Robert Cleary (born May 15, 2003) is a Canadian

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for English club Salford City.

Early life

Cleary began his career with the RVDL Lions, created by former Dutch player

Robin van der Laan Robertus Petrus van der Laan (born 5 September 1968) is a Dutch football manager of Northern Premier League Division One South club Newcastle Town, and a former player. He began his playing career in his native the Netherlands with Eerste Di ...

, later playing for the Burlington Bayhawks in OPDL and then moved to Sigma FC at age 14.

College career

In January 2021, Cleary committed to Oakland University. He played 10 games in 2021, recording 3 assists.

Club career

In June 2021, Cleary signed a developmental contract with Canadian Premier League club

Forge FC Forge FC is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of Canadian soccer. The club plays its home matches at Tim Hortons Field. Forge FC joined the CPL in 2019 as ...

. He made his professional debut on July 1 against FC Edmonton, subbing in for

Chris Nanco Christopher Lenroy Nanco (born February 15, 1995) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays for Forge FC of the Canadian Premier League. Early life He began playing youth soccer with Brampton Youth SC. At age 12, he joined Sigma FC. Whil ...

in an eventual 2–0 defeat. As part of his developmental contract, he also played with

Sigma FC Sigma Sports is a Canadian youth soccer development academy and player management company based in Mississauga, Ontario. They also operate a senior academy soccer team that currently competes in League1 Ontario, as Sigma FC. Over 140 Sigma player ...

in League1 Ontario. In 2022, he played for

in League1 Ontario, also playing for the Sigma FC U21 in the Reserve Division where he scored 6 goals in 10 games. In May 2024, Cleary signed with English

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club Salford City, with the deal taking effect upon the opening of the transfer window on July 1, 2024.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cleary, Robbie 2003 births Living people Men's association football forwards Canadian men's soccer players Soccer people from Ontario Sportspeople from Burlington, Ontario Forge FC players Sigma FC players Burlington SC (League1 Ontario) players Salford City F.C. players League1 Ontario players Canadian Premier League players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in England Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England