Sporting Kansas City II announced today that the club has signed 24-year-old midfielder Collin Fernandez to an MLS NEXT Pro professional contract, pending league and U.S. Soccer Federation approval. Fernandez has joined Sporting KC II for the team’s first season in MLS NEXT Pro, a new professional league that will kick off in late March.
Since turning professional in 2015 at age 17, Fernandez has logged 114 appearances in the second-division USL Championship while also playing three matches in Major League Soccer. The central midfielder arrives at Sporting KC II after an excellent 2021 season with Austin Bold FC, where he scored a career-high four goals and added two assists in 30 USL Championship contests.
A native of Downers Grove, Illinois, Fernandez spent four years in the Chicago Fire FC Academy before signing an MLS contract as a Homegrown Player ahead of the 2015 season. He landed his MLS debut for Chicago on July 19, 2015, for his first of three top-flight appearances with the Fire. During his time with the club, Fernandez went on three successful loan spells with USL Championship sides Louisville City FC (2015), Saint Louis FC (2016) and FC Tulsa, formerly Tulsa Roughnecks FC (2017). As a staple of FC Tulsa’s backline, he was ranked 18th in the USL Championship’s 2017 20 Under 20 list of promising players.
Fernandez signed for perennial USL Championship contender Phoenix Rising FC in 2018, helping the team to a Western Conference title in his first season by scoring two goals in 21 appearances. He remained in Arizona for Rising FC’s record-breaking 2019 campaign, which saw the club win 20 straight matches and post a league-record 78 points with a 24-4-6 regular season record.
After returning to Saint Louis FC in 2019, Fernandez joined Seattle Sounders FC affiliate Tacoma Defiance in 2020. He made eight appearances during the shortened season prior to moving south and enjoying a strong 2021 campaign at Austin Bold FC. Fernandez played a career-high 30 games—featuring in all but two of Austin’s matches—and bagged four goals, including winners against Pittsburgh Riverhounds FC on June 6 and Colorado Spring Switchbacks FC on Aug. 4.
As a youth, Fernandez represented Chicago Fire FC at the U-14 through U-18 levels and was named the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s Central Conference U-16 Player of the Year for the 2013-14 season after scoring 16 goals in 25 matches. He was also a U.S. youth national team member, competing in the U-14, U-17, U-18 and U-20 age groups and leading the U.S. U-18s to a first-place finish in the 2014 International Tournament of Vaclav Jezek in the Czech Republic. Fernandez switched his international allegiance in 2016, featuring for the Peru U-20s throughout the year.
Fernandez is one of four players under professional contract for Sporting KC II in 2022 alongside left back and fellow newcomer Spencer Glass, center back Aljaz Dzankic and midfielder Jahon Rad. The club will announce further roster moves in the coming days and weeks ahead of the 2022 MLS NEXT Pro campaign.
Transaction: Sporting Kansas City II signs midfielder Collin Fernandez to an MLS NEXT Pro professional contract.
VITALS
Collin Fernandez
Position: Midfielder
Born: 2/13/1997 (24 years old)
Height: 5-8
Weight: 155 lbs.
Hometown: Downers Grove, Illinois
Birthplace: Downers Grove, Illinois
Citizenship: USA
Twitter: @cfer97
Instagram: @c_fernandez10
