Clinton Drew Dempsey (/ˈdɛmpsi/; 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. Considered one of the greatest American players of all time, he is frequently debated with Landon Donovan for the title.[5][6][7][8][9][10] Dempsey is Fulham's all-time leading Premier League goalscorer (50)[11] and is tied with 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 scored 25 goals in 71 appearances. 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 of 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.[12] He is the Fulham's all-time leading Premier League goalscorer with 50 goals.[11]
In 2012, Tottenham signed Dempsey for a fee of $9.6 million, then a record signing for an American. He scored 12 goals in one season with Tottenham, giving him 72 goals across all competitions for Premier League clubs—the most by an American in a top-tier European league.[13] 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. He announced 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 represented the United States at four CONCACAF Gold Cups (winning three), helped them to the final of the 2009 Confederations Cup, and scored in each of the three World Cups he attended.[14][15] In 2022, Dempsey was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.[16]
^"Clint Dempsey". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
^Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
^"Clint Dempsey - Premier League". Retrieved March 17, 2021.
^"Clint Dempsey". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
^"Best American Soccer Players of All Time (Men and Women)". Soccer Mavericks. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
^"Who did you vote as the GOAT from the biggest nations?". ESPN. November 18, 2020. Archived from the original on December 31, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
^Seltzer, Greg. "Top 10 US national team players of the modern era". mlssoccer.com. MLS. Archived from the original on January 1, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
^"Clint Dempsey is Mr. Clutch and USMNT's greatest-ever player". ESPN FC. March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
^"The top 50 players in USMNT history". FOX Sports. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
^"Clint Dempsey was the greatest USMNT player of his generation". NBC Sports. August 29, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
^ ab"Fulham's Greatest Scorer: Dempsey". Fulham FC. July 27, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
^"Fulham 5–2 Newcastle". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. January 12, 2012. Archived from the original on February 28, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
^Tomaszewicz, Matthew (August 7, 2013). "Why would Clint Dempsey move from Spurs to the Seattle Sounders?". The Guardian.
^"Team USA's Clint Dempsey Scores 5th-Fastest Goal in World Cup History". Bleacher Report. June 17, 2014.
^Mayers, Joshua (June 16, 2014). "Clint Dempsey becomes first American to score in three World Cups, has nose broken". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on July 23, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
^Johnathan Wright (May 22, 2022). "Clint Dempsey thanks family in emotional Hall of Fame acceptance speech". MLS.
selected ClintDempsey eighth overall in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft. In his rookie season, he started 23 of 24 matches scoring seven goals. Dempsey helped...
North America. Its former players have included U.S. international ClintDempsey, long-time captain Osvaldo Alonso, and all-time assist leader Nicolás...
with ClintDempsey for the title. Donovan holds the world record for the male with the most international assists (58) and is tied with Dempsey for the...
ClintDempsey is an American retired professional soccer player who represented the United States in international competition. From 2004 to 2017, Dempsey...
and politician ClintDempsey (born 1983), American soccer player Courtenay Dempsey (born 1987), Australian rules footballer Damien Dempsey, Irish singer...
own goal. 5 goals Luís Fabiano 3 goals Fernando Torres David Villa ClintDempsey 2 goals Kaká Mohamed Zidan Katlego Mphela Bernard Parker Giuseppe Rossi...
international debut on January 28, 2015, when he came on as a substitute for ClintDempsey in the 68th minute against Chile. On February 8, 2015, Zardes made his...
occasions, eliminated United States from those previous World Cups. ClintDempsey opened the scoring for the United States within 29 seconds (the fifth...
Players who made major contributions to their clubs. The departures of ClintDempsey and Jozy Altidore, coupled with the return of former U.S. national team...
joined AZ in the Netherlands. On March 3, 2013, Altidore surpassed ClintDempsey for most goals by an American in a European club season with his 24th...
such as Tim Howard, DaMarcus Beasley, Maurice Edu, Carlos Bocanegra, ClintDempsey, Jozy Altidore, Ben Olsen, Sacha Kljestan, Freddy Adu, Brad Guzan, Michael...
equalised in the 40th minute when a seemingly harmless pot shot by ClintDempsey was mishandled by England goalkeeper Robert Green and rolled into the...
Cup third round fixture against Coventry City as well as assisting ClintDempsey on both of his goals in a 3–0 win. On 30 January, Bale scored a magnificent...
alternative rock band, which formed in 1994 with Paul Dempsey on lead vocals and guitar, and Clint Hyndman on drums. They were joined in 1998 by Stephanie...
to June. The team's struggles were blamed, in part, on injuries and ClintDempsey's call-up to play in the World Cup that required manager Steve Nicol...
Zamora, who had been a fitness doubt prior to the game, was replaced by ClintDempsey, who became the first American to appear in a major European football...
Wayne Rooney Manchester United 27 3 Sergio Agüero Manchester City 23 4 ClintDempsey Fulham 17 Emmanuel Adebayor Tottenham Hotspur Yakubu Blackburn 7 Demba...
Timbers: What's next for ClintDempsey?". The Oregonian. Retrieved July 26, 2016. Scott, Nate (June 19, 2015). "MLS hits ClintDempsey with a 3-game suspension...