Preston Popp (born December 8, 1999) is a Canadian

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 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 ...

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 ...

Early life

Born in Montreal, Popp is the son of

Jim Popp James Thomas Popp (born December 21, 1964) is an American sports executive and coach. Popp is Vice President, Player Personnel, for the United States Football League (USFL). In 2021, Popp was Chief of Staff, Advisor to the Head Coach for the Cha ...

, who was the general manager of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

team

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

at the time. He began playing youth soccer with CS Dollard, before moving to

Mooresville, North Carolina Mooresville is a town located in the southwestern section of Iredell County, North Carolina, United States, and is a part of the fast-growing Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 50,193 at the 2020 census, making it the most populo ...

at age ten. He played youth soccer with the Charlotte Soccer Academy and

North Carolina FC North Carolina FC is an American professional association football, soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 2006, the team previously was named the Caro ...

. He then played with the

New York Red Bulls Academy The New York Red Bulls Academy is the multi-layered youth system of the New York Red Bulls. It is the first cost-free program in Major League Soccer that provides a professional soccer training environment for youth players in the New York Tri-S ...

and the

Toronto FC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the Youth system, youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC, which competes in MLS Next. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 ...

College career

In 2018, he began attending the

University of North Carolina at Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte, or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs thr ...

, where he played for the men's soccer team. He scored his first goal on September 11, 2018, against the

Elon Phoenix The Elon Phoenix is the official mascot of Elon University, located in Elon, North Carolina. It is the name that each of the sports teams at the university are referred to. The university is a member of the Coastal Athletic Association and that l ...

. In his freshman season, he was named to the

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

All-Freshman Team and the Conference USA All-Tournament Team. In his junior season, he was the Co-Golden Boot winner and was named to the Conference USA Second Team, and was also a Second Team Scholar All-American, United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region, and Scholar All-Region. He was also named to the College Sports Information Directors of America All-District III First Team. In his senior season in 2021, he once again won the Conference USA Golden Boot, All-Region honours, and was named to the Conference USA First Team.

Club career

In 2019, he played with

North Carolina FC U23 North Carolina FC U23 is an American soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded in 2002 as the Raleigh Elite, and the current affiliate of North Carolina FC, a third division club in the United Soccer League. The team plays in ...

, despite originally being set to join

Reading United AC Reading United AC is an American soccer team based in Reading, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1995, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The club plays its home games at Alvernia University. The club's col ...

. He was named to the USL2 Team of the Week, after scoring his first goal on June 7 against

Lionsbridge FC Lionsbridge Football Club, or Lionsbridge FC, is an American soccer club based in Newport News, Virginia. The club was founded in 2017, and play in USL League Two. The club's colors are blue, black and white, and the club is named for the Lions B ...

, scoring in stoppage time to give his team a 2–1 victory. After not being selected in the

2022 MLS SuperDraft The 2022 MLS SuperDraft was the 23rd edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held every January prior to the start of the MLS season and has been conducted via conference calls since 2020. Previously, the S ...

, he signed a contract with

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

side

Rochester New York FC Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup sinc ...

. On May 1, he joined

FC Cincinnati 2 FC Cincinnati 2 is an American professional soccer team based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the reserve team of FC Cincinnati and participates in MLS Next Pro. History On December 6, 2021, FC Cincinnati were named as one of 21 cl ...

on a short-term loan for their match against

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that competes in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as we ...

, as Cincinnati was experiencing a roster shortage. In November 2022, Rochester announced Popp would be departing the club. In December 2022, Popp signed a professional contract with

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

club

for the 2023 season, re-joining his former youth club. He won the league title with the club that season, although he played sparingly with only 170 total minutes in 15 appearances.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Popp, Preston 1999 births Living people Anglophone Quebec people Canadian men's soccer players Canadian people of American descent Men's association football forwards Toronto FC players Rochester Rhinos players Soccer players from Montreal MLS Next Pro players North Carolina FC U23 players USL League Two players New York Red Bulls players Charlotte 49ers men's soccer players North Carolina FC players Toronto FC Academy players Des Moines Menace players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen