Clinton Robert Irwin (born April 1, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

for

Minnesota United Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American Soc ...

Early life

Irwin attended high school at

Charlotte Christian School Charlotte Christian School is a private, college preparatory, non-denominational Christian school for grades K–12. It is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. History In 1950, D.L. Pointdexter McClenny began a ministry at Calvary Presbyt ...

. As a student, he played basketball, where he was a teammate of future

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United ...

player

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, ...

. Irwin attended

Elon University Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, Elon is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or professional doctorate ...

, where he made 54 appearances for 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 Colonial Athletic Association and com ...

over four seasons.

Club career

While attending university, Irwin played two seasons with USL Premier Development Division club

Carolina Dynamo North Carolina Fusion U-23, formerly known as Carolina Dynamo, is an American soccer team based in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1993, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. T ...

. After his time at Elon, Irwin joined

Capital City A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the ...

of the Canadian Soccer League for the 2011 season. Irwin made 22 appearances for Capital City and scored a goal for the club in a 2–2 draw with

Windsor Stars Windsor TFC is a Canadian soccer team based in Windsor, Ontario, that was founded in 2004. They have competed in the Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL) and Canadian Soccer League (CSL). Throughout their tenure in the CPSL/CSL, Windsor w ...

. Following his stint with Capital City, Irwin joined his hometown club, the

Charlotte Eagles The Charlotte Eagles are an American professional soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1991, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games a ...

in the

USL Professional Division 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 ...

. On July 6, 2012, Irwin made his debut in a 2–0 win over the

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are one of the oldest continuously operating professiona ...

In February 2013, Irwin signed with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

club

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, ...

after a successful trial in preseason. He made his debut for the club on March 16 in 1–1 draw against

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in ...

, coming on as a 7th minute substitute for

Matt Pickens Matt Pickens (born April 5, 1982) is an American retired soccer player who is currently the goalkeeping coach for Nashville SC in Major League Soccer. Career Youth and amateur Pickens initially attended Meramec Community College before pla ...

. Following the 2015 season, in February 2016, Irwin was traded to

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

in exchange for targeted allocation money, a third-round pick in the

2016 MLS SuperDraft The 2016 MLS SuperDraft was the seventeenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The 2016 convention was held in Ba ...

and a conditional first-round pick in the

2017 MLS SuperDraft The 2017 MLS SuperDraft was the eighteenth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held each year in conjunction with the annual National Soccer Coaches Association of America convention. The first two rounds of the 2017 Su ...

. After featuring as the club's starting goalkeeper for the first part of the season, Irwin sustained in injury in July, and as a result, he was replaced by his deputy

Alex Bono Alexander Nicholas Bono (born April 25, 1994) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club D.C. United. College career Born and raised in Baldwinsville, New York, Bono attended high scho ...

in the starting line-up by manager

Greg Vanney Greg Vanney (born June 11, 1974) is an American former professional soccer player and head coach of the LA Galaxy in Major League Soccer. A defender and one of MLS's original players, Vanney spent 10 seasons in the league and another three-and-a- ...

; Upon his return to action, Irwin later regained the starting spot for the remainder of the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability ...

and the

Playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

, as Toronto went on to reach the 2016 MLS Cup Final. In the final, held at

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is home to Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Constructed on the site of the former Exhibit ...

on December 10, Toronto were defeated by the

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

5–4 on penalties, following a 0–0 draw after extra time; Irwin was able to stop Álvaro Fernández's spot kick during the shootout, but misses from teammates Michael Bradley and

Justin Morrow Justin Morrow (born October 4, 1987) is an American retired professional soccer player. Morrow is the executive director of ''Black Players for Change'', which in 2020 won the MLS Humanitarian of the Year Award. College and amateur career M ...

ultimately proved to be decisive. On December 13, 2016, Irwin was selected by

Atlanta United FC Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began p ...

in the third round of the 2016 MLS Expansion Draft, but was immediately traded back to Toronto for

Mark Bloom Mark Bloom (born November 25, 1987) is a retired American soccer player. Bloom played as a defender. Career Youth and amateur Born in Marietta, Georgia, Bloom played college soccer at Berry College, where he was a second-team All-Southern St ...

and allocation money. The following season, Irwin suffered a hamstring injury in the Toronto FC's home opener, a 0–0 draw against

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse an ...

; as a result, Bono was once again promoted to the starting line-up in Irwin's absence, and eventually established himself as the team's outright first-choice shot-stopper by September 2017, due to his performances, even after Irwin's return from injury. In a rematch of the previous season's MLS Cup Final, on December 9, Toronto defeated Seattle 2–0 at home to capture the

2017 MLS Cup MLS Cup 2017 was the 22nd edition of the MLS Cup, the championship of Major League Soccer (MLS), contested between Toronto FC and Seattle Sounders FC on December 9, 2017. The soccer match was hosted at BMO Field in Toronto, Canada, for the seco ...

, and complete an unprecedented treble of the MLS Cup, the

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 19 ...

, and the

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contes ...

. On December 14, 2018, Irwin was traded back to the

in exchange for a second-round pick in the

2019 MLS SuperDraft The 2019 MLS SuperDraft was the twentieth SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is typically held in conjunction with the annual January United Soccer Coaches convention, which in 2019 was held in Chicago, Illinois. The fir ...

. He spent the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

as the backup to former

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

international Tim Howard. Irwin's contract with Colorado expired following the 2022 season. On December 6, 2022,

announced it had signed Irwin to a two-year contract, beginning in 2023, in support of starting goalkeeper,

Dayne St. Clair Dayne Tristan St. Clair (born May 9, 1997) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Minnesota United and the Canada national team. Prior to playing for Minnesota United, St. Clair was a ...

Career statistics

Club

Honors

Club

;

: *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

: 2016,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

References

External links

*
Elon University bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Clint Living people 1989 births American soccer players Soccer players from Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte Christian School alumni Association football goalkeepers Elon Phoenix men's soccer players North Carolina Fusion U23 players Charlotte Eagles players Colorado Rapids players Toronto FC players Toronto FC II players Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC players Colorado Rapids 2 players Minnesota United FC players USL League Two players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players USL Championship players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars MLS Next Pro players American expatriate soccer players Expatriate soccer players in Canada American expatriate sportspeople in Canada