Thomas Liam McNamara (born February 6, 1991) 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

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 England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

Career

Early career

Thomas McNamara was born in West Nyack, NY. McNamara played high school soccer at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, NJ, and played club soccer for FC Westchester. McNamara played college soccer at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

for four years before spending a fifth year playing college soccer for Clemson University in 2013. He was a First Team All-Ivy selection as a senior and finished his career at Brown with 12 goals and 10 assists. He scored seven goals while recording eight assists in his final season of college soccer at Clemson. He is only the second Clemson soccer player to be named an All-American both on and off the field in the same season. In 2013, he was named Second Team All-American by the NSCAA and a First Team Academic All-American. McNamara is the first Clemson soccer player selected to the Capital One Academic First Team since 1987 when Jamey Rootes was selected. Rootes is currently the President of the NFL's Houston Texans.He also played in the USL PDL with the Jersey Express in 2013.

Chivas USA

McNamara was drafted first in the second round of the

2014 MLS SuperDraft The 2014 MLS SuperDraft was the fifteenth MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. The first two rounds of the four round draft took place on January 16, 2014, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Philadelphia Convention Center ...

Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Guada ...

, and was officially signed on February 14, 2014. He made his professional debut for the team on March 9, 2014 against the Chicago Fire in which he also scored his first professional goal in the 60th minute on the way to a 3–2 opening day victory. On April 12, McNamara tore the ACL in his right knee, requiring him to undergo surgery to repair his ACL.

New York City FC

After the contraction of

following the

2014 Major League Soccer season The 2014 Major League Soccer season was the 102nd season of FIFA-sanctioned soccer in the United States and Canada, the 36th with a national first-division league, and the 19th season of Major League Soccer. This season featured 19 total clubs ...

, McNamara was selected by

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Suppo ...

in the

2014 MLS Dispersal Draft The 2014 MLS Expansion Draft was a draft for the Major League Soccer expansion teams New York City FC and Orlando City SC that took place between November 19 and December 10, 2014. The first two rounds of the draft (which were known as the 2014 MLS ...

. Leading up to the 2015

Expansion of Major League Soccer Major League Soccer has expanded several times since the league began play in 1996. Major League Soccer was established as the top level of professional soccer in the United States in 1993 with 10 teams and began play in 1996. It has expanded sev ...

Draft, McNamara was left unprotected by D.C. United. New York City FC selected him with their eighth pick in the

2014 MLS Expansion Draft The 2014 MLS Expansion Draft was a draft for the Major League Soccer expansion teams New York City FC and Orlando City SC that took place between November 19 and December 10, 2014. The first two rounds of the draft (which were known as the 2014 MLS ...

. McNamara scored his first goal for New York City FC on June 6, 2015 against the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

. The goal, scored from about 25 yards out, was awarded MLS goal of the week honors. This right-footed curling shot into the top corner has become a signature of McNamara's, as he has scored near identical goals from similar areas of the pitch against Chicago Fire,

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

, and Colorado Rapids.

Houston Dynamo

McNamara was selected by

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 ...

in the second-round of the

2018 MLS Re-Entry Draft The 2018 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 14, 2018 (Stage 1) and December 20, 2018 (Stage 2). All 24 Major League Soccer clubs were eligible to participate. The priority order for the MLS Re-Entry Draft was reverse order of finish in 2018 ...

on December 20, 2018. He signed with the Dynamo on January 11, 2019 He made his Dynamo debut on February 19, coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 win over

C.D. Guastatoya Club Deportivo Guastatoya is a Guatemalan football club based in Guastatoya, El Progreso Department. They compete in the Liga Nacional de Fútbol de Guatemala, Liga Nacional, the top tier of Guatemalan football. History The team had its origins ...

in a

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

match. McNamara scored his first goal for Houston on May 18 in a 2–1 win over

. On July 20, he scored a goal and had an assist as the Dynamo defeated

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

3–1. McNamara would return to NYCFC on August 8 and would mark the occasion by picking up his second assist of the season. However, the Dynamo would lose by a score of 3–2. McNamara would lead the team with 39 appearances across all competitions, and finished the year with 2 goals and 3 assists. It was a poor season for Houston as a team, finishing 10th in the Western Conference and missing out on the playoffs. McNamara started the first two games of the 2020 season before the season was paused 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 ...

. The league returned to play in July with the MLS is Back Tournament, where McNamara made a substitute appearance in 2 of Houston's 3 games.

New England Revolution

On August 17, 2020, McNamara acquired by New England via trade with Houston on Aug. 17, 2020. He re-signed with the Revolution on December 22.

International career

McNamara is an American and Irish passport holder, as his paternal grandfather was born in Ireland. He has expressed interest in playing for either national team.

Career statistics

Honors

New England Revolution *

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 19 ...

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 ...

Individual * NYCFC Etihad Player of the month June 2015 * NYCFC Etihad Player of the month March 2016 *

Goal of the Week: 2015 Week 14 *

Goal of the Week: 2016 Week 4

References

External links

*
Profile at NYCFC
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Tommy 1991 births Living people American soccer players Association football midfielders Brown Bears men's soccer players Chivas USA draft picks Chivas USA players Clemson Tigers men's soccer players Don Bosco Preparatory High School alumni Houston Dynamo FC players Jersey Express S.C. players Major League Soccer players New England Revolution players New York City FC players People from West Nyack, New York Soccer players from New York (state) Sportspeople from the New York metropolitan area USL Championship players USL League Two players Western Mass Pioneers players Wilmington Hammerheads FC players Worcester Hydra players