Colin Clark (April 11, 1984 – August 26, 2019) was an 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 left winger.

Career

College and amateur

Clark played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

for two years from 2002 to 2004, and in 2005 he played for the Boulder Rapids Reserve team in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

Professional

Colorado Rapids

In February 2006 he officially signed a developmental contract with Colorado Rapids, and was with the team until 2010. During training on August 11, 2009, Clark injured his ACL, causing him to miss the remainder of the 2009 campaign. One year later, during a match against San Jose Earthquakes, Clark tore the same ACL, which again forced him to miss the remainder of the season.

Houston Dynamo

On September 15, 2010, Clark was traded to

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

with allocation money in exchange for

Brian Mullan Brian Mullan (born April 23, 1978) is an American former soccer player. He played for the Los Angeles Galaxy, San Jose Earthquakes, Houston Dynamo, and Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer. He won 5 MLS Cups, 2 Supporters' Shields, and 1 U. ...

and a fourth-round pick in the

2013 MLS SuperDraft The 2013 MLS SuperDraft was the fourteenth SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. The draft took place on January 17, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Indiana Convention Center. The Colorado Rapids enjoyed returns from the 2013 draft, ...

(later converted to a pick in the

2013 MLS Supplemental Draft The 2013 MLS Supplemental Draft was a secondary draft that was held by Major League Soccer via conference call on January 22, 2013. The draft was four rounds with all 19 MLS clubs participating. Selection order The official selection order was a ...

League suspension

During a nationally televised game against

Seattle Sounders FC 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 ...

on March 23, 2012, sideline microphones picked up Clark's voice as he uttered an anti-gay slur at a ball boy who delivered him a ball for a

throw-in A throw-in is a method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball has exited the side of the field of play. It is governed by Law 15 of The Laws of the Game. Award When the ball goes out of play past the touch-line ...

situation. He apologized for the incident on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

several hours later. On March 28, 2012,

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 Canada ...

suspended Clark for three games and fined him an undisclosed sum as punishment for the incident. League Commissioner Don Garber also ordered Clark to attend diversity and sensitivity training, stating, "Major League Soccer will not tolerate this type of behaviour from its players or staff at any time, under any circumstances," while also acknowledging that Clark had expressed "sincere remorse" for his actions. In response to the league's disciplinary action, Clark declared, "I am sorry about what happened during the Seattle match. I have personally apologized to the ball boy, and I want to take this chance to say I'm sorry to everyone that I've offended... what I said does not properly represent who I am or what I believe. I made a mistake that I truly regret. I accept the punishment that has been handed down by MLS."

Los Angeles Galaxy

When Clark's contract expired at the end of the 2012 season he chose to enter the

2012 MLS Re-Entry Draft The two-stage 2012 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 7, 2012 (Stage 1) and December 14, 2012 (Stage 2). All 19 Major League Soccer clubs were eligible to participate. The Stage 1 and Stage 2 Drafts were conducted in the same order as the t ...

. On December 14, 2012, he was selected by Los Angeles Galaxy in stage two of the draft. Los Angeles traded up in the draft order to select Clark, giving up a

pick and an international roster slot in the deal.

International

On July 11, 2009, Clark made his debut with the

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 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

against

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

in the

2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was played from July 3 to 26, 2009 in the United States ...

Death

On August 26, 2019, Clark died after suffering a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

; he was 35 years old.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Colin 1984 births 2019 deaths American men's soccer players Soccer players from Colorado SMU Mustangs men's soccer players Colorado Rapids U-23 players Colorado Rapids players Houston Dynamo FC players LA Galaxy players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players Place of death missing United States men's international soccer players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Sportspeople from Fort Collins, Colorado Men's association football wingers