Cody Cropper

Cody Cropper (born February 16, 1993) is an American soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper who currently plays for MLS side FC Cincinnati.

Cody Cropper

Personal information
Full name	Cody Cropper
Date of birth	February 16, 1993
Place of birth	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team	FC Cincinnati
Number	1
Youth career
2006–2008	Minnesota Thunder
2008–2009	Reading Rage
2010–2012	Ipswich Town
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2015	Southampton	0	(0)
2015–2016	Milton Keynes Dons	9	(0)
2016–2019	New England Revolution	36	(0)
2019	→ Hartford Athletic (loan)	9	(0)
2020	Houston Dynamo	0	(0)
2021–	FC Cincinnati	0	(0)
National team^‡
2010–2013	United States U20	21	(0)
2014–2016	United States U23	7	(0)
Honours Representing  United States Runner-up CONCACAF U-20 Championship 2013
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:07, January 25, 2020 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14:50, 26 October 2016 (UTC)

Club career

Youth career

Cropper played with the Minnesota Thunder Academy and the Reading Rage, as well spending time with the US U-17 residency program at the IMG Soccer Academy in Bradenton, Florida.[1] Cropper had several trials in England, including with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City, before joining the Ipswich Town academy in 2010.[1] He made the bench for the Ipswich first team, but suffered a torn meniscus.[2] He failed to receive a new contract offer from Ipswich and was released after the 2011–12 season.

Southampton

Cropper joined Southampton in August 2012.[2][3] Cropper served as a backup keeper for the Saints; making the first team bench, but playing for the U-21 and U-23 teams and never making a first team appearance. His time with Southampton included multiple injuries.[4][5] After 3 years at the south coast club, Cropper was released.[6]

Milton Keynes Dons

On June 30, 2015, Cropper joined newly promoted Championship side Milton Keynes Dons.[7] He made his debut for MK Dons on August 11, 2015 in an EFL Cup first round win against Leyton Orient.[8][9] In September Cropper underwent knee surgery that kept him sidelined for over a month.[10] On April 16, 2016, Cropper was sent off for a foul on Preston North End's striker Eoin Doyle.[11] He returned from the suspension on April 23 and suffered a season ending shoulder injury in a 4–1 loss to Brentford.[12] Cropper was released after the 2015-16 season when the club decided not to take up the one-year option in Cropper's contract after being relegated to League One.[13]

New England Revolution

On August 18, 2016, Cropper signed with Major League Soccer club New England Revolution.[14] He made his Revolution debut on October 23, getting a clean sheet in a 3–0 win over the Montreal Impact in the final game of the season.[15]

The Revolution's first choice goalkeeper, Bobby Shuttleworth, was traded to Minnesota United ahead of the 2017 season, giving Cropper a shot at the starting job. Cropper impressed head coach Jay Heaps and won the starting job coming out of preseason.[16] He started 28 of the 34 league games during the year, keeping 8 clean sheets.[17] However the Revolution finished in 7th place in the Eastern Conference, missing out on the playoffs by 5 points.[18]

Cropper did not play during the 2018 season. He missed the start of the season due to a concussion. When he had returned to action, head coach Brad Friedel kept Matt Turner as the starter with Brad Knighton as the second choice keeper.[19][20][21]

Cropper made his first appearance of 2019 on March 30, a 2–1 win over Minnesota United in the 5th game of the season.[20] He would start the next 7 games for the Revs before Friedel decided to bench him. Bruce Arena came in as the new head coach, but Cropper failed to return to the lineup.[22]

Hartford Athletic (loan)

On August 17, 2019, Cropper was loaned to USL Championship side Hartford Athletic for the remainder of the season.[23] He made his debut for Hartford on August 24, a 3–2 win over Atlanta United 2. Cropper started the final nine games of the season for Hartford, keeping one clean sheet.[22]

On November 21, 2019, New England declined their contract option on Cropper.[24]

Houston Dynamo

On January 24, 2020, Cropper signed with MLS club Houston Dynamo.[25] He did not make any appearances for the Dynamo in 2020, serving as the backup for Marko Marić.[26] His contract option was declined by Houston following their 2020 season.[27]

FC Cincinnati

On December 30, 2020, it was announced that Cropper had signed for FC Cincinnati ahead of their 2021 season.[28]

International career

Cropper represented the United States at the 2011 and 2013 editions of the CONCACAF U-20 Championship, the latter of which the US finished as runners-up.[29] He was also the first-choice goalkeeper for the United States at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2015 Toulon Tournament, the latter of which the US finished in third place.[30]

Cropper has appeared for the US up to U-23 level, including at the 2016 CONCACAF-CONMEBOL Olympic playoff.[31] He received his first United States senior team call-up for an August 14, 2013 friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina.[32] He was an unrostered player at the USMNT training camp at Stanford University before the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and later received a senior call-up for a friendly against the Czech Republic on September 3, 2014. He was also called up to the United States senior squad for a friendly against Germany on June 10, 2015.[33]

Career statistics

As of November 9, 2020[34][35][36]

Club	Season	League			National Cup[lower-alpha 1]		League Cup[lower-alpha 2]		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Southampton	2012–13	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2013–14		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2014–15		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Southampton Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Milton Keynes Dons	2015–16	EFL Championship	9	0	1	0	2	0	—		12	0
New England Revolution	2016	MLS	1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
	2017		28	0	0	0	—		—		28	0
	2018		0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	2019		7	0	0	0	0	0	—		7	0
	Revolution Total		36	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	36	0
Hartford Athletic (loan)	2019	USL Championship	9	0	0	0	—		—		9	0
Houston Dynamo	2020	MLS	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
Career total			54	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	57	0

1. Includes the FA Cup and US Open Cup
2. Includes the EFL Cup, MLS Cup Playoffs, and USL Championship Playoffs

Personal life

Cropper has an English father. He was born in Atlanta and moved to Maple Grove, Minnesota at the age of 12.[37]

References

1. "Cody Cropper Officially Signs with Ipswich Town FC - Finally! | IMS Soccer News". May 8, 2015. Archived from the original on May 8, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
2. "US U-20 Cody Cropper Signs with Premiership Club Southampton | IMS Soccer News". September 24, 2015. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
3. "'keeper Cropper Signs Permanently". Southampton FC. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
4. "Cody Cropper sent to hospital after head injury". SBI Soccer. January 13, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
5. Andy Greder / St. Paul Pioneer Press | Mar 24th 2017 - 8pm. "New England keeper Cropper has Minnesota roots". Grand Forks Herald. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
6. "Saints release six". Southampton FC. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
7. "Dons make triple signing". mkdons.com.
8. "BBC Sport – MK Dons 2–1 Leyton Orient". BBC Sport.
9. "BBC Sport – MK Dons: Dale Jennings, Simon Church and Cody Cropper sign". BBC Sport.
10. "Dons dealt injury blows - News - Milton Keynes Dons". www.mkdons.com. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
11. "Preston North End 1 MK Dons 1". BBC Sport. April 16, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
12. "Stopper Cropper leaves MK Dons". www.miltonkeynes.co.uk. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
13. "Cody to depart stadiummk". Mkdons.com. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
14. "Revolution Sign Goalkeeper Cody Cropper". Revolutionsoccer.net. August 18, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
15. "Cody Cropper 2016 Match Logs". FBref.com. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
16. "Cody Cropper gaining a foothold as Revolution goalkeeper". SBI Soccer. April 20, 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
17. "Cody Cropper 2017 Match Logs". FBref.com. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
18. "2017 Major League Soccer Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
19. Rueter, Jeff. "The Revolution have one of MLS's tightest goalkeeper..." The Athletic. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
20. Cardillo, Julian; USA, Pro Soccer (April 23, 2019). "New England Revolution look to rise as Cody Cropper returns". Pro Soccer USA. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
21. Nye, Josh (January 1, 2019). "Who should start in goal for the Revolution?". The Bent Musket. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
22. "Cody Cropper 2019 Match Logs". FBref.com. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
23. "New England Revolution loan goalkeeper Cody Cropper to Hartford Athletic". revolutionsoccer.net. New England Revolution. August 17, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
24. "Revolution announce year-end roster moves". New England Revolution. November 21, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
25. "Houston Dynamo sign GK Cody Cropper". Houston Dynamo. January 24, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
26. "Cody Cropper 2020 Match Logs". FBref.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
27. "Houston Dynamo FC exercise 2021 contract options on 10 players | Houston Dynamo FC".
28. https://www.fccincinnati.com/post/2020/12/30/fc-cincinnati-sign-goalkeeper-cody-cropper
29. Cody Cropper at Soccerway
30. Cody Cropper – FIFA competition record
31. "Cody Cropper signs with MK Dons". Soccer By Ives.
32. "Cody Cropper sent to hospital after head injury". mlssoccer.com. January 13, 2015. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
33. "Cody Cropper replaces Nick Rimando on USMNT roster ahead of Wednesday's friendly at Germany". mlssoccer.com. June 7, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
34. "Cody Cropper". Major League Soccer. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
35. "Cody Cropper Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
36. "USA - C. Cropper - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
37. "Minnesotan Cody Cropper: A Fresh Start In Milton Keynes". Northern Pitch. Archived from the original on July 5, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.

External links

• Cody Cropper at Soccerbase
• Cody Cropper at Soccerway