Dillon Thomas Powers (born February 14, 1991) is an American soccer player who plays as a midfielder for USL Championship side Orange County SC. He played in Major League Soccer for Colorado Rapids and Orlando City before moving to Dundee United in Scotland and Glentoran in Northern Ireland.

Dillon Powers
Dillon Powers playing for Colorado Rapids in 2017
Personal information
Full name Dillon Thomas Powers[1]
Date of birth (1991-02-14) February 14, 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth Plano, Texas, United States
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Orange County SC
Number 5
Youth career
2008–2009 Andromeda SC
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2012 Notre Dame 78 (10)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012 Austin Aztex 2 (0)
2013–2017 Colorado Rapids 136 (14)
2017–2019 Orlando City 16 (0)
2020–2021 Dundee United 22 (1)
2021 Orange County SC 14 (0)
2022 Glentoran 10 (0)
2022– Orange County SC 63 (1)
International career
2009 United States U18 3 (1)
2009–2011 United States U20 15 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 14, 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of March 30, 2013

Early career

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Powers was born in Plano, Texas. As a youngster, Powers played for hometown club Andromeda SC and Plano Senior High School. He was named the Gatorade National Boys Soccer Player of the Year in his senior year before going on to play for Notre Dame.[3]

College career

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Powers played college soccer for the Fighting Irish at the University of Notre Dame from 2009 to 2012. For the 2009 season, he was named to the Big East All-Rookie Team.[4] In 2010 and 2011, he was named to the All-Big East second team.[4] For the 2012 season, he was selected to the All-Big East first team and the NSCAA All-America First Team.[5][4] He finished his Notre Dame career with 10 goals and 22 assists in 78 career games.[3]

Club career

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Powers in 2017

After college, Powers was drafted eleventh overall in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft by the Colorado Rapids. He became an instant hit with the team and was often shortlisted for the MLS Rookie of the Year Award by several pundits.[6] After the conclusion of the Rapids' season, Powers won the Rookie of the Year award, beating out teammate Deshorn Brown.[7]

On November 8, 2015, it was revealed the Powers was on trial with English Championship side, Reading.[8][9]

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.[10] Powers made his debut for Orlando City on August 26, 2017, against Vancouver Whitecaps FC.[11] He re-signed with Orlando City on December 18, 2017.[12] Powers scored his only goal for Orlando City on June 6, 2018, in a 2018 U.S. Open Cup match against Miami United FC.[13] 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.[14]

Following his release from Orlando at the end of their 2019 season, Powers made the move to Scottish Championship club Dundee United on January 10, 2020, on a deal lasting until the summer of 2021.[15]

Powers made his Scottish Premiership debut as a substitute in the 76th minute of a 1–0 win against Motherwell. He left Dundee United following the expiry of his contract at the end of the 2020–21 season.[16] On August 12, 2021, Powers signed with Orange County SC in the US 2nd tier USL Championship.[17]

On March 2, 2022, Powers made the move to NIFL Premiership team Glentoran.[18] Following the 2022 season, Glentoran announced that Powers had opted to leave Belfast and return to the United States.[19]

On June 30, 2022, Powers re-signed with Orange County SC.[20]

International career

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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.[21]

Personal life

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Dillon is the son of Michael Powers, who played for 15 years in the Major Indoor Soccer League with the Dallas Sidekicks.[22] Powers acquired an Italian passport in early 2015 making him a dual citizen of both the US and Italy.[23]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played February 6, 2021[24][25]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Colorado Rapids 2013 MLS 30 5 1 0 31 5
2014 30 5 2 2 32 7
2015 32 3 1 0 33 3
2016 29 1 2 0 3[a] 0 34 1
2017 15 0 2 0 17 0
Total 136 14 8 2 0 0 3 0 147 16
Orlando City 2017 MLS 6 0 0 0 6 0
2018 3 0 2 1 5 1
2019 7 0 3 0 10 0
Total 16 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 21 1
Dundee United 2019–20 Scottish Championship 8 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 9 1
2020–21 Scottish Premiership 14 0 0 0 3 0 17 0
Total 22 1 2 0 3 0 0 0 26 1
Career total 172 15 15 3 3 0 3 0 193 18
  1. ^ Appearances in MLS Cup

Honors

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Dundee United

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009™: List of Players: United States" (PDF). FIFA. October 6, 2009. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  2. ^ "Dillon Powers". dundeeunitedfc.co.uk. Dundee United F.C. Archived from the original on January 11, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Dillon Powers". Notre Dame Fighting Irish – Official Athletics Website. July 9, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c "Notre Dame Athletics | The Fighting Irish". Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website.
  5. ^ "Ryan Finley Named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year". Archived from the original on June 21, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  6. ^ "Major League Soccer's mid-season Rookie of the Year: Dillon Powers". July 11, 2013.
  7. ^ "Colorado Rapids midfielder Dillon Powers named MLS AT&T Rookie of the Year". November 25, 2013. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
  8. ^ "Dillon Powers on Trial at English Club Reading FC". Burgundy Wave. November 8, 2015.
  9. ^ "Powers on trial across the Atlantic". readingfc.co.uk. Reading FC. November 9, 2015. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
  10. ^ "Orlando City, Colorado Rapids swap midfielders Luis Gil, Dillon Powers". August 10, 2017.
  11. ^ "Dillon Powers Gets Debut for Lions". August 28, 2017.
  12. ^ "Orlando City SC Acquires RJ Allen, Stéfano Pinho; Re-Signs Dillon Powers". December 18, 2017.
  13. ^ "Lions Cruise Past Miami United into U.S. Open Cup Round of 16". June 6, 2018.
  14. ^ "Orlando City SC Announces 2019 End-of-Season Roster Decisions". Orlando City SC. November 21, 2019.
  15. ^ "UNITED ADD POWERS TO SQUAD". Dundee United F.C. January 10, 2020.
  16. ^ Banks, Ben (May 16, 2021). "Dundee United announce departures of five players including Adam King". Not The Old Firm. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  17. ^ "Orange County SC Adds Dillon Powers From Scottish Side Dundee United". August 12, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
  18. ^ "Powers, Please | Glentoran FC". www.glentoran.com.
  19. ^ "Squad announcements | Glentoran FC". www.glentoran.com.
  20. ^ "USL CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER DILLON POWERS RETURNS TO ORANGE COUNTY".
  21. ^ "Dillon Powers | MLSsoccer.com". mlssoccer.
  22. ^ Mike Levitt (April 18, 2013). "Rookie Report: Dillon Powers, Deshorn Brown lead Colorado Rapids' charge". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  23. ^ Alicia Rodriguez (February 11, 2015). "Despite obtaining Italian passport, Colorado Rapids' Dillon Powers "remains focused on this team"". Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  24. ^ "Dillon Powers". mlssoccer.com. MLS. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  25. ^ Dillon Powers at Soccerway. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  26. ^ "Scottish Championship, League One and League Two seasons end after Dundee vote for SPFL resolution". BBC Sport. April 16, 2020. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
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