Washington, D.C. (January 18, 2010) – D.C. United announced today the club has signed Australian forward Danny Allsopp. The 31-year old's impressive resume includes stints with England's Manchester City, Australia's Melbourne Victory – where he won two A-League Grand Final championships and a scoring title – as well as time with Australia's national team. He will be available pending receipt of his International Transfer Certificate and visa.
"Danny has shown an ability to score goals wherever he's been and we are confident he will continue to do so for D.C. United," said United General Manager Dave Kasper. "He's an athletic forward with a nose for the goal who will complement our other attacking players and we look forward to having him in with the team."
"I'm delighted to be joining such a successful club as D.C. United," said Allsopp. "Their history speaks for itself and I'm really excited about the move. Playing in MLS is a challenge and I am really looking forward to it. I'm hoping to make a real impact to help carry on the club's great tradition."
Allsopp has most recently been playing for Qatar’s Al-Rayyan, scoring six goals in 12 games during the current campaign. Prior to his time in Qatar, the 6-foot 1-inch forward spent four years with the Melbourne Victory in his native Australia. In 89 games (88 starts), he scored 36 goals – collecting the Golden Boot scoring title in 2006-07 – and helped the Victory to two A-League Grand Final championships (2006-07 & 2008-09). From 1998-2005, Allsopp played for five teams in England. He was with Manchester City from 1998-2000, during which time he was loaned to Notts County, Wrexham and Bristol Rovers. He then signed permanently with Notts County in 2000, and spent three seasons with the English club, tallying 39 goals in 102 appearances. Following, he moved to Hull City for two years (2003-05), notching 22 goals in 64 games. Prior to his time in England, Allsopp played for Carlton (1997-98), South Melbourne (1995-97) and Croydon (1995) in Australia.
Allsopp has also represented Australia on the international stage at numerous levels. In 1995, with the U-17 Australia National Team, he scored five goals at the U-17 World Championship, tied for most goals in the tournament. He also played with the U-20 side at the FIFA World Championship in Malaysia in 1997, before representing the U-23s on several occasions from 1997-2000. He has three caps with the full Australia National Team and made his debut for the senior squad in June of 2007 against Uruguay in a friendly.
Related:
Q&A: Danny Allsopp [1/19/10]
Video highlights from Allsopp's career [1/18/10]
Broadcasting and P.A. Request: When speaking of the organization, please refer to the team as either “D.C. United” or “United,” but not “the D.C. United” or “the United.” We appreciate your cooperation.
Doug Hicks,
dhicks@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5448,
Boris Flores,
bflores@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5452,
Kyle Sheldon,
ksheldon@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5450 or
Cristina Cruz,
ccruz@dcunited.com
, (202) 587-5440
