Max Ian Josef Cream (born August 29, 1987) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

former professional soccer player. Cream was a full-time professional with

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

sides

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

and

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

, former German

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

side

SV Meppen SV Meppen is a German association football club playing in Meppen, Lower Saxony. The club was founded on 29 November 1912 as ''Amisia Meppen'' and joined ''Männer-Turnverein Meppen'' on 8 February 1920 to form ''TuS Meppen 1912''. The football ...

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

side Shelbourne and former

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

side

Cleveland City Stars The Cleveland City Stars were an American professional soccer team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2006, the team played in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2009. The club fo ...

in the US, before joining the English semi-professional ranks in the 2009/10 season.

Career

Cream began playing competitive football in Southern California at the age of five. At fifteen, he was invited to train with the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

on a non trial basis. At sixteen Cream joined

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

on trial but was not offered a contract with the club. Cream began his professional career in Scotland at sixteen, signing for

before moving to SPL rivals

shortly after. At nineteen Cream returned to LA joining the

on trial. Cream played in two official first team friendlies, scoring on his debut against an Iran XI, the assist coming from USA soccer legend

Alexi Lalas Panayotis Alexander "Alexi" Lalas ( el, Αλέξης Λάλας; born June 1, 1970) is an American retired soccer player who played mostly as a defender. Lalas is best known for his participation with the United States men's national soccer te ...

. Cream was offered a developmental contract with the club, however a management change saw

Steve Sampson Mark Stephen Sampson (born January 19, 1957) is an American soccer coach. He is also the former head coach of both the United States men's national team and the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer. Collegiate career Sampson attended UCLA ...

replaced by

Frank Yallop Frank Walter Yallop (born 4 April 1964) is a British-Canadian professional soccer coach. Yallop is currently the head coach and sporting director of USL Championship side Monterey Bay FC. He played 13 years in England for Ipswich, including the ...

. Yallop having not invited the player in for the trial, decided not to pursue the young striker any further. Cream subsequently returned to Europe. After leaving LA, Cream went on trial with

1. Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

sides

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

and

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

and

sides FC Cologne and

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

. Cream eventually signed a professional contract with

after the American was referred to the club by

coaching staff. He scored 2 goals in 12 league appearances before leaving the club by mutual consent. Whilst still under contract with

Meppen Meppen (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Möppen'') is a town in and the seat of the Emsland district of Lower Saxony, Germany, at the confluence of the Ems (river), Ems, Hase, and Nordradde rivers and the Dortmund–Ems Canal (DEK). The name stems from t ...

, Cream trained with Dutch second-tier side

BV Veendam Sportclub Veendam () was a Dutch professional association football club based in Veendam, province of Groningen. Founded on 4 September 1894 as Look-Out, it became P.J. Veendam in 1909, Veendam in 1910, SC Veendam in 1974, BV Veendam in 1997 a ...

, however all parties failed to agree terms on a transfer. Cream signed for

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

side Shelbourne after joining the club in pre-season. He made 2 league appearances and 1 cup appearance before leaving the club by mutual consent. Former Shelbourne teammate Greg O'Halloran facilitated a move to League of Ireland Premier side

Cobh Ramblers Cobh Ramblers Football Club (CRFC) ( ga, Cumann Peile Chóstóirí Chóbh) is an Irish football club. The club, founded in 1922 and elected to the League of Ireland in 1985, hails from Cobh, County Cork and play their home matches at St. Colm ...

, however the club were unable to sign the player due to well documented financial problems. Although a contract was never officially signed, Cream features for

on the video game FIFA 09. Cream returned to the US after a short stay in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

. Cream returned to the US and in early 2009 signed a 2-year professional contract with the

. While at the Stars Cream suffered a serious ankle injury which ruled him out for the majority of the season. He made 2 league appearances before leaving by mutual consent in July 2009 to return to the UK. After relocating to

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

, UK in late 2009, Cream joined non-league football, playing for several local semi-professional sides. In early 2011, Cream signed for Irish club Wexford Youths but after a short stay with the

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

club making two

appearances, Cream returned to England to sign with Wimborne Town. On February 3, 2012, Cream signed for

Bournemouth F.C. Bournemouth Football Club is an English association football, football team currently playing in the , in the ninth tier of the English football league system. Their nickname is "The Poppies", and they are often known as Bournemouth Poppies to ...

, making it his third spell with the club. Cream left

on August 23, 2012.

Personal life

Cream was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to a British father and American mother. He now owns and operates the sports consultancy ScholarSport, based in Southern California.ScholarSport official site

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cream, Max Living people 1987 births American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Soccer players from California Cleveland City Stars players Dundee United F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players League of Ireland players USL First Division players Bashley F.C. players Bournemouth F.C. players Poole Town F.C. players Wimborne Town F.C. players Wexford F.C. players Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards American expatriate sportspeople in England American expatriate soccer players in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in England American people of British descent