Avionne Flanagan (born April 6, 1999) 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 who plays as a defender for

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

New Mexico United New Mexico United is an American professional soccer team based in Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U. ...

Career

Youth

Flanagan played with D.C. United's academy until 2016, before spending a year with local club side Baltimore Armour.

College and semi-professional

In 2017, Flanagan attended the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

to play

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 ...

. He went on to make 48 appearances for the Bulls, scoring 4 goals and tallying 7 assists over three seasons. The

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

season was cancelled in 2020 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 ...

. Flanagan earned First Team All-Conference honors in 2019 and American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team in both 2018 and 2019. Whilst at college, Flanagan also played with NPSL side FC Baltimore Christos in 2018. He also played in the

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

with Treasure Coast Tritons in 2019.

Professional

On January 21, 2021, Flanagan was selected 29th overall in the

2021 MLS SuperDraft The 2021 MLS SuperDraft was the 22nd edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held every January prior to the start of the MLS season. The 2020 SuperDraft was the first held exclusively via conference call a ...

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 ...

. He officially signed with the

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 on April 7, 2021. On May 21, 2021, Flanagan was loaned to

side

Orange County SC Orange County Soccer Club is an American soccer team based in the Orange County, California city of Irvine. Founded in 2010 as the Los Angeles Blues, the team currently plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier ...

for the 2021 season. He made his first professional appearance the next day, appearing as an 82nd-minute substitute during a 1–0 win over Sacramento Republic. Flanagan was loaned out again in September, joining FC Tulsa for the remainder of the

2021 USL Championship season The 2021 USL Championship season was the eleventh season of the USL Championship and the fifth season under Division II sanctioning. This was the third season under the name "USL Championship", having used the name "United Soccer League" throu ...

. Following the 2021 season, Cincinnati declined their contract option on Flanagan. On March 11, 2022, it was announced that Flanagan had signed with

FC Cincinnati 2 FC Cincinnati 2 is an American professional soccer team based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the reserve team of FC Cincinnati and participates in MLS Next Pro. History On December 6, 2021, FC Cincinnati were named as one of 21 cl ...

, the club's

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

side, ahead of their inaugural season. On August 12, 2022, Flanagan signed with

side

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 ...

. One week into the 2023 season, he left Charleston to sign with

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

side

Charlotte Independence Charlotte Independence is an American soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, that plays in the USL League One, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid. The Independence currently play their home games at American Legion Memoria ...

. Following the 2023 season, Flanagan signed with

for the 2024 USL Championship season.

References

1999 births American men's soccer players Men's association football defenders FC Cincinnati draft picks FC Cincinnati players Living people National Premier Soccer League players Orange County SC players Soccer players from Baltimore South Florida Bulls men's soccer players FC Florida U23 players FC Tulsa players USL League Two players USL Championship players FC Cincinnati 2 players MLS Next Pro players Charleston Battery players Charlotte Independence players New Mexico United players 21st-century American sportsmen {{US-footy-defender-1990s-stub