Eric Bird

Eric Bird (born April 8, 1993) is an American soccer player who currently plays for FC Tulsa in the USL Championship.

Eric Bird
Personal information
Date of birth (1993-04-08) April 8, 1993
Place of birth Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 FC Tulsa
Number 48
Youth career
0000–2011 Beach FC
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2014 Virginia Cavaliers 73 (15)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015 Philadelphia Union 0 (0)
2015 → Harrisburg City Islanders (loan) 3 (0)
2016–2017 Rio Grande Valley FC 51 (10)
2017 → Houston Dynamo (loan) 0 (0)
2018–2019 Houston Dynamo 6 (0)
2018–2019 → Rio Grande Valley FC (loan) 21 (3)
2020– FC Tulsa 98 (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 20, 2023

Career

Amateur

Bird was born and raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He attended Frank W Cox High School, who he helped lead to state titles in 2009 and 2010. His best individual season was 2011, where he scored 28 goals and picked up 22 assists in just 24 games and was named as the Virginia High School State Player of the Year.[1][2]

Bird played four years of college soccer at the University of Virginia between 2011 and 2014. During his freshman season, he started 8 of the first 9 games before suffering a season ending knee injury. The following season, Bird recovered fully from the injury and started every game of the season. For the 2013 season, Bird was named captain and repaid the decision by leading the team with 7 goals and playing in every game of the season. Bird was a NSCAA Third-Team All-American for 2013.[3] For his senior year, Bird again captained Virginia and led the team to a National Championship. He was named as a NSCAA Second-Team All-All American.[4]

Professional

On January 15, 2015, Bird was picked 41st overall in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft by the Philadelphia Union.[5]

He made his professional debut with Philadelphia's United Soccer League affiliate Harrisburg City Islanders on May 28, 2015 during a US Open Cup fixture against the Rochester Rhinos.[6] On December 20, 2015, Philadelphia declined Bird's contract option after he made just 3 appearances with the Islanders and 0 with the Union.[7]

Bird moved to United Soccer League side Rio Grande Valley FC Toros on March 16, 2016.[8] Bird made his Toros debut on March 26 in a 2–0 loss to the Tulsa Roughnecks. He scored his first goal on June 11 in a 3–0 win over OKC Energy and would score in his next 2 matches as well.[9] Bird and enjoyed a strong season and helped the Toros qualify for the playoffs. Bird would score in the 76th minute to give RGVFC the lead, but OKC Energy came back to win after giving up 2 goals in stoppage time.[10]

Bird was named as the RGVFC captain for 2017 and had another strong season. He was rewarded for his performances by being called up on loan to the Toros' MLS affiliate club, the Houston Dynamo, for two US Open Cup games.[11] On December 22, 2017, Bird signed a first team contract with the Dynamo and was reunited with Wilmer Cabrera, who was Bird's head coach for RGVFC in 2016 and had become the Dynamo head coach prior to the 2017 season.[12]

Three years after being selected in the MLS draft, Bird made his MLS debut on June 2, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 loss to the Montreal Impact. He would make 2 appearances for the Dynamo in the 2018 US Open Cup as the Dynamo went on to defeat the Union in the final. Bird spend 2018 shifting back and forth between Houston and RGV.[13]

Bird spent 2019 primarily with RGVFC and only made 2 appearances for the Dynamo, with neither being in the league.[9] On November 21, the Dynamo declined his contract option for 2020, making Bird a free agent.[14]

On December 26, 2019, Bird signed with USL Championship side FC Tulsa.[15] He made his debut for Tulsa on July 13 in a 1–1 draw with the OKC Energy. In a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bird made 13 appearances, helping Tulsa qualify for the playoffs. In their opening game of the playoffs, Tulsa and Bird lost 4–2 on penalties to El Paso Locomotive FC after playing to a 2–2 draw.[16]

Personal life

He was in a relationship with Morgan Brian from 2013 to 2015.[17][18] His mother is a teacher.

Career statistics
Updated as of December 22, 2020[19][20][21]
Club Season League US Open Cup Playoffs Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Philadelphia Union 2015 MLS 0000––00
Harrisburg City Islanders (loan) 2015 USL 3010––40
Rio Grande Valley FC 2016 USL 226–11–237
2017 294–––294
Houston Dynamo (loan) 2017 MLS 002000–20
Houston Dynamo 2018 6020––80
2019 MLS 0010–1[lower-alpha 1]020
Rio Grande Valley FC (loan) 2018 USL 41–––41
2019 USLC 172–––172
FC Tulsa 2020 USLC 13 0 0 0 1 0 – 14 0
RGVFC Total 72 12 0 0 1 1 0 0 73 13
Dynamo Total 6 0 5 0 0 0 1 0 12 0
Career total 81136011108914
  1. Appearance in Leagues Cup

Honors

Virginia Cavaliers

Houston Dynamo

References
  1. Brown, Nathan. "Ex-Cox soccer star selected by Philly in MLS draft". pilotonline.com. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  2. "Eric Bird's High School Soccer Stats". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  3. "Eric Bird - Men's Soccer". University of Virginia Athletics. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  4. "UVa's Eric Bird Selected in MLS SuperDraft". www.nbc29.com. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  5. "After successful college career, Philadelphia Union draft pick Eric Bird looking to make mark in MLS". MLSsoccer.com. 2015-02-02. Retrieved 2015-07-23.
  6. Ralph, Matthew (2015-05-28). "Eric Bird makes professional debut with Harrisburg". Brotherly Game. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  7. "Philadelphia Union announce roster moves ahead of Re-Entry Draft". Philadelphia Union. December 10, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  8. "Wharton Leads Six New Signings for Toros - United Soccer League". Archived from the original on 2016-03-23. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  9. "USA - E. Bird - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  10. charlie.corr@uslsoccer.com, CHARLIE CORR- (2016-10-01). "Bonner's Stoppage-Time Brace Shocks Toros". USL Championship. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  11. "Eric Bird". houstondynamo.com. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  12. Roepken, Corey (2017-12-22). "Dynamo sign Rio Grande Valley FC midfielder Eric Bird". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  13. "Eric Bird 2018 Match Logs". FBref.com. Retrieved 2019-11-19.
  14. "Dynamo Announce Roster Moves Ahead of 2020 Season". Houston Dynamo. November 21, 2019. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
  15. Tulsa, F. C. (2019-12-26). "FC Tulsa Adds Former MLS Midfielder Eric Bird". FC Tulsa. Retrieved 2019-12-26.
  16. "Eric Bird 2020 Match Logs". FBref.com. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
  17. "For Union's Eric Bird, Women's World Cup trip unforgettable". July 7, 2015.
  18. Goff, Steven (May 31, 2015). "Morgan Brian is young, but she's plenty ready for the Women's World Cup stage". WashingtonPost.com.
  19. "Eric Bird". FBref.com. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  20. "E. Bird". soccerway.com. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  21. "Eric Bird". mlssoccer.com. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
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