Dillon Thomas Powers (born February 14, 1991) is an 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 plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

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 ...

side Orange County SC. He played in

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 ...

for

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

and Orlando City before moving to

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

in Scotland and

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...

in Northern Ireland.

Early career

Powers was born in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "flat surface" /'plano/) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, where it is the largest city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County. A small portion of Plano is located in Denton County, Texas, Denton Count ...

. As a youngster, Powers played for hometown club Andromeda SC and

Plano Senior High School Plano Senior High School (commonly Plano, Plano Senior High, or PSHS) is a public high school, public secondary school in Plano, Texas, serving students in grades eleventh grade, 11–twelfth grade, 12. The school is part of the Plano Independ ...

. He was named the Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year in his senior year before going on to play for Notre Dame.

College career

Powers played

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 the Fighting Irish at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

from 2009 to 2012. For the 2009 season, he was named to the Big East All-Rookie Team. In 2010 and 2011, he was named to the All-Big East second team. For the 2012 season, he was selected to the All-Big East first team and the NSCAA All-America First Team. He finished his Notre Dame career with 10 goals and 22 assists in 78 career games.

Club career

After college, Powers was drafted eleventh overall in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft by the

. He became an instant hit with the team and was often shortlisted for the

MLS Rookie of the Year Award The MLS Young Player of the Year Award (known as the Rookie of the Year Award from 1996 to 2019) is an annual award given to the top player in Major League Soccer under the age of 22. The award was initially awarded to a rookie, or a player who ...

by several pundits. After the conclusion of the Rapids' season, Powers won the Rookie of the Year award, beating out teammate

Deshorn Brown Deshorn Dwayne Brown (born 22 December 1990) is a Jamaican professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indian super league club Mohammedan sc Club career Early and collegiate A native of Jamaica, Brown attended St. Elizabeth Technica ...

. On November 8, 2015, it was revealed the Powers was on trial with English Championship side,

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. On August 10, 2017, it was announced that Powers had been traded to Orlando City in exchange for Luis Gil and $100,000 of Targeted Allocation Money. Powers made his debut for Orlando City on August 26, 2017, against

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

. He re-signed with Orlando City on December 18, 2017. Powers scored his only goal for Orlando City on June 6, 2018, in a 2018 U.S. Open Cup match against

Miami United FC Miami United Football Club is an association football team based in Miami, Florida, United States. Founded in late 2012, the team made its debut in the Sunshine Conference of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) in 2013. The team currently ...

. On November 21, 2019, it was announced Powers had his contract option for the 2020 season declined by Orlando as part of the end-of-season roster decisions. Following his release from Orlando at the end of their 2019 season, Powers made the move to

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

club

on January 10, 2020, on a deal lasting until the summer of 2021. Powers made his Scottish Premiership debut as a substitute in the 76th minute of a 1–0 win against

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

. He left Dundee United following the expiry of his contract at the end of the 2020–21 season. On August 12, 2021, Powers signed with Orange County SC in the US 2nd tier

. On March 2, 2022, Powers made the move to

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

team

. Following the 2022 season, Glentoran announced that Powers had opted to leave Belfast and return to the United States. On June 30, 2022, Powers re-signed with Orange County SC.

International career

Powers represented the United States on several occasions at the youth level. He played for the US U18 and was a part of the US U20 team at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Personal life

Dillon is the son of Michael Powers, who played for 15 years in the Major Indoor Soccer League with the Dallas Sidekicks. Powers acquired an Italian passport in early 2015 making him a dual citizen of both the US and Italy.

Career statistics

Club

Honors

Dundee United *

: 2019–20 Individual *

MLS Rookie of the Year The MLS Young Player of the Year Award (known as the Rookie of the Year Award from 1996 to 2019) is an annual award given to the top player in Major League Soccer under the age of 22. The award was initially awarded to a rookie, or a player who ...

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 ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Powers, Dillon 1991 births Living people American men's soccer players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's soccer players Austin Aztex players Colorado Rapids players Orlando City SC players Dundee United F.C. players Orange County SC players Glentoran F.C. players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players USL Championship players United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players Colorado Rapids draft picks American people of Italian descent Men's association football midfielders Soccer players from Plano, Texas All-American college men's soccer players Scottish Professional Football League players American expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland American expatriates in Scotland 21st-century American sportsmen NIFL Premiership players