Background and career
Clinton Drew Dempsey (; born March 9, 1983) is an American former professional soccer player who is a sports analyst on the television program Soccer on CBS Sports. He played as a forward and midfielder for Premier League clubs Fulham and Tottenham Hotspur and in Major League Soccer for clubs New England Revolution and Seattle Sounders FC. Widely considered as one of the greatest American players of all time, he was one of his country's most important trailblazers in Europe, and is tied with Landon Donovan for the record of most international goals scored by an American player (57). 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, which Dempsey holds the all-time American goalscoring record for a single top tier European league with 57. 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.
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.
The New England Revolution selected Clint Dempsey with their first pick (eighth overall) in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. He made his Revolution debut in the 2004 season home opener, a 3–1 loss against the San Jose Earthquakes on April 17, 2004. The match was notable as the final home appearance for Revolution striker Joe-Max Moore. Dempsey scored his first MLS goal the following week, giving the Revolution a 12th minute lead against the MetroStars on April 25. In his rookie season, Dempsey started 23 of 24 matches, playing at least three with a broken jaw, and scoring seven goals, tied for third on the team with Steve Ralston. Dempsey helped the Revolution to the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals and earned 2004 MLS Rookie of the Year Honors, beating out finalists Freddy Adu and Chad Marshall. He was also named the 2004 Man of the Year by the Midnight Riders, and was named an MLS All-Star. In 2005, Dempsey contributed ten goals and nine assists in 26 games, second in team scoring behind Taylor Twellman. He was named MLS Player of the Week for matchweek 4, and won MLS Goal of the Week in matchweek 5, a strike which was subsequently a finalist for 2005 MLS Goal of the Year. He scored the game-winning goal in the 4th minute of the Eastern Conference Final on his way to an appearance in the MLS Cup Final. He was again named an MLS All-Star, and also named a member of the MLS Best XI.
In March 2006, Dempsey received a two-week suspension for fighting with teammate Joe Franchino in practice. During the regular season, Dempsey added eight more goals, but missed significant time in the playoffs due to injury, and time during the regular season due to the World Cup. Dempsey won MLS Player of the Week honors for week 14, and MLS Goal of the Week in matchweek 28 for his strike against D.C. United. He came on as a substitute in the MLS Cup Final, but the Revolution lost their second straight final, this time in a penalty shoot-out. He was named an MLS All-Star for a third time, and to the MLS Best-XI for a second time.
In December 2006, English club Fulham offered MLS $4 million for the transfer of Dempsey, then the largest amount ever offered for an MLS player, and he became another American addition to a Cottagers' squad which included U.S. internationals Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra. On January 11, 2007, he was granted a work permit from the Home Office as Fulham announced his signing on a long-term deal. This made Dempsey the most expensive American export to the Premier League in a deal worth a reported £2 million. He made his Fulham debut in a 1–1 home draw against Tottenham Hotspur on January 20, 2007. His FA Cup debut followed seven days later in a 3–0 home win over Stoke City. Dempsey scored his first goal for Fulham on May 5 when he struck the only goal of a 1–0 home win over Liverpool. This goal saved Fulham from relegation and effectively guaranteed their place in the top-flight for the following season.
Dempsey was not in the starting XI for the first three matches of the 2007–08 season, but after an injury to Brian McBride, he came into the side as a striker and scored in a 2–1 defeat against Aston Villa. He followed this up by scoring in Fulham's next fixture in a 3–3 home draw against Tottenham on September 1. Two weeks later, he opened the scoring in Fulham's 1–1 away draw against Wigan Athletic. These goals gave Dempsey three in as many games. On September 29, Dempsey was involved in an aerial collision with John Terry during a 0–0 draw at Stamford Bridge which resulted in Terry later being substituted. There was some suggestion that Dempsey used a deliberate elbow on Terry; however, referee Martin Atkinson did not report the incident to The Football Association. On November 3, Dempsey scored during Fulham's 3–1 home win over Reading to secure just a second league win of the season. He scored his last goals of the season in a 1–1 home draw with Wigan Athletic and a 5–1 away loss to Tottenham in December. In May 2008, Fulham announced Dempsey had signed a contract extension which would keep him at the club until the summer of 2010. Fulham beat Portsmouth 1–0 on the final day of the season to secure Premier League status for another year. He ended the season as Fulham's top Premier League goalscorer with six goals.
