Blake Pope (born April 11, 2003) is an American soccer player who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS club ...

club Portland Timbers 2.

Career

Born in Prosper,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, Pope began his career in the youth academy of D.C. United before joining the

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the leag ...

system in 2016. In 2019, Pope joined the Charlotte Independence youth academy. In 2021, it was announced that Pope had committed to playing

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and Philippines, the Philippines. Th ...

for the Charlotte 49ers. Pope later de-committed from playing at UNC Charlotte. On April 29, 2021, Pope signed an academy deal with the Charlotte Independence, allowing him to play matches in the USL Championship while maintaining his

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

eligibility. He made his senior debut for the club on May 1 against the Tampa Bay Rowdies, coming on as a 78th minute substitute in a 3–0 defeat. On March 4, 2022, Pope signed with

club North Texas SC ahead of their 2022 season.

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile
at Charlotte Independence 2003 births Living people Sportspeople from Texas American soccer players Association football midfielders Charlotte Independence players North Texas SC players USL Championship players Soccer players from Texas MLS Next Pro players Portland Timbers 2 players {{US-footy-midfielder-stub