Erik McCue (born 18 January 2001) is a Swedish 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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

Club career

Youth

McCue spent time in the youth setups for F.C. Bangkok and

D.C. United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

before joining the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

academy in 2017. Upon joining the Dynamo academy, McCue quickly established himself in the program, helping lead the U-17 team to the

U.S. Soccer Development Academy The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league featured youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

playoffs for the 2017–18 season and was named U-17 MVP by the coaching staff. He also received the

Ricardo Clark Ricardo Anthony Clark (born February 10, 1983) is an American former soccer player who played as a midfielder. He appeared for MetroStars, San Jose Earthquakes, Houston Dynamo and Columbus Crew SC in the United States, Eintracht Frankfurt in ...

Leadership Award for exhibiting "the strongest leadership qualities during the season, regardless of age group." McCue moved up to the U-19 team for the 2018–19 season and wore the captain's armband on multiple occasions. During the summer of 2018, McCue trained with the Dynamo's

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

affiliate club

Rio Grande Valley FC Rio Grande Valley FC, also known as RGVFC or Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, was an American professional soccer team based in Edinburg, Texas operated by Lone Star, LLC. They joined the USL Championship in the 2016 season. The team served as a hy ...

as well as with the Dynamo first team. He also spent time training with the Dynamo's PDL team, Brazos Valley Cavalry F.C., but did not feature in a game.

Houston Dynamo

On 30 October 2018 the Dynamo signed McCue to a Homegrown Player contract ahead of their

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

. McCue is the 10th Dynamo academy product to sign a first team contract. He suffered a foot injury that forced him to miss the start of the

2019 MLS season The 2019 Major League Soccer season was the 24th season of Major League Soccer. The regular season began on March 2, 2019 and ended on October 6. The MLS Cup Playoffs began on October 19 and concluded with MLS Cup 2019 on November 10, under a ...

. McCue was sent on loan to the Dynamo's

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 ...

affiliate

and made his professional debut on 29 March 2019 in a 2–1 loss to the

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

. On 10 July McCue was selected to partake in the 2019 MLS Homegrown Game. In his first season as a professional, he made 3 appearances, all with RGVFC, and spent time training with both the Dynamo first team and the Toros. 2020 saw McCue return to Rio Grande Valley on loan, making 4 appearances in a shortened season 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 ...

Charleston Battery (loan)

On 24 February 2021 McCue joined

club

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

on a season-long loan. He made his Battery debut on May 14, coming on as a substitute in a 3–0 loss to

Charlotte Independence Charlotte Independence is an American soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, that plays in the USL League One, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid. The Independence currently play their home games at American Legion Memoria ...

. McCue scored his first career goal on May 23 in a 2–2 draw against

New York Red Bulls II New York Red Bulls II is an American professional Association football, 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. Hi ...

. He ended the season with 15 appearances, 1 goal, and 1 assist as Charleston finished 6th in the Atlantic Division, missing out on the playoffs. Following the 2021 season, McCue's contract option was declined by Houston.

AB Argir

On 18 February 2022, McCue signed with Betrideildin side

AB Argir AB, Ab, or ab may refer to: Arts and media * ''American Bandstand'', a music-performance television show * ''Analecta Bollandiana'', an academic journal * Ancienne Belgique, a concert hall in Brussels, Belgium Business Business terminology * '' ...

. He made 23 league appearances for the club.

El Paso Locomotive

On 9 November 2022, it was announced that McCue had signed for

club

El Paso Locomotive El Paso Locomotive FC is an American professional soccer team based in El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2018, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. History First season In February 2018, the United Soccer League announced that El P ...

ahead of their 2023 season. McCue was named the fan's choice for Defensive Player of the Year, leading Locomotive in clearances and blocks. On 1 November 2023, it was announced that McCue would not be returning for the 2024 season.

Örebro

On 21 December 2023, McCue signed with

in Swedish

Superettan Superettan (; ) is an association football league and the second highest league in the Swedish football league system, league system of Swedish football, Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and rel ...

Personal life

McCue was born in

Gothenburg, Sweden Gothenburg ( ; ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gubernatorial seat of Västra Götaland County, ...

and grew up in Onsala, Sweden. He also lived in

Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Chengdu, China Chengdu; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; previously romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a population of 20,937,757 at the 2020 census, it is the fourth most popu ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, as well as

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

as a child. McCue is eligible to play for both

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 ...

and 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 ...

at the international level.

Career Statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCue, Erik 2001 births Footballers from Gothenburg Living people Swedish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Twin City Toucans FC players Houston Dynamo FC players Rio Grande Valley FC Toros players Charleston Battery players Argja Bóltfelag players El Paso Locomotive FC players Örebro SK players USL Championship players Homegrown Players (MLS) Faroe Islands Premier League players Superettan players Swedish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Faroe Islands Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the Faroe Islands 21st-century Swedish sportsmen