James Hoban Sands (born July 6, 2000) is an 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 ...

player who plays as a

center-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

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 ...

club

New York City FC New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned b ...

. He became NYCFC's first ever homegrown player in July 2017.

Youth career

Sands joined New York Soccer Club, an affiliate team of

, at the age of 10. In 2015, he joined New York City after the inception of the Under-16 Academy side, alongside his twin brother, Will Sands. Sands credits English coach Chris Leaver as his most influential and important mentor of his youth career.

Club career

New York City

In January 2017, Sands became the first Academy player to be included in the

roster for pre-season. On June 27, 2017, he signed his first professional contract to begin on July 1. The deal made him the club's first ever homegrown player. Sands made his professional debut on September 16, 2017, coming on as a substitute for

Andrea Pirlo Andrea Pirlo (; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is head coach of Süper Lig club Fatih Karagümrük. Considered one of the best deep-lying playmakers ever, Pirlo was renowned for his visio ...

in a 1–1 draw against

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, la ...

. In 2019, Sands became a regular starter for NYCFC, first as a defensive midfielder, and then as the central defender in a three-man back line once the Pigeons switched formations. In 2021, he started in

MLS Cup 2021 MLS Cup 2021 was the 26th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS) at the conclusion of the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs. The soccer match was played on December 11, 2021, at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon, U ...

, in which New York City FC defeated the Portland Timbers in a penalty shootout to win their first ever MLS Cup.

Louisville City

In 2018, Sands joined Louisville City in the second-division USL on a short-term loan from August 15 through September 1. Sands worked in Louisville under

John Hackworth John Hackworth (born February 5, 1970, in Dunedin, Florida) is an American soccer coach who is currently Director of Coaching for St. Louis City SC of Major League Soccer and the interim head coach for the club's MLS Next Pro side. Player ...

, who had previously coached Sands with the United States U17 team.

Rangers

On January 5, 2022, Sands joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

side Rangers on an initial 18-month loan deal with an option to buy. On January 18, he made his Rangers debut during a 1–1 draw with

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. He made a substitute appearance in the 2022 UEFA Europa League final in which Rangers lost to

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

in a penalty shootout. On March 1, 2023, his loan was terminated and he returned to New York City FC.

International career

Sands regularly featured for the United States under-17s in 2017 and helped his nation finish second in the

CONCACAF Under-17 Championship The CONCACAF U-17 Championship is an international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Results In 2009 the tournament returned ...

in May. The United States eventually lost to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in a penalty shootout, although Sands scored and was named to the "Team of the Tournament." In July 2021, Sands was called up to the senior team for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup and made his debut 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 ...

as a substitute. He started in the final game of the tournament, in which the United States defeated Mexico 1-0.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honors

Louisville City FC *

USL Cup The USL Championship Final is the post-season championship match of the USL Championship, the second tier of professional men's soccer in the United States. The winner is crowned champion in the same manner as in other North American sports lea ...

: 2018 New York City FC *

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 ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Rangers *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2021–22 *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

runner-up: 2021–22 United States *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

Individual *

Team of the Tournament: 2017 *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a tr ...

References

External links

*
NYCFC bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sands, James 2000 births Living people American soccer players Association football midfielders Homegrown Players (MLS) Louisville City FC players Major League Soccer players New York City FC players People from Rye, New York Soccer players from New York (state) Sportspeople from Westchester County, New York United States men's youth international soccer players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Association football defenders United States men's international soccer players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players American expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Scottish Professional Football League players Rangers F.C. players American expatriate soccer players Expatriate footballers in Scotland