Ben Fritz Spencer Jr. (born March 28, 1995) is a retired American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Club career

Youth

A native of New Mexico, Spencer joined Real Salt Lake's Grande Sports Academy ahead of the 2010–11 season. He left the RSL system for the 2011–12 season for the Chivas USA academy (although his MLS rights were retained by Real Salt Lake). Spencer committed to play college soccer for UC Santa Barbara for the fall 2013 season but instead agreed to join

Molde Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of the m ...

in Norway in December 2012.

Professional

After several months of training, Spencer signed a professional deal with Molde in April 2013, shortly after turning 18. He made his professional debut in a 4–0 win over

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for it ...

on September 1, 2013. In March 2014 Spencer moved on a season-long loan to NASL side Indy Eleven, returning to Molde in November 2014 upon the completion of his loan deal. He moved to Toronto FC II in 2015, on loan, however, he suffered an injury and was unable to appear in a match for the team. After the season, Toronto FC acquired his MLS rights from Real Salt Lake. Soon after his loan ended, he joined Toronto FC II on a permanent transfer. After spending 2016 and the beginning of 2017 with Toronto FC II in the United Soccer League, Spencer made the move up to Toronto FC on May 2, 2017. Spencer was a member of the treble winning Toronto FC team which won the Canadian Cup, Supporters' Shield, and MLS Cup during the 2017 season. He was released by the club in June 2018, after only making 5 appearances in 2 seasons, contributing 2 assists. In 2019, he joined Phoenix Rising FC in the USL Championship. He scored a penalty kick in the shootout of their 2019 US Open Cup Second Round loss. Spencer had the highest goals-per-minute ratio in the USL Championship during the 2019 season. During the season, he was loaned to USL League One affiliate

FC Tucson FC Tucson is an American soccer club based in Tucson, Arizona that plays in USL League Two. The club has an amateur women’s team, FC Tucson Women, that play in the WPSL. Organized in 2010, the club first fielded a team in March 2011, then joine ...

. At the end of the season, he was not re-signed by the club. Spencer joined

San Diego Loyal SC San Diego Loyal Soccer Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California. The team was founded by Warren Smith and Landon Donovan. San Diego Loyal made its debut in 2020 as an expansion team in the USL Championship. ...

in July 2020. On December 9, 2021, Spencer announced via his social media platforms his decision to retire from playing professional soccer.

International career

Spencer featured for the United States U18 in 2012, scoring three goals in six matches.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Ben 1995 births Living people Soccer players from New Mexico American men's soccer players Molde FK players Indy Eleven players Toronto FC II players Toronto FC players Phoenix Rising FC players FC Tucson players San Diego Loyal SC players Eliteserien players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players USL Championship players American expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Norway American expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players Major League Soccer players Men's association football forwards USL League One players Homegrown Players (MLS) 21st-century American sportsmen