Joshua David Heard (born 29 November 1994) is a Welsh professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

for and

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 2 ...

of the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

Early life

Heard was born in Cardiff, Wales and moved to Victoria, Canada when he was three. Heard played youth soccer with Lakehill Soccer Association. He also played for Victoria Metro and the

Victoria Highlanders Victoria Highlanders FC is a Canadian soccer team based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The club was founded in 2008 and currently play in the League1 British Columbia. The team had played in the American USL League Two from 2009 to 20 ...

. He had been invited to train with the

Vancouver Whitecaps Academy Whitecaps FC Academy is a Canadian soccer team, the academy of professional team Vancouver Whitecaps FC. They were originally known as the Whitecaps Residency program. About Whitecaps FC Academy is a full-time, fully funded, player development pro ...

, but he elected to attend college and play college soccer instead.

College career

In 2012, Heard began attending the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, where he played for the men's soccer team. He had been recruited to the school after impressing the team's coaching staff when they saw him playing in a youth match, which they were attending to watch two members of the opposing team who had committed to joining Washington. He made his debut on August 24, 2012 against the

Gonzaga Bulldogs The Gonzaga Bulldogs () (also known unofficially as the Zags) are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing Gonzaga University, located in Spokane, Washington, United States. Gonzaga competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

. On September 22, 2013, he scored his first collegiate goal against the

Georgia State Panthers The Georgia State Panthers are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Georgia State University, located in Atlanta, Georgia. Almost all GSU teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as me ...

. On October 8, 2013, he scored a brace in a 2-0 victory over the

Seattle Redhawks The Seattle Redhawks are the intercollegiate varsity athletic teams of Seattle University of Seattle, Washington. They compete in the NCAA's Division I as a member institution of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). History Between 1950 and ...

. In 2013, Washington won the 2013 Pac-12 title and advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA National Tournament. In his senior season, he was named an Honourable Mention for the All-Pac 12 All-Star Teams. After the season, he was invited to the MLS Player Combine ahead of the 2016 MLS SuperDraft, however, he was not able to attend due to injury. Over his time with Washington, he scored 13 goals and added eight assists in 74 games.

Club career

In 2011 and 2012, Heard played with the

in the

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

. In 2013, he signed with the North Sound SeaWolves, before returning to the Highlanders, helping them reach the PDL Final Four in 2013. In 2014, he signed with the newly renamed Puget Sound Gunners (who changed their name from the North Sound SeaWovles) again. In January 2016, Heard was selected 71st overall in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft by

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

. However, he did not sign with the Whitecaps. In late January 2016, he signed a professional contract with

USL 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 ...

club

Bethlehem Steel FC Philadelphia Union II is an American professional soccer team based in Chester, Pennsylvania competing in MLS Next Pro. Founded in 2015 as Bethlehem Steel FC, the team is the official affiliate of the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. T ...

. He made his debut on April 11, 2016 against

New York Red Bulls II New York Red Bulls II is an American professional soccer team based in Montclair, New Jersey. They are the reserve team of the New York Red Bulls and play in MLS Next Pro, the third tier in the American soccer pyramid. History Red Bull New Yo ...

. He scored his first goal on July 7, 2016 against

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, who play in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as well a ...

. He departed the club after the 2017 season, upon the expiry of his contract. In February 2018, he signed with the

Real Monarchs Real Monarchs is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of, the Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. While the senior club is ...

of the USL. He scored his first goal on May 19, 2018 against the Las Vegas Lights. After the season, the club picked up his option for the following season. In July 2019, he was sent on a one year loan to Austrian club

FC Pinzgau Saalfelden FC Pinzgau Saalfelden is an Austrian football club from Saalfelden in the federal state of Salzburg. The club currently plays in the Austrian Regionalliga Salzburg which is the third tier of Austrian football, and has played there since the 2014– ...

until July 2020. With Pinzgau, they qualified for the promotion playoff series, but it was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in March 2020. Upon the conclusion of his loan, he departed the Monarchs, mutually terminating the deal, after being unable to return to the United States due to

travel restrictions. On 31 July 2020, he signed with

of the

. On August 15, he made his debut for Pacific against the

HFX Wanderers HFX Wanderers Football Club, commonly known as HFX Wanderers, and spoken as Halifax Wanderers, is a Canadian professional soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League at the top of the Canadian soccer le ...

. He won the 2021 CPL Championship with Pacific. In January 2022, he re-signed with the club for an additional season. On August 2, 2022, he scored two goals in a 6-0

CONCACAF League The CONCACAF League was an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF as its second-tier continental competition. It was announced on 8 May 2017. The competition uses a knockout cup format with each round having two le ...

victory over Jamaican club

Waterhouse FC The Waterhouse Football Club is a football team based in Kingston, that competes in the Jamaica National Premier League. Their home stadium is Waterhouse Stadium. History The club was founded in 1968 as ''Harlem Kickers FC'', changed to ''Th ...

to help Pacific advance to the Round of 16. In November 2022, it was announced that he would return to the club for the 2023 season, and he was named team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in March 2023.

Honours

Pacific FC *

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 ...

References

External links

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Josh Heard
at SoccerStats {{DEFAULTSORT:Heard, Josh 1994 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Canadian men's soccer players Welsh men's footballers Footballers from Cardiff Soccer players from Victoria, British Columbia Welsh emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Welsh expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Welsh expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Welsh expatriate sportspeople in Austria Washington Huskies men's soccer players Victoria Highlanders FC players Puget Sound Gunners FC players Vancouver Whitecaps FC draft picks Philadelphia Union II players Real Monarchs players Pacific FC players USL League Two players USL Championship players Austrian Regionalliga players Canadian Premier League players