Ben Fritz Spencer Jr. (born March 28, 1995) is a retired American

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 played 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 ...

Club career

Youth

A native of New Mexico, Spencer joined

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

's Grande Sports Academy ahead of the 2010–11 season. He left the RSL system for the 2011–12 season for the

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conf ...

academy (although his MLS rights were retained by Real Salt Lake). Spencer committed 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 ...

for

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joined ...

for the fall 2013 season but instead agreed to join

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

in Norway in December 2012.

Professional

After several months of training, Spencer signed a professional deal with Molde in April 2013, shortly after turning 18. He made his professional debut in a 4–0 win over

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for i ...

on September 1, 2013. In March 2014 Spencer moved on a season-long loan to NASL 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 ...

, returning to Molde in November 2014 upon the completion of his loan deal. He moved to

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that competes in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as we ...

in 2015, on loan, however, he suffered an injury and was unable to appear in a match for the team. After the season,

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 ...

acquired his MLS rights from Real Salt Lake. Soon after his loan ended, he joined Toronto FC II on a permanent transfer. After spending 2016 and the beginning of 2017 with

in the

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 ...

, Spencer made the move up to

on May 2, 2017. Spencer was a member of the treble winning Toronto FC team which won the Canadian Cup, Supporters' Shield, and MLS Cup during the 2017 season. He was released by the club in June 2018, after only making 5 appearances in 2 seasons, contributing 2 assists. In 2019, he joined

Phoenix Rising FC Phoenix Rising Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2014 as Arizona United Soccer Club, the team is a member of the USL Championship. They won the league championship in 2023, defeating the ...

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 scored a penalty kick in the shootout of their

2019 US Open Cup The 2019 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 106th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, a knockout cup competition in American soccer. It is the oldest ongoing competition in the United States, and was contested by 84 teams from leagues in the U.S. sys ...

Second Round loss. Spencer had the highest goals-per-minute ratio in the USL Championship during the 2019 season. During the season, he was loaned to

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 ...

affiliate

FC Tucson FC Tucson is an American soccer club based in Tucson, Arizona that plays in USL League Two. The club has an amateur women's team, FC Tucson Women, that play in the WPSL. Organized in 2010, the club first fielded a team in March 2011, then joine ...

. At the end of the season, he was not re-signed by the club. Spencer joined

San Diego Loyal SC San Diego Loyal Soccer Club was an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California, that competed in the USL Championship. The team was founded by Warren Smith and Landon Donovan; it made its debut in 2020 as an expansion team. ...

in July 2020. On December 9, 2021, Spencer announced via his social media platforms his decision to retire from playing professional soccer.

International career

Spencer featured for the United States U18 in 2012, scoring three goals in six matches.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Ben 1995 births Living people Soccer players from New Mexico American men's soccer players Molde FK players Indy Eleven players Toronto FC II players Toronto FC players Phoenix Rising FC players FC Tucson players San Diego Loyal SC players Eliteserien players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players USL Championship players American expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Norway American expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players Major League Soccer players Men's association football forwards USL League One players Homegrown Players (MLS) 21st-century American sportsmen