Andre Ubong Akpan (born December 9, 1987) is an American former soccer player who most recently played for

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

Career

Youth and college

Akpan was born in

Grand Prairie, Texas Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Tarrant, and Ellis counties of Texas, in the United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It had a population of 175,396 according to the 2010 census, making it th ...

, to a Nigerian father and an American mother. He played for coaches

Hassan Nazari Hassan Nazari ( fa, حسن نظری, born August 19, 1956 in Abadan, Iran) is a retired Iranian footballer. He usually played as a defender. Playing career He began his career in his hometown of Abadan, playing for clubs like 'Sepah Abadan' a ...

and David Hudgell on the '88 Dallas Texans, and his prolific scoring touch helped lead his team to back-to-back-to-back USYSA National Championships (U17, U18, U19), as well as a Dallas Cup Super Group Victory - a feat that no other American team has accomplished in the last 25 years. He played high school soccer at The Oakridge School in

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

, where he was the all-time leading scorer with 111 goals over four years. He also attained the single-season scoring record with 37 goals. In 2006, Akpan entered

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

where he played on the men's soccer team, and was also a member of The Phoenix – S K Club. He was the 2006 Ivy League rookie of the year and first team All Ivy League. In 2007, he was a second team NSCAA All American. While at Harvard he also made appearances for

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league sy ...

clubs

Westchester Flames Westchester Flames is an American soccer team based in New Rochelle, New York, United States. Founded in 1999, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. The team plays its home games at City Park Stadium, ...

and Chicago Fire Premier, helping the latter to the 2009 USL PDL championship game, and scoring in the final.

Professional

Akpan was drafted in the second round (22nd overall) of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft by

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, ...

. He made his professional debut on April 13, 2010, in a

US 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 of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. Ope ...

game against the

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse an ...

. His first MLS goal was scored on April 30, 2011, against the Chicago Fire equalizing just after halftime. Akpan made a short-term loan switch to

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ...

club

Real Maryland Monarchs Real Maryland F.C., commonly known as the Real Maryland Monarchs, was an American soccer team based in Rockville, Maryland, United States. Founded in 2007, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the Ameri ...

in June 2010, where he made one league appearance and one Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup appearance. Akpan made his second short-term loan switch of the season to

USSF D-2 The USSF Division 2 Professional League (D2 Pro League) was a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the 2010 season. The twelve-team league was formed as a compromise between the feuding U ...

club FC Tampa Bay in July 2010. On March 28, 2013, Akpan was traded to

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

in exchange for a conditional

2015 MLS SuperDraft The 2015 MLS SuperDraft was the sixteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2015 convention was held January ...

pick. In his first season with New York, Akpan played in seven regular season matches, recording two assists. He was also the team's top scorer in the

MLS Reserve League The MLS Reserve League was a soccer league for the reserve teams of Major League Soccer with teams in both the United States and Canada. It was inaugurated on April 9, 2005, with the first official reserve game being a 2–0 victory by Chivas ...

scoring 10 goals. Akpan was traded by New York with allocation money to

in exchange for

Saër Sène Saër Sène (born 4 November 1986) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward. Club career Born in Paris, Sène began his career in the youth system of Paris Saint-Germain, before being released in 2005. He dropped into lowe ...

and an international roster spot on August 12, 2014.

International

Akpan was a member of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

U-20 team for the

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the score ...

. He scored a hat trick in qualifying and appeared in the quarterfinals.

Honours

Colorado Rapids

Eastern Conference Championship (1):

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

MLS Cup (1):

New York Red Bulls

MLS Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 19 ...

(1):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

References

External links

*
Harvard bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akpan, Andre 1987 births Living people Soccer players from Texas Sportspeople from Dallas County, Texas Sportspeople from Tarrant County, Texas Harvard Crimson men's soccer players Westchester Flames players Chicago Fire U-23 players Colorado Rapids players Real Maryland F.C. players Tampa Bay Rowdies players New York Red Bulls players New England Revolution players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players USL Second Division players USSF Division 2 Professional League players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent United States men's under-20 international soccer players Colorado Rapids draft picks People from Grand Prairie, Texas American soccer players All-American men's college soccer players Men's association football forwards