After a distinguished career that featured a 10-year stint in MLS, 35-year-old American forward Conor Casey announced his retirement on Thursday.
Casey began his pro career in 2000 in the German Bundesliga before moving to MLS in 2007. Casey finishes his MLS career with 71 goals in 195 career regular season appearances, tied for 23rd all-time on the league’s scoring chart. In addition to his 71 goals, Casey won an MLS Cup championship in 2010, recorded two MLS All-Star selections and notched 24 assists in 12,697 career regular season minutes. He had two goals in 19 appearances with the US men’s national team.
“I feel very fortunate today. I've been able to make a life from doing what I love,” Casey said in a statement released by Crew SC. “This beautiful game has brought me all over the world, shown me places and people I would have never seen. From empty training fields to packed stadiums with screaming fans, it has given me back everything I've poured into many times over.”
“Thank you to my family for giving me every opportunity to follow my dreams, to my friends for their support, to my wife and baby for their love, to my teammates for inspiration and to the fans for that feeling that can't be matched. Til next time.”
Casey began his career in 2000 with German club Borussia Dortmund, bouncing around to other teams in Germany for six years before joining Toronto FC for their inaugural season in 2007. The Denver native was traded to his hometown Rapids early in the 2007 season, going on to score 40 league goals for Colorado in 119 regular season appearances for the club, which he helped to the 2010 MLS Cup title.
He moved to the Philadelphia Union ahead of the 2013 season, registering 10 goals and five assists in 31 appearances in his first season with the club before notching 11 goals and three assists in his final two years in Philadelphia. He played one year with Columbus Crew SC, recording no goals and no assists as injuries limited him to just four appearances in 2016.
Casey made both of his international goals count, recording a brace in a 3-2 win in a CONCACAF Hexagonal match at Honduras in October 2009 that clinched the USMNT's spot at the 2010 World Cup.
