Clarence Edgar Goodson IV (born May 17, 1982) is an American former

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 defender.

Youth career

Born in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, Goodson attended

Annandale High School Annandale High School is a State school, public high school in Annandale, Virginia, United States. It is part of the Fairfax County Public Schools system. The school's student body has been recognized for its high level of racial and cultural ...

his freshman and sophomore seasons before moving to Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School. He was the Annandale team MVP, setting a school record for goals and points by a sophomore in 1998. He then went on to win the Virginia State High School Soccer title playing for W.T. Woodson High School in 2000. He played his club soccer with the Braddock Road Warhawks, winning the 1999 U-17 national championship. Goodson played three years of soccer at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, which he joined in 2000. After redshirting in 2001, Goodson helped anchor the defense of one of the best teams in

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 his career at Maryland, Goodson played 66 games, registering 10 goals and 11 assists. In 2003, he spent the collegiate offseason with the

Boulder Rapids Reserve Colorado Rapids U–23 were an American soccer team based in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, Colorado. Originally founded in 2000 as part of the development system for the Colorado Rapids, the team played in the Premier Development League, ...

Club career

After his junior year, Goodson signed a

Project-40 Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S ...

with

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 ...

(MLS), entering the

2004 MLS SuperDraft The 2004 MLS SuperDraft, held in Charlotte, North Carolina on January 16, 2004, was the fifth incarnation of the annual Major League Soccer MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft. The draft was most notable at the time for the selection of one of the younge ...

as an underclassman, where he was drafted seventh overall by the Dallas Burn. In his first year with the Burn, Goodson played only 247 league minutes in five games; however, he saw extended action in Cup competitions and exhibitions. He became a starter in 2005, the year the team was renamed

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

. On November 21, 2007, Goodson was selected by the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

in the 2007 MLS Expansion Draft but declared that he would not be signing a new contract with MLS in January 2008; instead, he signed a contract with the Norwegian team

IK Start Idrettsklubben Start (or simply IK Start) is a Norwegian Association football, football club from the city of Kristiansand that currently plays in the Norwegian First Division, the second tier of the Norwegian football league system. The club was ...

. He remained with Start through the 2010 season. In November 2010, Goodson signed with Brøndby of the

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

. Goodson returned to MLS on June 28, 2013, when he signed with

. Goodson served as an elected board member for the Major League Soccer Players Association (Union) and was a critical leader to establish a new Collective Bargaining Agreement for MLS athletes.

International

Goodson made his international debut in a friendly against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

on January 19, 2008. He was a member of the U.S. squad at the

2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was played from July 3 to 26, 2009 in the United Stat ...

, and scored in the semifinal against Honduras on July 23, 2009. On May 26, 2010, Goodson was selected to be part of the 23 man roster for the American national team at the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Goodson served as an elected Union Representative for U.S. Soccer. Goodson has been used in the rotation of Centerbacks for the U.S. Men's National Team under

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (; born 30 July 1964) is a German professional Association football, football manager and former player. He played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, AS Monaco FC, Monaco, Tottenham Hot ...

. Goodson was named to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

roster for the

2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 12th CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 22nd CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's fifty years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition began on July 7, 2013, at the ...

competition. He was included on Klinsmann's 30-man preliminary roster for the U.S. team at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

, but he was not included on the final roster.

International goals

Retirement

Goodson retired from professional soccer after a spinal injury in December, 2016. Goodson now works professionally as a players relations manager for MLSPA. He stays active coaching soccer in his community. Goodson and wife Kelsey, in partnership with the U.S. Soccer Foundation, built a soccer field at his childhood school, North Springfield Elementary School. The Clarence Goodson Field is used to serve underprivileged youth in his childhood neighborhood. The "Mini-Pitch Initiative" is to create a safe space in the community to play, be coached, mentored, and learn the benefits nutrition and exercise, specifically serving U.S. Soccer Foundation Soccer youth teams for underprivileged youth. His generous contribution has inspired other current and former professional athletes to build mini-pitch's in their communities as well. The couple are licensed ministers and serve as Youth Directors in San Jose, California. Goodson is a public and motivational speaker, focusing on teams and youth development.

Personal

Goodson married Kelsey Dawson on January 31, 2009, in Tacoma, Washington. The couple were featured on an episode of

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. HGTV Dream Home is an ...

's '' House Hunters International'', searching for an apartment in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

after Goodson's transfer to

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes ...

. He purchased an apartment valued at $900,000. Goodson is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. Goodson participates in a weekly team

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

study.

Career statistics

Honors

United States *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

; runner-up

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Individual *

All-Tournament Team:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodson, Clarence 1982 births Living people American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players Colorado Rapids U-23 players FC Dallas players IK Start players Brøndby IF players San Jose Earthquakes players Maryland Terrapins men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players FC Dallas draft picks Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Soccer players from Alexandria, Virginia American expatriate sportspeople in Norway USL League Two players Major League Soccer players Eliteserien players Danish Superliga players Men's association football defenders Annandale High School alumni Carter G. Woodson High School alumni