Clint Dempsey

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.

In Their Own Story

December 2013. The air in Qwest Field is thick and cold, the kind of Pacific Northwest winter that seeps into your lungs with every breath. Forty thousand voices are a single organism, drums hammering a rhythm that vibrates through the concrete under your feet. Dempsey lines up on the edge of the box, left foot back, eyes locked on the ball. The 12th Man inhales as one. He strikes. The net ripples. The stadium detonates. Strangers embrace in the stands, a woman in the Loyal Fan Zone is sobbing into a green scarf, and somewhere in the tunnel, the entire backline is already sprinting toward the touchline. Dempsey jogs to the corner flag, points at the crowd, and the roar that answers him shakes the upper deck. He will never play a home game in Seattle again, but this night—the green and gold, the drums, the cold air on his face—will be the one he carries for the rest of his career. And the city will carry him forever.

Reader's Guide

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.

Did You Know?

• Dempsey is tied with Landon Donovan for the most international goals by an American player (57).
• He is the only American to have scored in three different FIFA World Cups (2006, 2010, 2014).
• Dempsey scored the 5th fastest goal in World Cup history in 2014.
• He was named MLS Rookie of the Year in 2004.
• Dempsey is Fulham's all-time top Premier League goalscorer with 50 goals.