Christopher David Donovan (born August 8, 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 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) ** Smal ...

for the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

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 ...

Career

High school

Donovan was named Gatorade Player of the Year in Pennsylvania in 2018. Previously, Donovan had played four years of varsity soccer at

Conestoga High School Conestoga High School, located in Tredyffrin Township, Pennsylvania, is the only upper secondary school in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District. It has a Berwyn post office address, though it is not in the Berwyn census-designated place. ...

, where he was a three-time First Team All-Main Line player, leading Conestoga to a Central League championship in each of his last three seasons, and was named the league's MVP as a senior. Donovan was also a two-time state champion in 2016 and 2017. He led the team in scoring in each of his final three years, scoring 56 goals as a senior in 2017, which earned him First Team All-State and All-American honors as a senior, and was named the Philadelphia Daily News Local Player of the Year.

College

In 2018, Donovan attended

Drexel University Drexel University is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony Joseph Drexel, Anthony J. Drexel, a financier ...

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 ...

. In four seasons with the Dragons, Donovan made 60 appearances, scoring 30 goals and tallying 13 assists. He also earned numerous accolades his senior year, including the Philadelphia Inquirer Men's Soccer Performer of the Year, Chris Jones Philly Soccer Six Player of the Year, Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year, and the United Soccer Coaches Atlantic Region First Team. While in college, Donovan also played with West Chester United. He made two regular season appearances and one play-off appearance for the team during their 2019 season in the NPSL, scoring three goals. In 2020 West Chester moved to 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 ...

, but the season was cancelled 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 ...

. He made nine appearances for the club in 2021, scoring six goals and adding three assists.

Professional

On January 11, 2022, Donovan was drafted 68th overall in the

2022 MLS SuperDraft The 2022 MLS SuperDraft was the 23rd edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held every January prior to the start of the MLS season and has been conducted via conference calls since 2020. Previously, the S ...

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

. He was let go by Columbus during their preseason. He subsequently signed with

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

Philadelphia Union II Philadelphia Union II is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Chester, Pennsylvania competing in MLS Next Pro. Founded in 2015 as Bethlehem Steel FC, the team is the official affiliate of the Philadelphia Union of ...

on February 1, 2022, ahead of the league's inaugural season. On June 17, 2022, Donovan was signed by

, and joined the club's

roster. Philadelphia sent

Chicago Fire FC Chicago Fire Football Club is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Chicago. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The Fire play their hom ...

$50,000 of General Allocation Money to move up to the top spot of the MLS Waiver Order to select him.

Honors

Philadelphia Union *

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 ...

runner-up:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Chris 2000 births Living people American men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Columbus Crew draft picks Drexel Dragons men's soccer players National Premier Soccer League players People from Paoli, Pennsylvania Soccer players from Chester County, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Union players Philadelphia Union II players Major League Soccer players MLS Next Pro players USL League Two players 21st-century American sportsmen