Lovel Palmer (born 30 August 1984) is a Jamaican

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 currently plays as a defender and

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 the

Des Moines Menace Des Moines Menace is an American soccer team based in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1994, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the United States soccer league system. The Menace have had sustained success in USL Lea ...

in the

Premier Development League 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 ...

Career

Youth

Palmer began his career with the St. Elizabeth Technical High School football team in his native Jamaica, and in 1995 joined Essex Valley FC. In 1998, with Essex Valley, Palmer participated in an international youth tournament in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

He also played in several youth teams for Essex Valley before joining the youth system of Harbour View in January 1999.

Club

Palmer won Premier League and Caribbean Club Championship titles in 1995 and 2004 with Harbour View, before joining

TT Pro League The TT Premier Football League (formerly known as the TT Pro League) is the Trinidad and Tobago professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division in the Trinidad an ...

team

W Connection W. Connection Football Club is a professional football (soccer), football club from Trinidad and Tobago, which currently plays in the TT Pro League. The club plays its home games at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella. The club's offices are ba ...

on loan. While at Harbour View, Palmer also had an unsuccessful trial with

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 ...

in Norway in February 2009. During the 2004 season he appeared in eleven games and scored two goals for

before returning to Harbour View in December 2004. Palmer soon became the leader and captain of Harbour View, and he led the team to victory in the Jamaica National Premier League in 2007/2008. On 19 March 2010, Palmer and Harbour View completed a deal that sent Palmer to

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 ...

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 ...

. The terms of the transfer were undisclosed. On 21 July 2011, Palmer was traded to

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

along with Mike Chabala and an international roster spot in exchange for Adam Moffat and allocation money. Palmer's option was declined by Portland on 3 December 2012. He elected to enter the

2012 MLS Re-Entry Draft The two-stage 2012 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 7, 2012 (Stage 1), and December 14, 2012 (Stage 2). All 19 Major League Soccer clubs were eligible to participate. The Stage 1 and Stage 2 Drafts were conducted in the same order as th ...

and was selected by

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

in stage two of the draft on 14 December 2012. He missed a penalty in a shootout during the

2013 MLS Cup MLS Cup 2013, the 18th edition of Major League Soccer's championship match, was a soccer match which took place on Saturday, December 7, 2013, between Sporting Kansas City and Real Salt Lake at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas, United State ...

that gave

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

the league title. Six days later he was traded by RSL to Chicago Fire in exchange for allocation money. After two years in Chicago, Palmer signed with

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2014, b ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

on 12 January 2016. Palmer signed with NASL side

Miami FC Miami FC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (201 ...

on 14 August 2017 following his release from Indy Eleven. Palmer signed with USL PDL side

in June 2018 following his departure from Miami FC. He left the club at the end of the season. In June 2021, Palmer returned to professional football in the Jamaican Premier League with Harbour View.

International

Palmer played for the Jamaican U-17, U-20 and U-23 national teams, and has been a member of the

Jamaica national football team The Jamaica national football team, nicknamed the "''Reggae Boyz''", represents Jamaica in men's international Association football, football. The team's first match was against Haiti national football team, Haiti in 1925. The squad is under ...

since 2005.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Statistics accurate as of match played 12 December 2012''

Personal

Palmer holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Honors

Club

;Harbour View * Jamaica National Premier League (3): 2000, 2007, 2010 *

JFF Champions Cup The JFF Champions Cup, known since 2022 as the Lynk Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout tournament in Jamaica, Jamaican football (soccer), football. The modern tournament was established during the 1990–91 season and is co ...

(2): 2001, 2002 *

CFU Club Championship The Caribbean Club Championship, also known as the CFU Club Championship or CFU Club Champions' Cup, was an annual international football competition held amongst association football clubs that are members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). ...

(2): 2004, 2007 ;Real Salt Lake *

Western Conference Championship (1):

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 ...

;Indy Eleven *

Spring Season (1):

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

; Des Moines Menace *

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 ...

Regular Season Championship (1):

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

International

;Jamaica *

Caribbean Cup The Caribbean Cup was an association football competition organized by CFU as its top regional tournament for men's senior national teams from the Caribbean. The tournament was held from 1989 to 2017, as the direct successor competition of the ...

(1):

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, Lovel 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Mandeville, Jamaica Jamaican men's footballers 21st-century Jamaican sportsmen Jamaica men's international footballers Jamaican expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Trinidad and Tobago Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Harbour View F.C. players W Connection F.C. players Houston Dynamo FC players Portland Timbers players Real Salt Lake players Chicago Fire FC players Indy Eleven players Miami FC players Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in Trinidad and Tobago Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in the United States 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players TT Pro League players Major League Soccer players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders