Danny Earls
Personal information
Full name Daniel Keith Earls
Date of birth (1989-04-22) 22 April 1989
Place of birth Wicklow, Ireland
Position(s) Defender, Midfielder
Youth career
1996–2001 Wicklow Rovers A.F.C
2001–2005 St. Josephs Boys Football Club
2005–2008 Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2009 Rochester Rhinos 53 (1)
2010–2011 Colorado Rapids 22 (0)
2012–2013 Rochester Rhinos 53 (5)
2014–2017 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 76 (4)
International career
Republic of Ireland U15
Republic of Ireland U16
Republic of Ireland U18
Republic of Ireland U19
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 October 2017

Daniel Keith "Danny" Earls (born 22 April 1989) is an Irish footballer and artist. Earls was scouted and signed as a teenager by English Premier League side Aston Villa and played youth football for the Republic of Ireland. He went on to have a nine-year professional career in the United States of America with Rochester Rhinos, Colorado Rapids and Pittsburgh Riverhounds. As of 2019, he is unattached, and focusing on becoming a professional comic book artist.[1]

Career

Europe

Born in Wicklow, Earls played for Wicklow Rovers A.F.C. and St. Josephs Boys A.F.C. in his native Ireland, before moving to English Premier League club Aston Villa in 2005. Earls never played a senior first team game for Villa, but played extensively for the reserves and captained the team until leaving in 2008.[2]

United States

In June 2008 Earls left England for the United States when he signed with Rochester Rhinos of the USL First Division. He made his debut with the team in the Rhinos' 2–1 victory over RWB Adria in the 2008 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on 10 June 2008. On 29 July 2008, he was selected as the USL-1 Player of the Week.[3]

Earls played 53 games with the Rochester Rhinos in two seasons, before signing with Major League Soccer side Colorado Rapids on 10 February 2010.[4] After one season with Colorado in which he made 18 appearances and won MLS Cup,[5] Earls was traded to Seattle Sounders FC, along with teammate Julien Baudet, on 22 November 2010.[6] Earls was waived by Seattle on 1 March 2011.[7] He subsequently resumed training with Colorado and re-signed with the Rapids on 30 March 2011.[8] Colorado confirmed on 17 January 2012 that Earls would not return for the 2012 season after appearing in four matches for the Rapids during the 2011 season.[5][9]

On 3 April 2012, Rochester Rhinos announced that the club re-signed Earls to a one-year deal.[10] Following the 2013 season, Earls was named the Rhinos' team MVP.[11]

Prior to the 2014 season, Earls signed with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds, also of the USL Pro.[11] In his first season with the club, Earls appeared in and started 27 matches, tallying 1 goal and 6 assists.[12] He finished the 2015 season with 3 goals and 3 assists in 25 league appearances.[13]

On 3 June 2016 it was announced that the Riverhounds had resigned Earls for the remainder of the 2016 season.[14] On 30 November 2017, Pittsburgh announced that Earls' contract had expired, ending his four-year spell with the club.[15]

Having returned to his home town of Wicklow in 2018, Earls focused on his artwork and was commissioned by the Football Association of Ireland to produce programme covers for John O'Shea's testimonial match and an international friendly between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.[1][16]

Honours

Colorado Rapids

References

  1. 1 2 "Danny Earls – From MLS Cup champion to comic book artist". Wicklow News. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  2. ↑ "Danny Earls | Major League Soccer". Archived from the original on 30 March 2010.
  3. ↑ "Danny Earls Named Player of the Week". Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2008.
  4. ↑ "Soccer365.com | MLS | Rapids Sign Earls and Murillo". Archived from the original on 10 March 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  5. 1 2 "MLS Profile". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "Sounders FC Blog". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
  7. ↑ "Sounders FC Blog". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  8. ↑ "Rapids sign Janniere, re-sign Earls". Colorado Rapids. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  9. ↑ "Rapids have four International roster slots available". Colorado Rapids. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  10. ↑ "rhinossoccer.com: News". Archived from the original on 12 June 2015.
  11. 1 2 Doherty, Brendan (31 March 2014). "Rhinos Transfers 2014: Danny Earls and Tyler Bellamy Out, Babacar Diallo Looks Likely to Sign". The Bent Musket. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  12. ↑ "2014 Statistics". USL. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "2015 Stats". United Soccer League. Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  14. ↑ "RIVERHOUNDS SIGN EARLS FOR REMAINDER OF SEASON". Pittsburgh Riverhounds. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  15. ↑ "HOUNDS ANNOUNCE INITIAL OFFSEASON ROSTER PLANS". Riverhounds.com. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  16. ↑ "Danny's soccer flair is matched by his art". Independent.ie. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
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