University as a health and exercise science major and a key player for Paladins soccer. Dempsey was an 'outstanding' midfielder while at Furman, named second team NSCAA All-American in 2002, and receiving All-Southern Conference first team honors in 2001 and 2002. He earned NSCAA All-South Region honors in 2002 and 2003 and was a member of the 2001 Soccer America and College Soccer News All-Freshman teams.

Did You Know?

• Dempsey is the only American to have scored in three different FIFA World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014).
• He scored the 5th fastest goal in World Cup history in 2014.
• Dempsey is tied with Landon Donovan for the record of most international goals by an American (57).
• He was the first American player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League.