Michael Cunningham (footballer, born 1991)

Michael Cunningham
Personal information
Full name Michael Lewis Cunningham
Date of birth (1991-02-05) 5 February 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth Nottingham, England
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Flower City Union
Number 77
Youth career
–2009 Nike Academy
2010 Luton Town
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2014 Roberts Wesleyan Redhawks 76 (30)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014 Southern California Seahorses 14 (1)
2016 Northcote City 11 (0)
2016 Quorn
2017 Syracruse Silver Knights (indoor) 8 (0)
2018–2020 Rochester Lancers (indoor) 30 (20)
2019–2020 Rochester Lancers 10 (4)
2021 FC Tulsa 1 (0)
2021Stumptown AC (loan) 2 (0)
2021–2022 Harrisburg Heat (indoor) 18 (9)
2022− Flower City Union 8 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 5 October 2023

Michael Lewis Cunningham (born 5 February 1991) is an English footballer who plays as a forward for Flower City Union in the National Independent Soccer Association.

Career

Youth

Cunningham played with various local sides before attending the Nike Academy, where he impressed enough to earn an academy contract at Luton Town in 2010.[1][2]

College & Semi Professional

Following his release from Luton Town, Cunningham applied to various college's in the United States, eventually been offered a scholarship to play college soccer at NCAA Division II college Roberts Wesleyan College in New York. At Roberts Wesleyan, Cunningham made 76 appearances, scoring 30 goals and tallying 17 assists over four seasons and was twice named First Team NCCAA All-American, in 2012 and 2014.[3][4]

In the summer of 2014, Cunningham also appeared for USL Premier Development League side Southern California Seahorses.[5]

Professional

Cunningham signed his first professional contract In January 2016 with Australian NPL Victoria 2 side Northcote City FC.[6] He went on to make 11 appearances for the club.[7]

Following a spell in Australia, Cunningham has a short stint with Midland Premier League side Quorn in the second half of 2016.[8]

Cunningham returned to the United States in 2017, joining MASL indoor soccer side Syracruse Silver Knights and later Rochester Lancers.[9] With Rochester in 2018, Cunningham scored 13 goals in 13 appearances.[10] He made a single appearance for the indoor team in 2019,[11] and scored 7 in 17 appearances in 2020.[12] Rochester also operate an outdoor team who compete in the NPSL, who Cunningham played with in 2019, scoring 4 goals in 10 regular season appearances.[13][14] The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 7 April 2021, Cunningham joined USL Championship side FC Tulsa following a successful trial.[15] He made his debut for the club on 19 May 2021, appearing as a 74th-minute substitute during a 5–0 loss to Atlanta United 2.[16]

On 20 September 2021, Cunningham joined National Independent Soccer Association club Stumptown AC on a loan deal.[17]

Personal

As well as playing professionally, Cunningham also operates a YouTube channel and podcast under his 7mlc brand, which has more than one million subscribers.[18][19]

References

  1. ^ "About Me". 7MLC Training.
  2. ^ "FC Tulsa Signs Forward Michael Cunningham After Successful Preseason Trial". OurSports Central. 7 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Michael Cunningham - Men's Soccer". Roberts Wesleyan College Athletics.
  4. ^ "Michael Cunningham Named to NCCAA All-America First Team". Roberts Wesleyan College Athletics.
  5. ^ "2014 Stats | uslleaguetwo.com". www.uslleaguetwo.com.
  6. ^ Reserved, Copyright The Corner Flag © 2020 All Rights. "Mystery recruits could hold key to Northcote's NPL success – Corner Flag".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Michael Cunningham - Player Statistics". GameDay.
  8. ^ "September 01st, 2016". MIDLAND FOOTBALL LEAGUE.
  9. ^ "Michael Cunningham soccer statistics on StatsCrew.com".
  10. ^ "Michael Cunningham Bio | Rochester Lancers". www.rochesterlancers.com. 8 May 2019.
  11. ^ "2019 | Rochester Lancers". www.rochesterlancers.com. 10 February 2021.
  12. ^ "2020 | Rochester Lancers". www.rochesterlancers.com. 10 February 2021.
  13. ^ "National Premier Soccer League". npsl.bonzidev.com.
  14. ^ "#77 MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM - FORWARD". www.fctulsa.com.
  15. ^ Tulsa, F. C. (7 April 2021). "FC Tulsa Signs Forward Michael Cunningham After Successful Preseason Trial". FC Tulsa: Oklahoma's Premier Pro Soccer Club.
  16. ^ "Atlanta United 2 vs. FC Tulsa - May 19, 2021 | USLChampionship.com". www.uslchampionship.com.
  17. ^ "Stumptown Adds Social Media Star Striker Michael Cunningham on Loan from USL". StumptownAC.com. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  18. ^ "7mlc - YouTube". www.youtube.com.
  19. ^ "7MLC Training". 7MLC Training.