William Conner Antley (born March 22, 1995) is an American soccer player who plays as a defender for Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USL Championship.

Career

College and amateur teams

After a standout career with his high school team, East Coweta, Antley played in college for the

Mercer Bears The Mercer Bears are the athletic teams of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, United States. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia with an NCAA Division I athletic program and fields teams in eight men's and nine women's sports. The ...

. Over the course of his career with Mercer, Antley played in 49 matches, starting 46 of those games, and scored 8 goals and assisted 6 more goals, despite being a defender. Before his professional career began, Antley played for two

USL League Two 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 ...

sides. He began his amateur career with

Seattle Sounders FC U-23 Sound FC is an American soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington. Founded in 2006, the team most recently played in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. History 2006–2009: Playoffs The Tacoma team was introduced int ...

team in 2017 where his play gained him recognition as a top 50 player in the league. However, in 2018 he moved to

Tormenta FC South Georgia Tormenta FC is an American soccer organization based in Statesboro, Georgia, United States. Founded in 2015, the club fields a professional team in USL League One, the third tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, as well as a pre-prof ...

and played for the team, before they moved to USL League One and transitioned their

team to Tormenta 2.

South Georgia Tormenta

Due to his strong form for the team before their move to the professional ranks,

signed Antley to a professional contract on June 11, 2018. Antley made his debut for Tormenta in USL League One's inaugural match against the

Greenville Triumph Greenville Triumph SC is a professional soccer team based in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. The club began play in USL League One in 2019. History The formation of USL D3 was first announced in April 2017, and league officials began ...

, even scoring a goal. Throughout the season Antley played in 27 matches for Tormenta, scoring 6 goals and making 6 assists for the club. Due to Antley's stellar play throughout the season, Antley was named the 2019 USL League One Defender of the Year on October 29, 2019.

Indy Eleven

On November 21, 2019, Antley joined USL Championship side Indy Eleven. Notably this was the first transfer between the USL Championship and USL League One where a transfer fee was paid between the clubs for the player. Despite the historic nature of the transfer, the fee was undisclosed.

Tampa Bay Rowdies

On December 29, 2020, Antley signed with USL Championship side Tampa Bay Rowdies ahead of their 2021 season.

Honors

Individual

* 2019 USL League One Defender of the Year

References

External links

*
Profile at Mercer University Athletics
1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Coweta County, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Soccer players from Georgia (U.S. state) American men's soccer players Men's association football defenders Mercer Bears men's soccer players Indy Eleven players Seattle Sounders FC U-23 players Tampa Bay Rowdies players Tormenta FC players USL League One players USL League Two players USL Championship players {{US-footy-defender-stub