Clint Dempsey

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Lore & Background

Dempsey was born in Nacogdoches, Texas, and spent his youth career with the Dallas Texans before joining Furman University's men's soccer team in 2001. He was drafted by the New England Revolution in 2004, where he was named MLS Rookie of the Year. In 2007, he 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. 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. He scored 12 goals across all competitions in his one season with Tottenham. He was signed by the Seattle Sounders in 2013, 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 in 2018.

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's early life shaped his career. He grew up in a trailer park in Nacogdoches, Texas, playing soccer with the complex's large population of Hispanic immigrants. His older brother Ryan was offered a tryout for the Dallas Texans, an elite youth soccer club, and brought Dempsey, who was noticed while juggling a ball on the sidelines. Dempsey became a standout but had to quit due to financial constraints until teammates' parents offered to assist with expenses. On November 27, 1995, his 16-year-old sister Jennifer died from a brain aneurysm. Dempsey was devastated and later explained that this event helped him develop a deeper motivation to pursue soccer in her honor. He went on to be captain and high scorer of the Texans and was honored with the MVP of the Tampa Bay Sun Bowl tournament. He attended Furman University as a health and exercise science major and was named second team NSCAA All-American in 2002.

Did You Know?

• Dempsey is one of several Americans to have scored in three different FIFA World Cups (2006, 2010, and 2014), alongside Landon Donovan (2002, 2010, 2014), DaMarcus Beasley (2002, 2006, 2014), and others like Brian McBrid
• He scored the 5th fastest goal in World Cup history at the time of the 2014 tournament (29 seconds), though it has since been surpassed.
• Dempsey is tied with Landon Donovan for the record of most international goals by an American player with 57 goals.
• He became the first American player to score a hat-trick in the Premier League in 2012.
• Dempsey was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat in 2016 and missed the Seattle Sounders' run to the MLS Cup, but returned to win the 2017 MLS Comeback Player of the Year Award.