Introduction
Dominic "Dom" Dwyer (born 30 July 1990) is an English footballer who plays for American club Sporting Kansas City as a forward. Dwyer won the MLS Cup with the club in 2013.
College and amateur
Born in Cuckfield, West Sussex, Dwyer spent his youth with Norwich City, and King’s Lynn Community Football, an elite program affiliated with a few professional clubs in England. He studied at the College of West Anglia from 2006 to 2008. During this time, he broke his right foot three times and as a consequence was told by doctors that he would never be physically capable of playing at a professional level. From there, he was given an opportunity by scout Joe McLaughlin of Soccer Icon USA to get a sports scholarship to study for a college degree in America, Dwyer has said that he accepted the offer to get a free degree and that at the time he had given up on the dream of a football career.
Dwyer moved from England to attend Tyler Junior College in Texas, where he won two national championships and was the national junior college player of the year after scoring 37 goals as a sophomore. After two years at Tyler, he made the move to the University of South Florida, where he played in 2011.
Professional career
2012
On 12 January 2012, Dwyer was selected #16 overall in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft by Sporting Kansas City. He was first included for a professional game on 25 March, remaining an unused substitute in a 2–1 win over FC Dallas at Sporting Park. He made his debut on 29 May in a 3–2 win over Orlando City in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup third round, playing the first half before being replaced by C.J. Sapong; his team went on to win the tournament, although he played no further part in their run. Dwyer made his MLS debut against Toronto FC on 2 September, replacing Sapong for the final four minutes of a 2–1 home win for his only appearance of the regular season; on 4 November, he made another substitute appearance in the 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs against the Houston Dynamo, a 2–0 away defeat.
2013
Following the 2012 Major League Soccer season, Dwyer went on trial with Scottish Premier League club St Mirren in hopes of securing a loan to gain playing time. However, on 3 January 2013, it was announced that the proposed loan for Dwyer had been called off by Sporting.
A little over a month later, Dwyer, along with three other teammates, were loaned to USL Pro club Orlando City for the 2013 season as part of the alliance between the two clubs. He made an instant impact for the Lions by tallying two goals and one assist in the club's first three matches. On 4 May 2013, Dwyer scored his first career hat-trick in a 7–2 victory over the Antigua Barracuda. Three weeks later, he scored his 13th goal of the season against the Wilmington Hammerheads, tying the all-time season record in the USL Pro for goals with only 46% of the season played. On 7 June, Dwyer scored his 14th goal of the season against Phoenix FC, surpassing Jhonny Arteaga's tally of 13 goals for FC New York in 2011. On 22 June 2013, Dwyer scored the opening goal of an international friendly against Fluminense FC of Brazil's Série A, an eventual 3–4 loss.
On 27 June 2013, Dwyer was recalled by Sporting the morning after Orlando's US Open Cup defeat to Chicago Fire SC. On 3 August, he scored his first goal in MLS against the New York Red Bulls in the second minute of stoppage time, albeit in a 2–3 home loss. Five days later, Dwyer made his debut in the CONCACAF Champions League for Sporting. In the 75th minute, he scored to give Sporting a 2–0 lead against Nicaraguan outfit, Real Esteli. Coming back for one more game with Orlando City on 7 September, Dwyer scored four goals, a club record for one game, against the Charlotte Eagles in the 2013 USL Pro Championship, leading the Lions to a 7–4 victory.
On 23 November 2013, Dwyer scored the winning goal for Sporting Kansas City in the Eastern Conference Final against Houston to lead them to the MLS Cup. He was substituted for Claudio Bieler after 72 minutes of the championship game on 7 December, which his team won 7–6 in a penalty shootout.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 1 September 2015
| Club | Season | League | Open Cup | North America | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sporting Kansas City | 2012 | MLS | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2013 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 21 | 3 | ||
| 2014 | 33 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 24 | ||
| 2015 | 30 | 12 | 3 | 5 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 33 | 17 | ||
| 2016 | 18 | 8 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | 19 | 8 | ||
| Total | 98 | 44 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 116 | 52 | ||
| Orlando City (loan) | 2013 | USL Pro | 13 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 22 |
| Career total | 111 | 59 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 133 | 74 | ||
Honours
- Sporting Kansas City
- Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup: 2012, 2015
- MLS Cup: 2013
Personal life
Dwyer received his U.S. green card in 2012. This qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes. As of 2014, he has been in a relationship with fellow professional footballer Sydney Leroux. In January 2015 the couple got married in a private ceremony, announcing it on 14 February on their social media. On 11 September 2016, Dom and Sydney announce on social media that their son, Cassius Cruz Dwyer, was born the day before.