Austin Berry (soccer)

Gregory Austin Berry (born October 6, 1988) is an American former soccer defender from Cincinnati, Ohio. After playing for the Louisville Cardinals in college, he was a first round pick in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft. He signed with Chicago Fire, and was named MLS Rookie of the Year after his first season. He played another season with Chicago before he was traded to Philadelphia Union. After spending his second season with Philadelphia on loan to the South Korean club FC Anyang, Berry returned to his hometown to play for the newly formed club FC Cincinnati in the lower division United Soccer League. He served as FC Cincinnati's team captain for two seasons before retiring from his playing career and accepting a position as the club's strength and conditioning coach.

Austin Berry
Berry with FC Cincinnati in 2018
Personal information
Full name Gregory Austin Berry
Date of birth (1988-10-06) October 6, 1988
Place of birth Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Defender
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2011 Louisville Cardinals 94 (11)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010 Chicago Fire Premier 16 (1)
2012–2013 Chicago Fire 62 (4)
2014–2015 Philadelphia Union 6 (0)
2015 → FC Anyang (loan) 34 (1)
2016–2017 FC Cincinnati 50 (4)
Total 168 (10)
Managerial career
2018– FC Cincinnati (strength & conditioning)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Youth career

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he attended the Summit Country Day School for high school where he played four fall seasons of soccer. With a 14–1–1 record during his senior year, Berry contributed 10 goals, 6 assists, and led his team to the Regional finals. He earned first team all-state, first team Miami Valley Conference, Division III Player of the Year, and was named a Cincinnati Enquirer All-Star. Berry played college soccer at the University of Louisville between 2007 and 2011. During his time at Louisville, Berry was named an NSCAA All-American in 2010 and 2011, Soccer America and College Soccer News All-American honors, Earned Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2010, All-BIG EAST First Team and Big East All Tournament Team in 2010 and 2011. In 2010, he led the University of Louisville to the national championship game and was named to the College Cup All Tournament Team.[1] Berry finished his career at Louisville with 94 appearances and 11 goals.[2][3]

In 2010, Berry played for the USL Premier Development League team Chicago Fire Premier.[4]

Professional career
Berry playing with Chicago Fire in 2013

Chicago Fire

The Chicago Fire selected Berry in the first round (No. 9 overall) of the 2012 MLS SuperDraft.[5] Berry made his first MLS appearance against Chivas USA. After conceding a penalty, Berry scored his first MLS goal two minutes later off a throw-in deep in the Chivas box. Berry earned MLS team of the week honors after the Chivas game and was named the Player of the Game in his second match against Real Salt Lake.[6] During the 2012 season, he started 28 games and scored three goals and won the MLS Rookie of the Year Award.

Berry started and played 62 consecutive full games for the Fire, falling just short of the MLS record.[7]

Philadelphia Union and FC Anyang

Prior to the 2014 season, Berry was traded to Philadelphia Union in exchange for allocation money.[8] Berry was the opening day starter at centerback for the Union in 2014 but suffered a hamstring injury in the second game. Due to injury, Berry was limited to only 6 games for the Union.

Berry was loaned to South Korea's FC Anyang ahead of the 2015 season.[9]

FC Cincinnati

In December 2015, Berry was announced as one of the first eleven signings for United Soccer League club FC Cincinnati, which played its first season in 2016.[10] He served as the team's captain from the start of the season. Berry scored a goal in the club's inaugural home match, a 2–1 win over Charlotte Independence.[11] Berry's goal earned him an honorable mention on the USL Team of the Week.[12] On April 29, Berry suffered a quadriceps injury during training, which ultimately caused him to miss roughly a third of the season.[13] Berry's performance in a 1–0 road victory against Pittsburgh Riverhounds earned him a spot on the final USL Team of the Week of 2016.[14] At the end of the regular season, FC Cincinnati honored Berry with the Cincinnatus Award for demonstrating "outstanding leadership, service to the great good, civic virtue, lack of personal ambition, and modesty."[15]

Mark-Anthony Kaye of Louisville City FC battling Berry for possession in a 2017 U.S. Open Cup match

In November 2016, FC Cincinnati announced Berry as one of 15 players that would be returning for the 2017 season.[16] He remained the team's captain throughout the 2017 season. On March 4, Berry suffered a sprained elbow during a pre-season match against Sacramento Republic FC. He was expected to be out for 2–3 weeks and miss one or two of the club's first USL matches of the year.[17] However, Berry recovered more quickly and played a full 90 minutes in the club's USL opener at Charleston Battery.[18] Berry remained a core player in Cincinnati's 2017 lineup, and started in 27 of his 29 total league appearances. He also made five appearances in the club's championship run in the 2017 U.S. Open Cup, and scored a goal against New York Red Bulls in the quarterfinals.[19]

In December 2017, FC Cincinnati announced that Berry would be retiring from his playing career and accepting a position on the technical staff.[20] He is now the team's strength and conditioning coach.[21] His captain role was filled by Dekel Keinan, a defender signed for the 2018 season.

Personal life

Berry's daughter, Lilly Newton Berry, was born on January 30, 2020.[22]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Chicago Fire Premier 2010 USL Premier Development League 161––161
Chicago Fire 2012 Major League Soccer 2831010303
2013 Major League Soccer 3414000381
Total 6245010684
Philadelphia Union 2014 Major League Soccer 60000060
FC Anyang (loan) 2015 K League 2 3410000341
FC Cincinnati 2016 United Soccer League 2030010213
2017 United Soccer League 3016110372
Total 5046120585
Career total 168101113018211

Honors

Individual

References
  1. Austin Berry. "Austin Berry Profile – University of Louisville Official Athletic Site". Uoflsports.com. Archived from the original on March 18, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  2. "Austin Berry". Louisville Athletics. 2011. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  3. "Louisville Cumulative Season Statistics (2011 Season)". Louisville Athletics. 2011. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  4. "United Soccer Leagues (USL)". Uslsoccer.com. Archived from the original on September 12, 2010. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  5. "Chicago Fire of MLS make Summit's Austin Berry No. 9 pick | High School Sports Blog". Cincinnati.com. January 16, 2011. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  6. Anthony Zilis (May 5, 2012). "Penalty call spurs Fire's Berry to strong MLS debut". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  7. "Fire defender Berry wins 2012 Rookie of the Year award". mlssoccer.com. November 19, 2012.
  8. Maggard, Cody (February 25, 2014). "Philadelphia Acquire Austin Berry from Chicago". Fansided.
  9. "Philadelphia Union sign former Kaiserslautern forward Dzenan Catic, loan out defender Austin Berry". MLSsoccer.com. March 2, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  10. Tana Weingartner (August 12, 2015). "FC Cincinnati Announces First Eleven Players". WVXU. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  11. Pfahler, Laurel (May 31, 2018). "Soccer has come far in this city since Austin Berry was a kid". WCPO. Scripps Media. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  12. Steinke, Brad (April 13, 2016). "FC Cincinnati prepares for second home match Saturday". Local 12. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  13. Brennan, Patrick (May 24, 2016). "FC Cincy notes: Charlotte game rescheduled, Austin Berry injury update". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  14. WKRC (September 27, 2016). "FC Cincinnati's Berry earns spot on final USL Team of the Week". Local 12. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  15. Kimura, Fumi (September 30, 2016). "2016 Team Awards Unveiled". FCCincinnati.com. FC Cincinnati. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  16. Kimura, Fumi (November 14, 2016). "Key Players Under Contract For 2017". FCCincinnati.com. FC Cincinnati. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  17. Brennan, Patrick (March 15, 2017). "FC Cincinnati's Berry sidelined for 2-3 weeks". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  18. Kimura, Fumi (March 25, 2017). "FCC Loses USL Opener To Battery". FCCincinnati.com. FC Cincinnati. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  19. "22 – Austin Berry – 2017 Roster". FCCincinnati.com. FC Cincinnati. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  20. Kimura, Fumi (December 4, 2017). "Berry Calls Time on Career, Joins Technical Staff". FC Cincinnati. Archived from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  21. "Technical Staff". FC Cincinnati. 2018. Archived from the original on March 21, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  22. @aberr22 (January 31, 2021). "Our Lilly turned 1 yesterday! Have loved every second of this past year with you" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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