Clint Dempsey – Fulham’s Midfielder
Clint Dempsey – Midfielder / Striker / Winger of Fulham F.C. – English Premier League Football Club
Clinton Drew “Clint” Dempsey (born March 9, 1983, in Nacogdoches, Texas) is an American soccer player who plays for Fulham in the English Premier League and for the United States national team.
Youth
Dempsey was born in Nacogdoches, Texas, a small town roughly halfway between Dallas and Houston. For much of his childhood, Dempsey’s family lived in a trailer park, where Clint and his siblings grew up playing soccer with the local Mexican immigrant children.
His older brother Ryan was offered a tryout for the Dallas Texans, one of America’s elite youth soccer clubs, but young Clint, who had come along, 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 his poor family’s time and money constraints as his eldest sister Jennifer was becoming a ranked youth tennis player. But several parents of his teammates with the Texans offered to assist the Dempseys with expenses and travel, allowing him to rejoin the club. He went on to be the captain and high scorer of the Texans and was honored with MVP in the Tampa Bay Sun Bowl tournament.
Dempsey studied the play of Argentina, especially Diego Maradona. Clint was heartbroken when the news came to Nacogdoches that Maradona would not be playing in the 1994 FIFA World Cup game played in the Cotton Bowl.
Dempsey attended Furman University as a health and exercise major and a key player for the Paladins. In his three seasons at Furman, Dempsey started 61 out of 62 games in central midfield and scored 17 goals.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Clinton Drew Dempsey | ||
| Date of birth | March 9, 1983 (1983-03-09) (age 26) | ||
| Place of birth | Nacogdoches, Texas, United States | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Playing position | Winger/Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Fulham | ||
| Number | 23 | ||
At Fulham F.C.
In December 2006, Fulham offered MLS a $4 million transfer fee for Dempsey, then the largest amount ever offered for an MLS player. The league agreed to the transfer; however, Dempsey still needed to receive a work permit from the United Kingdom Home Office. On January 10, 2007, the Home Office granted Dempsey the work permit, thus allowing him to play in England.
Dempsey made his first appearance for Fulham shortly thereafter, coming on as a late substitute in Fulham’s match against Tottenham Hotspur on January 20, 2007. However, for the remainder of the spring of 2007 Dempsey was used only sparingly by a relegation-threatened Fulham. On May 5, 2007, Dempsey scored his first and only goal of the 2006-07 season for Fulham after coming on as a 54th minute substitute against Liverpool, in a vital match which Fulham won 1-0. The goal ensured Fulham’s top flight status for the 2007-08 season.
Dempsey was a key part of the starting squad for Fulham during the 2007-08 Premier League season. His six goals, all scored in the Premier League, made him Fulham’s top scorer in league play and tied for the club lead in all competitions. In May 2008, Dempsey received an automatic contract extension from Fulham that would have kept him at the club through 2010.
Dempsey scored his first goal on the 2008-2009 campaign on October 26, 2008, against Portsmouth. Coming on as a 70th-minute sub, Dempsey volleyed home an Erik Nevland cross past David James to tie the game at 1-1. On December 28, 2008, Dempsey started in the SW6 Derby against Chelsea and scored both goals for Fulham, one a chest and flick past Petr ?ech that put Fulham ahead, and the other an 89th-minute equalizing header off a Simon Davies corner. On April 12, 2009, Dempsey was voted Man of the Match in a 3-1 win over Manchester City at Eastlands, in which he scored two goals.
On August 13, 2009, Dempsey signed a contract extension to remain with Fulham through 2013. On August 20, 2009, he scored his first goal in European competition, in the newly formed Europa League, netting Fulham’s second goal in a 3–1 win against Amkar Perm in the play-off round.
Source: Fulham Midfielder, Fulham Winger, Fulham Striker, Clint Dempsey information at wikipedia.org.
Fulham 3 – 0 Blackburn
Damien Duff and Erik Nevland celebrate Fulham's opening goal
English Premier League News : Fulham recovered from a dire early spell to beat Blackburn convincingly.
The visitors dominated for 40 minutes but paid for some weak finishing when Erik Nevland exchanged passes with Damien Duff before slotting home.
That goal energised Fulham, Blackburn old boy Duff providing another assist for Clint Dempsey to finish off.
The American was on hand to complete the scoring after Simon Davies’s cross found him unmarked, with Blackburn by then desperately chasing the game.
Rovers, who silenced the home fans with some slick play before losing all their composure when falling behind, had an excellent chance to score at the very start.
Read full story Fulham 3-0 Blackburn English Premier League news at BBC Sport Football.