William Clifford is a retired American professional

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 ...

defender who spent three seasons in the

USISL United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

Playing career

In 1992, Clifford graduated from Sacred Heart High School. He attended the University of South Carolina, playing on the men's soccer team from 1992 to 1995. In 1996, he turned professional with the

South Carolina Shamrocks The South Carolina Shamrocks were an American soccer team that played in Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the county seat, seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municip ...

of the

. On February 2, 1997, the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

selected Clifford in the third round (twenty-eighth overall) of the

1997 MLS Supplemental Draft The 1997 Major League Soccer Supplemental Draft was held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on February 2, 1997. Round 1 Round 1 trades Round 2 Round 2 trades Round 3 Round 3 trades References {{DEFAULTSORT:1997 Mls Supplemental Draft ...

. The Crew released him and he moved to the

Jacksonville Cyclones The Jacksonville Cyclones were a professional soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They played in the A-League from 1997 to 1999. The team originated as the Tampa Bay Cyclones, who played in Tampa, Florida from 1995 to 1996 before moving ...

for two seasons. In April 1998, Clifford suffered a career ending broken foot during practice.FRAGILE FOOTING FOR THE FUTURE Clifford finds broken foot hard to heal
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clifford, Billy Living people American men's soccer players Jacksonville Cyclones players Men's association football defenders South Carolina Gamecocks men's soccer players South Carolina Shamrocks players USISL Select League players A-League (1995–2004) players Columbus Crew draft picks Year of birth missing (living people) Soccer players from Massachusetts Sportspeople from Plymouth County, Massachusetts