Andrew James Carleton (born June 22, 2000) is an American professional soccer player. Carleton has featured on several United States youth national teams.

Andrew Carleton
Carleton at an Atlanta United event in 2018
Personal information
Full name Andrew James Carleton
Date of birth (2000-06-22) June 22, 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Powder Springs, Georgia, United States
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Winger
Youth career
2016 Georgia United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2020 Atlanta United 11 (0)
2018–2020 Atlanta United 2 29 (7)
2016Charleston Battery (loan) 3 (0)
2020Indy Eleven (loan) 14 (1)
2021 Georgia Storm 9 (4)
2021 Jicaral Sercoba 1 (0)
2021 Kalonji Pro-Profile 2 (0)
2022 San Diego Loyal 27 (1)
2023 Las Vegas Lights 27 (2)
International career
2015 United States U15 8 (6)
2015–2017 United States U17 15 (12)
2015 United States U18 4 (1)
2019 United States U20 2 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 21, 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of February 13, 2017

Early life

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Carleton was born in Powder Springs, Georgia and at the youth level played for Georgia United.

Personal life

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Carleton has two brothers named Alan and Johnny and two sisters named Erin and Erica. Alan plays for Atlanta United 2.[1]

Professional career

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Andrew Carleton playing for Atlanta United 2 on June 2, 2018

On June 9, 2016, Carleton signed with Major League Soccer side Atlanta United FC as a Homegrown Player.[2] He spent the 2016 season on loan with United Soccer League side Charleston Battery. He made his first appearance on September 7, 2016, against FC Montreal.[3] On September 10, 2016, Carleton became the youngest American professional player in history to start a USL match.[4] On September 17, 2016, Carleton recorded his first professional assist for the Battery.

On February 11, 2017, he made his debut for Atlanta United and scored during the second half of the team's first preseason game against Chattanooga FC. Carleton made his MLS debut on May 20, 2017, as an 85th minute substitution against Houston Dynamo. The 16-year-old was given a standing ovation at a sold out Bobby Dodd Stadium.[5] Andrew provided his first career assist in a 4–1 win against Vancouver on March 17, 2018.[citation needed]

On April 21, 2018, while on loan to Atlanta United 2, Carleton scored his first professional goal, a penalty kick in a 1–1 draw against Louisville City FC. He scored his first goal with Atlanta United's first team on June 6, 2018, vs Charleston Battery in the US Open Cup.[citation needed]

On January 24, 2020, Carleton was loaned to USL Championship side Indy Eleven for the 2020 season.[6]

Following the 2020 season, Carleton was released by Atlanta on November 24, 2020.[7]

In April 2021, Carleton joined Georgia Storm FC ahead of their first National Premier Soccer League season.[8]

On September 11, 2021, Carleton joined Costa Rican first division club Jicaral Sercoba.[9]

In December 2021, Carleton returned to United States to play with United Premier Soccer League club Kalonji Pro-Profile.[10]

Carleton returned to the professional game on March 9, 2022, signing with USL Championship side San Diego Loyal. He was released by San Diego following the 2022 season.[11]

Carleton signed with Las Vegas Lights on January 25, 2023.[12]

Discipline issues

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In 2018, Carleton was among the rising stars within the Atlanta United organization. He had seen significant playing time and had been included in the starting 18 several times. However, on the eve of the MLS Cup championship game, it was reported by local news media that Carleton had broken team curfew/rules and posted photos of drinking with friends in an Atlanta bar. This prompted disciplinary action by manager Tata Martino, who banned Carleton from dressing for the game. Carleton was also not allowed to participate in the celebration parade the following week by club management.

In early 2019, during the early months of the tenure of the new first-team manager, Dutchman Frank de Boer, there were hints of dissatisfaction in multiple statements to the media by de Boer regarding Carleton's lack of maturity and professionalism. De Boer stated, "[Carleton] is still young and he has to learn from that. And we spoke about that. He still has to grow up as a man." De Boer expressed that Carleton had the talent to succeed, but being a professional requires discipline both on and off the pitch. De Boer implied that Carleton needed to grow more in physical strength and should engage in a more substantial weight training and nutrition program.

On June 26, 2019, Atlanta United was one man short on the bench for an away match against Toronto FC due to Carleton forgetting his passport when the team met for the trip to Canada. Two days later, manager Frank de Boer announced Andrew would play with the second team until he showed improvements in his professionalism. "He's joining the USL team right now... I have no worries about his quality, but more the professional side,” said de Boer.[13]

On August 6, 2019, Carleton entered the US Open Cup semifinal against Orlando City in the 48th minute, replacing Ezequiel Barco. This was Carleton's first action with Atlanta United since the lost-passport incident in late June 2019. Carleton finished out the match in which Atlanta United won 2–0 over Orlando, advancing to the US Open Cup Final for the first time in club history. After the match it was reported that manager Frank de Boer stated that Carleton earned the minutes with his recent good play with the Atlanta United 2 reserve team and his work ethic during training.

On January 6, 2021, after being released by Atlanta United, Carleton tweeted about his plans to travel to Washington, D.C. to attend then-President Donald Trump's Save America rally, leading up to the attack on the United States Capitol building.[14]

Career statistics

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As of June 6, 2018[15]
Club Season League League Cup Domestic Cup Continental Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Charleston Battery 2016 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Total 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Atlanta United 2017 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
2018 6 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 7 1
2019 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 0
Total 10 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 13 1
Atlanta United 2 2018 14 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 2
2019 15 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 5
Total 29 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 7
Career total 42 7 1 0 3 1 0 0 46 8

Honors

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Club

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Atlanta United

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Continental

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References

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  1. ^ "Atlanta United 2 signs Alan Carleton". www.atlutd.com.
  2. ^ "Atlanta United sign youth star Andrew Carleton as first Homegrown Player". June 9, 2016.
  3. ^ "Andrew Carleton". Retrieved September 9, 2016.
  4. ^ Usry, Rob (September 14, 2016). "Andrew Carleton made some kind of history with first professional start". Dirty South Soccer. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  5. ^ "Homegrown Andrew Carleton makes his MLS debut in front of sellout home crowd". May 22, 2017.
  6. ^ "Atlanta United loans Andrew Carleton to Indy Eleven | Atlanta United FC". atlutd.
  7. ^ "Atlanta United announce year-end roster moves | Atlanta United FC". atlutd.
  8. ^ "Georgia Storm 4/30 Signings". Twitter.com. @GeorgiaStormSA. Retrieved May 1, 2021.
  9. ^ "¡Bienvenido Andrew Carleton!". Twitter (in Spanish). Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  10. ^ "Player profile Carleton Andrew - NonProSoccer.com". www.nonprosoccer.com.
  11. ^ USLChampionship com Staff (December 6, 2022). "SD Loyal announces initial roster moves for 2023 season". USL Championship.
  12. ^ "LIGHTS FC ANNOUNCE NEW COACHING STAFF & INITIAL PLAYER SIGNINGS FOR 2023 SEASON". LasVegasLightsFC.com. Las Vegas Lights. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  13. ^ "Andrew Carleton sent to Atlanta United 2 after passport snafu". MLS. June 28, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  14. ^ Gardner, Jordan [@mrjordangardner] (February 12, 2021). "Agents shopping Andrew Carleton trying to downplay his appearance at the rally on Jan 6" (Tweet). Retrieved August 25, 2021 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ Andrew Carleton at Soccerway. Retrieved October 30, 2017.
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