Erik Palmer-Brown

Erik Palmer-Brown
Palmer-Brown with Austria Wien in 2019
Personal information
Full name Erik Ross Palmer-Brown[1]
Date of birth (1997-04-24) April 24, 1997
Place of birth Napoleon, Ohio, United States
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.86 m)
Position Center-back
Team information
Current team
Panathinaikos
Number 14
Youth career
2009–2013 Sporting Kansas City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2017 Sporting Kansas City 20 (0)
2016 → Porto B (loan) 17 (0)
2017 Swope Park Rangers 5 (0)
2018–2022 Manchester City 0 (0)
2018 → Kortrijk (loan) 9 (0)
2018–2019 → NAC Breda (loan) 18 (1)
2019–2021 → Austria Wien (loan) 52 (2)
2021–2022 → Troyes (loan) 21 (0)
2022–2023 Troyes 38 (0)
2023– Panathinaikos 23 (0)
International career‡
2013 United States U17 5 (0)
2014–2015 United States U18 6 (1)
2014–2017 United States U20 17 (1)
2018–2022 United States 4 (0)
Medal record
Representing  United States
First placeCONCACAF U-20 Championship2017
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of February 28, 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of June 5, 2022

Erik Ross Palmer-Brown (born April 24, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a center-back for Greek Super League club Panathinaikos.

Club career

Sporting Kansas City

Palmer-Brown moved to Lee's Summit, Missouri when he was 18 months old. He later played one season of high school soccer as a freshman at Lee's Summit High School in the fall of 2011.[2] He also attended Archbishop O'Hara High School in Kansas City, Missouri.[3] After playing in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, at the age of 16, he signed his first professional contract,[4] making him Sporting Kansas City's youngest ever player.[5]

In January 2014, Serie A team Juventus reportedly made a $1 million bid for Erik Palmer-Brown, which was rejected by Sporting Kansas City.[6] In the same year, Palmer-Brown was voted number 39 on UK website TeamTalk's top 50 Wonderkids in 2014.[7]

He made his debut for Sporting Kansas City on May 18, 2014, in a regular season match against Chicago Fire. But it ended prematurely when he was sent off in the 64th minute for a second yellow card after giving away a penalty in the 15th minute in a 2–1 loss.[8]

Porto

On February 1, 2016, Palmer-Brown was loaned to Portuguese club Porto until December 31, 2016.[9] He started regularly in central defense for Porto B, helping them to the LigaPro title.[10]

Manchester City

Palmer-Brown signed a contract with Premier League side Manchester City. He was immediately loaned to Belgian First Division A club KV Kortrijk until the end of the 2017–18 season.[11]

Loan to NAC Breda

After spending the second half of the 2017–18 season with Kortrijk, Palmer-Brown was loaned to NAC Breda in the Eredivisie for the 2018–19 season.[12]

Loan to Austria Wien

He then joined Austria Wien for the 2019–20 season.[13] He extended his loan at Austria Wien for the 2020–21 season.[14]

Loan to Troyes

On August 31, 2021, he moved to France to join Ligue 1 club Troyes on a season-long loan deal.[15] In February 2022, the deal was made permanent with Palmer-Brown signing a contract until the summer of 2024.[16]

Panathinaikos

On August 2, 2023, Greece's Super League runner-up Panathinaikos F.C. from Athens signed Erik Palmer-Brown for a 4-year contract deal.

International career

2013–2017: Youth level

Palmer-Brown has represented the United States at the U-15, U-17, U-18, and U-20 levels. He has made 6 appearances for the U-18 team up to this point, scoring his first goal for the team in a 1–0 win over the Czech Republic.[17] In 2015, he was called to the roster that played in the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[18]

As captain, Palmer-Brown won the 2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship with the United States.[19] He was awarded the Golden Ball Award by CONCACAF as the best player of the tournament, playing the defensive midfield position.[20] Palmer-Brown then played in central defense for the United States at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and was named to the Best XI of the Tournament by both Squawka[21] and Scouted Football.[22]

2018: Debut

On May 28, 2018, Palmer-Brown made his senior national team debut in a 3–0 win against Bolivia.

Personal life

Palmer-Brown was a student of Archbishop O'Hara High School in Kansas City, Missouri. He was confirmed as a Catholic in 2015.[23]

Career statistics

Club

As of 11 February 2026[24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sporting Kansas City 2014 MLS 300000—30
2015 70001[b]0—80
2017 10020——120
Total 200201000230
Porto B (loan) 2015–16 LigaPro 110001[c]0—120
2016–17 60002[c]1—81
Total 170003100201
Sporting Kansas City II 2017 USL 5000—1[d]060
Kortrijk (loan) 2017–18 Belgian Pro League 1000—8[e]060
NAC Breda (loan) 2018–19 Eredivisie 18100——181
Austria Wien (loan) 2019–20 Austrian Bundesliga 22210—3[f]0262
2020–21 24020—3[f]0290
Total 462300060552
Troyes (loan) 2021–22 Ligue 1 21010——220
Troyes 2022–23 Ligue 1 38000——380
Panathinaikos 2023–24 Super League Greece 300000—30
2024–25 40301[g]03[h]0110
2025–26 1301012[i]100261
Total 2004013130371
Career total 18631001721802315
  1. ↑ Includes US Open Cup, Austrian Cup, Coupe de France, Greek Cup
  2. ↑ appearance(s) in CONCACAF Champions League
  3. 1 2 Appearance(s) in Premier League International Cup
  4. ↑ Appearance(s) in USL Cup
  5. ↑ Appearances in Belgian Pro League European playoffs
  6. 1 2 Appearances in Bundesliga Europacup-Play-off
  7. ↑ Appearance(s) in UEFA Conference League
  8. ↑ Appearances in Super League Greece Play-off
  9. ↑ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, ten appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League


International

As of match played June 5, 2022[25]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
United States 201820
202220
Total40

Honors

Sporting Kansas City

Panathinaikos

United States U20

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015 List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. May 30, 2015. p. 23. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Erik Palmer-Brown | MLSsoccer.com".
  3. ↑ City, Sporting Kansas. "On This Day: Erik Palmer-Brown becomes youngest center back to start an MLS match in 2014". Sporting Kansas City. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Sporting Kansas City signs 16-year-old Homegrown Player Erik Palmer-Brown". Sporting Kansas City. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  5. ↑ Sporting KC Youth Academy Changing US Development System | The University Daily Kansan
  6. ↑ "Sporting Kansas City spurns Juventus' bid for defender Erik Palmer-Brown". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  7. ↑ "TEAMtalk's top 50 wonderkids: The full list". November 11, 2014. Archived from the original on November 12, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Sporting KC's Erik Palmer-Brown learns harsh lessons in MLS debut, vows to be "ready" upon return". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Sporting KC loans defender Erik Palmer-Brown to FC Porto". Sporting Kansas City.
  10. ↑ "Shaped by time at Porto, U.S. captain Palmer-Brown primed for second U-20 World Cup". Sports Illustrated.
  11. ↑ "KV Kortrijk". kvk.be. Archived from the original on January 31, 2018.
  12. ↑ "NAC leases Palmer-Brown from City" (in Dutch). NAC Breda. Archived from the original on July 7, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Austria Wien loans Palmer-Brown from Manchester City" (in German). Austria Wien. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  14. ↑ mlssoccer. "Sporting Kansas City product Erik Palmer-Brown extends loan at Austria Wien | MLSSoccer.com". mlssoccer. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  15. ↑ "ERIK PALMER-BROWN À L'ESTAC". www.estac.fr (in French). August 31, 2021. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Official Troyes sign Manchester City's USA defender Erik Palmer-Brown on a permanent deal". getfootballnewsfrance.com. February 2, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
  17. ↑ "U.S. U18 MNT impressive in France". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Tab Ramos Finalizes 21-Player Roster for 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup". www.ussoccer.com. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  19. ↑ "USA win their first CONCACAF U-20 Championship". SB Nation. March 5, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Five Things To Know About U-20 MNT Captain Erik Palmer-Brown". US Soccer. May 15, 2017.
  21. ↑ "From Woodman to Penaranda: The U20 World Cup Team of the Tournament". www.Squawka.com. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Scouted's U20 World Cup Team of the Tournament 2017". www.Twitter.com. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  23. ↑ Cummings, Michael. "Erik Palmer-Brown Exclusive: Sporting KC Star on World Cup Hopes, Juve and More". Bleacher Report. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Erik Palmer-Brown". Soccerway. Retrieved February 11, 2026.
  25. ↑ Erik Palmer-Brown at National-Football-Teams.com
  26. ↑ "U-20 MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM CLAIMS FIRST CONCACAF U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP WITH SHOOTOUT WIN VS. HONDURAS". ussoccer.com. March 5, 2017.