Andrew James Carleton (born June 22, 2000) is an American 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.

Early life

Carleton was born in

Powder Springs, Georgia Powder Springs is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 13,940 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population for 2019 of 15,758. The 12,000-capacity Walter H. Cantrell Stadium is located in Powder Springs. It is ...

and played for Georgia United at the youth level. Carleton has two brothers named Alan and Johnny and two sisters named Erin and Erica. Alan signed with

Atlanta United 2 Atlanta United 2 are the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC. The team plays in MLS Next Pro, the official reserve league of MLS. The team was established on November 14, 2017 and began their first professional seaso ...

in 2023.

Professional career

On June 9, 2016, Carleton signed with

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 ...

side Atlanta United FC as the new team's first ever Homegrown Player. He spent the 2016 season on loan with

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 ...

side Charleston Battery. He made his first appearance on September 7, 2016, against

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 ...

. On September 10, 2016, Carleton became the youngest American professional player in history to start a USL match. On September 17, 2016, Carleton recorded his first professional assist for the Battery. On February 11, 2017, he made his debut for Atlanta United and scored during the second half of the team's first preseason game against Chattanooga FC. Carleton made his MLS debut on May 20, 2017, as an 85th minute substitution against

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 ...

. The 16-year-old was given a standing ovation at a sold out Bobby Dodd Stadium. Andrew provided his first career assist in a 4–1 win against Vancouver on March 17, 2018. On April 21, 2018, while on loan to

, Carleton scored his first professional goal, a penalty kick in a 1–1 draw against

Louisville City FC Louisville City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Louisville, Kentucky. The team plays in the USL Championship, which is currently the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club was founded in 2014 after O ...

. He scored his first goal with Atlanta United's first team on June 6, 2018, vs Charleston Battery in the US Open Cup. On January 24, 2020, Carleton was loaned to

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 ...

side

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 ...

for the 2020 season. When the season ended, Carleton was released by Atlanta United. In April 2021, Carleton joined Georgia Storm FC ahead of their first

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA) and has automatic qualification for the U.S. Open Cup. ...

season. On September 11, 2021, Carleton joined Costa Rican first division club Jicaral Sercoba. In December 2021, Carleton returned to United States to play with

United Premier Soccer League The United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) is an American for-profit soccer league that was founded in Santa Ana in Southern California, with teams in regionalized conferences throughout the United States, and recently Canada and Mexico. The leagu ...

club Kalonji Pro-Profile. Carleton returned to the professional game on March 9, 2022, signing with USL Championship side San Diego Loyal. He was released by San Diego following the 2022 season. Carleton signed with

Las Vegas Lights Las Vegas Lights FC is an American professional soccer team based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that plays in the USL Championship. The team made its debut in 2018 and plays its home games at Cashman Field. The team employs neon imagery in its crest a ...

on January 25, 2023.

Discipline issues

In 2018, Carleton was among the rising youth players within the Atlanta United organization. He had seen significant playing time and had been included in the matchday squad several times. However, on the eve of the

2018 MLS Cup MLS Cup 2018 was the 23rd edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), which took place on December 8, 2018. It was the final match of the 2018 MLS Cup Playoffs and was contested by Atlanta United FC and the P ...

championship game, local news media reported that Carleton had broken team curfew/rules and posted photos while drinking with friends in an Atlanta bar. This prompted disciplinary action by manager

Tata Martino Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino (born 20 November 1962) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who last coached Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Martino played mostly for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario. He ...

, who banned Carleton from dressing for the game. Carleton was also not allowed to participate in the celebration parade the following week by club management. In early 2019, new Atlanta United manager Frank de Boer made statements to the media regarding Carleton's lack of maturity and professionalism, saying "He still has to grow up as a man." On June 26, 2019, Atlanta United was left one man short on the bench for an away match against

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

when Carleton forgot his passport on the trip to Canada. Two days later, manager Frank de Boer announced Andrew would play with the reserve team until he showed improvements in his professionalism. "He's joining the USL team right now... I have no worries about his quality, but more the professional side,” said de Boer.

Career statistics

Honors

Club

Atlanta United

MLS Cup MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Playoffs. The game is held in November or December and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Confere ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Continental

Campeones Cup The Campeones Cup is an annual North American association football match contested between the winners of the previous MLS Cup from Major League Soccer and the winners of the Campeón de Campeones from Liga MX. The competition was established by ...

** Winner:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

Profile at Atlanta United
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carleton, Andrew 2000 births Living people Sportspeople from Powder Springs, Georgia Soccer players from Cobb County, Georgia American men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders Atlanta United FC players Atlanta United 2 players Charleston Battery players Indy Eleven players San Diego Loyal SC players Las Vegas Lights FC players USL Championship players Major League Soccer players Homegrown Players (MLS) United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players Georgia (U.S. state) Republicans Expatriate men's footballers in Costa Rica American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Costa Rica United Premier Soccer League players National Premier Soccer League players 21st-century American sportsmen