Cameron Paul Lancaster (born 5 November 1992) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays 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) ** Sm ...

for Louisville City in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

Early life

Lancaster was born in

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

and raised in

Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate, Hampstead Garden Suburb, East F ...

. He attended

East Barnet School East Barnet School is a secondary school with academy status at Chestnut Grove in East Barnet, London, England. It has a specialism in technology, and is a Leadership Partner School. History There has been a school on the current site since ...

. He played for Oakhill Tigers in the Watford Friendly League as a boy.

Football career

Tottenham Hotspur

Lancaster joined

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

in the 2009–10 season. He joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club,

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

for a month on 22 March 2011. Lancaster made his debut for Dagenham on 26 March, in the 1–1 home draw with

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

when he came on as a substitute for

Bas Savage Basir Mohammed Savage (born 7 January 1982 in London) is an English former professional footballer who plays as a striker for South Park. Career Starting out at Reading Savage started his professional career at Reading in 2002 after moving f ...

in the 63rd minute. Lancaster then had his loan spell with the club extended until the end of the season. After his loan spell with Daggers came to an end, Lancaster was given his first professional contract with the club. Lancaster made his only appearance for Tottenham in a

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

match against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

on 31 January 2012, coming on as a substitute in the 78th minute for

Emmanuel Adebayor Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor (; born 26 February 1984) is a Togolese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Togolese Championnat National club Semassi. He previously played for English clubs Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur ...

. Six months later, Lancaster signed a two-year contract with the club, keeping him until 2014. At the end of the 2013–14 season, Lancaster was released by the club upon expiry of his contract.

Stevenage and St Albans City

After being released by Tottenham Hotspur, Lancaster joined

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Ste ...

. This came after Lancaster made an impression as a trialist at the club. Lancaster made his Stevenage debut the same day, in a 3–2 win over

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional football club, based in Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 season. The club's home stadium is Plough Lane. The cl ...

. After making six appearances, Lancaster left the club by December. Lancaster joined St Albans City on 5 December 2014. Lancaster scored on his debut two days later, in a 3–1 defeat over Hemel Hempstead Town. After one month at the club, Lancaster left St Albans City, with a hinted move to America.

Louisville City

2015 season

Lancaster emigrated to the US and on 26 March signed with

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

expansion side

Louisville City FC Louisville City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Louisville, Kentucky. The team plays in the USL Championship, known through the 2018 season as the United Soccer League (USL), which is currently the second tier of th ...

; joining his compatriot teammate, Charlie Adams. He made his Louisville debut on 4 April against as a substitute in a 1–1 draw

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

. Later in April during a team practice he tore his ACL for the second time in his career which required surgery. Ending his season.

2016 season

Lancaster remained with Louisville and made his season debut in Louisville's opening match on 26 March against

where he scored the match's only goal. He went on play in 26 of Louisville's regular season matches scoring four goals with three assists while becoming the team's primary striker towards the end of the season. He also played in one of Louisville's two

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 ...

matches as well as all three of Louisville's

USL Cup The USL Championship Final is the post-season championship match of the USL Championship, the second tier of professional men's soccer in the United States. The winner is crowned champion in the same manner as in other North American sports lea ...

playoff matches. He went goalless in both competitions and missed the first shot of the

Penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

in the Eastern Conference final against

New York Red Bulls II New York Red Bulls II is an American professional soccer team based in Montclair, New Jersey. They are the reserve team of the New York Red Bulls and play in MLS Next Pro, the third tier in the American soccer pyramid. History Red Bull New Y ...

. A match that Louisville would go on to lose.

2017 season

Lancaster re-signed with Louisville and made his season debut in Louisville's opening match on 25 March; a scoreless draw against Saint Louis. For the second consecutive year he scored the team's first goal of the league season in a 1–3 victory over

Orlando City B Orlando City B (or OCB for short) is an American soccer club that began play in 2016 and currently plays in MLS Next Pro. Owned by Orlando City SC and based at the Orlando City training facility in Kissimmee, the club plays its home games at Os ...

. Although slowed by a fractured toe late in the year, he was Louisville's second leading goal scorer in league competition with seven goals in 21 matches played. He also appeared in one of Louisville's two

U.S. 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. O ...

matches scoring two goals in the team's opening match against Tartan Devils Oak Avalon. In the

playoffs, Lancaster appeared in three of Louisville's four matches and scored the only goal in the final as he and Louisville defeated the

Swope Park Rangers Sporting Kansas City II is a MLS Next Pro club affiliated with Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. For the 2022 season they will play their home games at Rock Chalk Park at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, as well as Swop ...

to win the USL Cup. He finished the season as the only player to score a goal in all three of Louisville's competitions and along with

Luke Spencer Luke Spencer is a fictional character in the American television soap opera '' General Hospital'', played by Anthony Geary from 1978 until his departure in July 2015. Geary holds the record for most Daytime Emmy wins for Outstanding Lead Actor i ...

the only Louisville player to score at least ten goals.

2018 season

Lancaster remained with Louisville and made his season debut against rival

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team succeeded the lower-division team of the ...

on 7 April, when he scored the game's only goal. Although slowed by injury during the season he still appeared in 30 of Louisville's 34 league matches and lead both Louisville and the league with 25 goals; a

single season record. This included scoring his first

Hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

as a professional on 8 October against

. He also appeared in four of Louisville's five

matches as Louisville reached the quarter finals of the competition for the first time in its history. This included a 3–2 victory over the

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 ...

MLS 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 ...

; Louisville's first victory over an MLS side. He along with

Brian Ownby Brian Tyler Ownby (born July 16, 1990) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Louisville City in the USL Championship. Early life Personal Ownby was born in Glen Allen, Virginia to parents Steve and Andrea Ownby and has a younger ...

lead the team with two goals scored in the competition including a goal against New England. Lancaster also appeared in three of Louisville's four

playoff matches scoring one goal. During the Eastern Conference Final match against

he was injured and was unable to play in the

final against Phoenix (a match that Louisville went on to win). Lancaster finished the season winning the USL Golden Boot and being named to the USL All League First Team. He along with

Ilija Ilić Ilija Ilić (born 26 April 1991) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a forward for USL League One club One Knoxville SC. Career Ilić began his career with the youth clubs of FK Čukarički and Red Star Belgrade, as well as a loa ...

were the only Louisville players to score at least ten goals in league play while he, Ilić, and

were the only Louisville players to score a goal in all competitions.

Nashville

On 20 December 2018, Lancaster was announced as the second signing of Nashville MLS, who will begin play in 2020. He will spend the 2019 season on loan with

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is a Major League Soccer team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The team began play in the league in 2020 as a continuation of the USL club of the same name and plays its home matches at Geodis Park. It is principally owned ...

of the

Return to Louisville City

On 6 February 2020 Louisville City announced that Lancaster would be returning to play in the 2020 season on loan from Nashville SC. In November 2020, it was announced that Lancaster had rejoined Louisville City on a permanent deal. On June 22, 2021, Lancaster was named USL Championship Player of the Week for Week 9 of the

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

season after scoring three goals in games against

Birmingham Legion FC Birmingham Legion FC is an American professional soccer club based in Birmingham, Alabama, that competes in the USL Championship, the second division of American soccer. The team was established in August 2013 and played under the name Birming ...

and

FC Tulsa FC Tulsa is an American professional soccer team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma which competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. History The club was founded as Tulsa Roughnecks FC by Jeff and Dale Hubbard, br ...

Honours

Club

(2):

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Individual

*USL Championship Golden Boot:

*USL Championship All League First Team (2):

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

*USL Championship All League Second Team:

*USL Championship Player of the Month (3): April 2018, August 2018, October 2018

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lancaster, Cameron Living people 1992 births People from Muswell Hill Footballers from the London Borough of Haringey English footballers Men's association football forwards Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Louisville City FC players English Football League players Premier League players USL Championship players English expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Nashville SC (2018–19) players