Derrick Jones Amaniampong (born March 3, 1997) is a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

. Born in Ghana, he played for the United States national under-23 team.

Youth

Born in

Bantama Bantama is suburb of Kumasi. Kumasi is the regional capital of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Bantama is both a residential and commercial area in the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (abbreviated as the KMA) is one of ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, Jones and his family moved to

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 2012 when he was 14. After arriving in Philadelphia, Jones began playing with

Junior Lone Star FC Philadelphia Lone Star Football Club is an American professional development soccer club based in Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that competes in USL League Two and the National Premier Soccer League, both leagues which sit in the fourth t ...

, a club team founded by immigrants from

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

living in Philadelphia. In 2013 Junior Lone Star played a friendly against the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

U-18s. The Union's academy director Tommy Wilson was at the game and was impressed with what he saw from Jones. A few days after the game, Jones joined the Union Academy and began playing with the U-16s. The following season, Jones was promoted to the U-18s.

Club career

Bethlehem Steel

On December 3, 2015, Jones signed with

Bethlehem Steel FC Philadelphia Union II is an American professional soccer team based in Chester, Pennsylvania competing in MLS Next Pro. Founded in 2015 as Bethlehem Steel FC, the team is the official affiliate of the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. ...

, the

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

affiliate, becoming their first-ever player signing. He made his debut for Steel FC on April 3, 2016, in a 2–1 loss to

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

. On April 17 Jones scored his first goal for Bethlehem in a 2–1 win against the

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

. He scored in the 84th minute on May 15 to give Steel a 2–1 victory over

FC Montreal FC Montreal was a Canadian professional association football, soccer team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that played in the USL Championship, the third tier of the United States soccer league system. The team served as a reserve team of Major ...

Philadelphia Union

On July 26, 2016, Jones signed a Homegrown Player contract with the Philadelphia Union, the 4th in team history. After signing to the Union, he remained with Philadelphia's USL affiliate Bethlehem Steel for the rest of the 2016, ending the season with 5 goals and 3 assists from 26 appearances for Bethlehem. On March 5, 2017, Jones made his Union debut in Philadelphia's opening match of the 2017

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

season, a 0–0 draw with the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

. He scored his first goal for the Union on June 15 in a 3–1 victory over the

Harrisburg City Islanders Harrisburg City Islanders, known as Penn FC in their final season, were an American professional soccer team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 2003, the team most recently played in the USL Pro, the second tier of the ...

in a

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

match. Jones ended the regular season with 12 appearances for Philadelphia as the Union finished 8th in the Eastern Conference, failing to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs. He also played for the Bethlehem Steel throughout the season, making 11 appearances and scoring once during the USL regular season while also playing once in the USL playoffs. During the 2018 season, Jones once again split his time between the Union and Steel FC. He made 12 MLS regular season appearances for the Union, helping them finish 6th in the East and qualify for the playoffs. He made a substitute appearance in Philadelphia's one playoff match, a 3–1 loss to

NYCFC New York City Football Club (often referred to as NYCFC) is an American professional soccer club based in New York City. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. New York City FC is owned by City Fo ...

. He also made 3 appearances and had 1 assist in the Open Cup play as he helped the Union reach the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, where they lost 3–0 to the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

, with Jones making a substitute appearance in the final. Jones also made 14 appearances and scored 4 goals for Bethlehem Steel. During the USL Playoffs, Bethlehem would reach the semifinals, but Jones did not appear in any of the playoff games. In 2019, Jones made 2 appearances for Philadelphia and 3 for Bethlehem before being traded.

Nashville SC

On May 9, 2019, Jones was traded to 2020

expansion club

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Nashville, Tennessee. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team spent two seasons in the USL Championship before joining ...

in exchange for $175,000 in General Allocation Money. Because the franchise would not start playing in Major League Soccer until 2020, Jones played for the club while still in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

. He made his debut for Nashville (USL) on May 14, in a 3–2 win over

South Georgia Tormenta FC 2 South Georgia Tormenta FC 2, officially known as Tormenta FC 2, is an American soccer team based in Statesboro, Georgia, United States. Founded in 2019, the club fields a pre-professional team in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American So ...

in a

match. On May 29, Jones suffered a broken ankle in a match with the

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

, causing him to miss over 3 months of the season. On October 26, Jones came off the bench and scored in Nashville's first playoff game, a 3–1 victory against Charleston. He made another substitute appearance in their next playoff match, a 1–0 loss to

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2014, b ...

. He ended the season with 10 appearances across all competitions for Nashville. On August 12, 2020, Jones made his debut for Nashville SC in a 1–0 win against

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

. He ended the shortened season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

with 18 appearances and 2 assists in the regular season, helping Nashville qualify for the playoffs. Jones made substitute appearances in all 3 of Nashville's playoff games, helping them reach the conference semifinals, where they lost 2–0 to Toronto FC.

Houston Dynamo

On January 21, 2021, Jones was traded to the

in exchange for $250,000 in General Allocation Money. He made his Dynamo debut on April 16, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 win over the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

. On May 12, Jones picked up an assist in a 1–0 win against Sporting Kansas City. He ended the season with 20 appearances and 1 assist as the Dynamo finished last in the Western Conference, missing out on the playoffs.

Charlotte FC

On March 9, 2022, Jones was traded to

Charlotte FC Charlotte Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team is owned by David Tepper, who was awarded the e ...

along with $50,000 in 2023 GAM in exchange for $250,000 in 2022 GAM. He was released by Charlotte following their 2023 season.

Columbus Crew

On December 21, 2023, Jones signed a two-year deal with

as a free agent.

International career

Jones grew up in

but has dual citizenship with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, having moved to the country when he was 14 years old. Jones represented Ghana at U15 level but accepted a call up to represent the U.S. U20 in October 2016. He played for the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

at the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 a ...

, making 4 appearances as the Americans reached the quarterfinals.

Career statistics

Honors

Columbus Crew *

Leagues Cup The Leagues Cup is an annual soccer competition between clubs from Major League Soccer (MLS), the main soccer league in the United States, and Liga MX, the main soccer league in Mexico. It is hosted in Canada and the United States. It began in ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

CONCACAF Champions Cup The CONCACAF Champions Cup, formerly known as CONCACAF Champions League (2008–2023), is an international association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for clubs from North America, Central America, a ...

runner-up:

References

External links

*
Bethlehem Steel FC player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Derrick 1997 births Living people American men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders Philadelphia Union II players Ghanaian men's footballers Ghanaian emigrants to the United States Major League Soccer players Philadelphia Union players Nashville SC (2018–19) players Soccer players from Philadelphia USL Championship players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players Nashville SC players Homegrown Players (MLS) Houston Dynamo FC players Charlotte FC players Columbus Crew players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen