Jon Gallagher (born 23 February 1996) is an Irish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

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

Austin FC Austin FC is an American professional soccer club based in Austin, Texas. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 2018, the club began play in the 2021 season. Their home stadium is Q ...

. He can also play as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

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 ...

Early life

Born in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

in Ireland, growing up Gallagher also spent time in the United States, Jamaica, Singapore and England. While moving around, Gallagher played with Beachside SC in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

Home United Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as the Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional football club based in Bishan. It competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. Founded ...

in Singapore and England Schoolboys in England. He also spent time on trial with the likes of

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. Gallagher played four years of

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

between 2014 and 2017. In his senior year, he was named USC Second Team All-American, USC First Team All-South Region, First Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference, and Atlantic Coast Conference All-Tournament Team. Overall, Gallagher scored 39 goals and tallied 15 assists in 84 appearances for the Fighting Irish.

Club career

Ahead of the

2018 Major League Soccer season The 2018 Major League Soccer season was the 23rd season of Major League Soccer, top division of soccer in the United States and Canada. The regular season began on March 3, 2018 and concluded on October 28, 2018. The MLS Cup Playoffs began on O ...

, it was announced that Gallagher had signed a contract with

, making him eligible for the

2018 MLS SuperDraft The 2018 MLS SuperDraft was the nineteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. As customary, the SuperDraft was held in conjunction with the annual United Soccer Coaches convention. The 2018 UCS was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania b ...

. On 19 January 2018, Gallagher was selected 14th overall in the 2018 MLS SuperDraft by

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Atlanta. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won o ...

. Gallagher made his professional debut on 24 March 2018, scoring two goals for Atlanta's

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

affiliate side in a 3–1 win over

New York Red Bulls II New York Red Bulls II is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Montclair, New Jersey. They are the reserve team of the New York Red Bulls and play in MLS Next Pro, the third tier in the American soccer pyramid. Hi ...

. Gallagher was loaned to

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

from Atlanta United on 22 June 2019. The loan was initially for the remainder of the 2019 MLS season, but was subsequently extended to the end of the 2019–20 Scottish season. He played in 31 matches in all competitions for

and scored his only goal against

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

in a 2–2 draw on 4 December 2019. Gallagher returned to play with the Atlanta United first team in the middle of the 2020 Season, where he made 16 total appearances and registered 4 goals. Gallagher was traded to

in exchange for $225,000 in General Allocation Money on 13 December 2020, ahead of Austin's inaugural season in 2021. Gallagher scored the first ever goal at

Q2 Stadium Q2 Stadium is a soccer-specific stadium located in the North Burnet section of North Austin, Texas, United States. It is the home of Austin FC, a Major League Soccer (MLS) team that began play in 2021. The stadium hosted its first event on June ...

for Austin FC on 1 July 2021. In 2022, he transitioned from winger to right-back and became a first team regular in this position. He scored his only goal of 2022 in a 4–3 comeback win against Sporting Kansas City. In early 2023, Gallagher signed a four-year deal with Austin FC, keeping him at the club through 2026. He scored the team's second goal of the 2023 season in a 3–2 loss against St. Louis, coming off the bench. On 27 June 2023, it was announced that Gallgher was being recognized for his strong season, which include 5 goals and 3 assists, by being named to the 2023 MLS All-Star Game.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

*
Notre Dame profile
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Jon 1996 births Living people Men's association football forwards Association footballers from County Louth Atlanta United FC draft picks Atlanta United FC players Atlanta United 2 players Austin FC players Irish emigrants to the United States Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's soccer players Sportspeople from Dundalk Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Soccer players from Connecticut USL Championship players Aberdeen F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players Major League Soccer players 21st-century Irish sportsmen