Edward Kizza

Edward Kizza
Personal information
Full name Edward Kizza
Date of birth (1998-12-17) 17 December 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Kampala, Uganda
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Indy Eleven
Youth career
Montverde Academy
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 Pittsburgh Panthers 53 (31)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021–2022 New England Revolution 11 (0)
2021 → New England Revolution II (loan) 12 (5)
2022 → Memphis 901 (loan) 8 (0)
2022 → Pittsburgh Riverhounds (loan) 10 (1)
2023–2024 Pittsburgh Riverhounds 62 (16)
2025– Indy Eleven 0 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 December 2024

Edward Kizza (born 17 December 1998) is a Ugandan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indy Eleven in the USL Championship.

Career

Born in Kampala, Kizza moved to the United States with his parents when he was 14.[1] He spent his first year of high school at Carlisle School before joining the Montverde Academy near Orlando, Florida.[2] With Montverde, Kizza was part of the SIMA program and was ranked as the 41st ranked player nationally by topdrawersoccer coming out of his senior season.[2]

On 17 March 2017, Kizza committed to playing college soccer with the Pittsburgh Panthers, despite looking at offers from the Clemson Tigers and Wake Forest Demon Deacons.[2] He made his collegiate debut for the Panthers on 25 August 2017 against the Ohio State Buckeyes, coming on as a substitute in a 0–1 defeat.[3] He completed his freshman college season with 4 goals in 15 matches, earning an ACC All-Freshman team selection.[3] During his sophomore season, Kizza started in all 18 matches for the Panthers, scoring 15 goals.[3] He then scored 12 goals during his junior and final season with the Panthers, appearing in all 20 matches that season.[3]

On 8 October 2020, it was announced that Kizza had parted ways with the Pittsburgh Panthers, despite appearing and scoring in two exhibition matches.[4] He would go on to not play his senior season with the Panthers.[3]

New England Revolution

On 21 January 2021, despite not appearing in the 2020 NCAA season, Kizza was selected with the 24th overall pick by the New England Revolution in the MLS SuperDraft.[5] Despite being selected late in the first round of the draft, Revolution head coach Bruce Arena, stated that Kizza is "a proven goal scorer the collegiate level" and that "we feel very fortunate that we got him as late as we did in the first round".[6] Arena said that he had spoken with Kizza's Pittsburgh Panthers coach Jay Vidovich prior to drafting him.[6]

On 5 March 2021, Kizza signed a professional contract with the New England Revolution after impressing the coaching staff in pre-season.[7] He made professional debut for the Revolution on 17 April 2021 in their season opener against the Chicago Fire, coming on as an 83rd-minute substitute in the 2–2 draw and hitting the crossbar with a header.[8]

Following the 2022 season, Kizza was released by New England.[9]

Memphis 901 (loan)

On 30 March 2022, New England announced that they had loaned Kizza to USL Championship club Memphis 901 for the remainder of the 2022 season.[10] Kizza was recalled from his loan in July 2022.

Pittsburgh Riverhounds (loan)

On 15 July 2022, USL Championship club Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC announced that they had acquired Kizza on loan for the remainder of the 2022 season.[11]

Pittsburgh Riverhounds

On 13 January 2023, Kizza made his move to the Riverhounds permanent.[12] In a match against Las Vegas Lights FC, Kizza scored a brace in the 4-1 win, as well as Arturo Ordoñez and Danny Griffin scoring.[13]

Indy Eleven

Kizza joined Indy Eleven on 3 December 2024, becoming the first Ugandan player in club history.[14]

Career statistics

As of match played 2 November 2024[15]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Playoffs Domestic Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
New England Revolution 2021 Major League Soccer 11 0 0 0 0 0 — 11 0
New England Revolution II (loan) 2021 USL League One 12 5 — 0 0 — 12 5
Memphis 901 FC (loan) 2022 USL Championship 8 0 0 0 0 0 — 8 0
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (loan) 2022 USL Championship 10 1 2 2 0 0 — 12 3
Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC 2023 USL Championship 29 4 1 0 3 1 — 33 5
2024 USL Championship 33 12 1 0 1 0 — 35 12
Indy Eleven 2025 USL Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Career total 103 22 4 2 4 1 — 111 25

Honours

New England Revolution

References

  1. ^ "Edward Kizza New England Revolution". New England Revolution. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Rotstein, Steve (17 March 2021). "Top 50 recruit Kizza Edward commits to Pitt men's soccer". The Pitt News. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Edward Kizza". Pittsburgh Panthers.
  4. ^ Bobeck, Brett (8 October 2020). "Pitt soccer parts ways with leading scorer Edward Kizza". The Pitt News. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  5. ^ Krysinsky, John (22 January 2021). "Former Pitt scoring whiz Edward Kizza selected by New England Revolution in MLS Draft". Pittsburgh Soccer Now. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b Minton, Sam (22 January 2021). "Bruce Arena feels 'very fortunate" that Edward Kizza dropped to 24th overall". The Bent Musket. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  7. ^ "New England Revolution sign 2021 MLS SuperDraft pick forward Edward Kizza". New England Revolution. 5 March 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Chicago Fire 2–2 New England Revolution". Soccerway.
  9. ^ "New England Revolution announce year-end roster moves | New England Revolution". revolutionsoccer.net.
  10. ^ "New England Revolution loan forward Edward Kizza to Memphis 901 FC". revolutionsoccer.net. 30 March 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  11. ^ "Hounds acquire forward Edward Kizza on loan from Revolution". uslchampionship.com. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  12. ^ USLChampionship com Staff (13 January 2023). "Edward Kizza inks deal with Hounds". USL Championship.
  13. ^ Campbell, Dominic (20 May 2023). "FINAL: Riverhounds SC 4, Las Vegas Lights FC 1". Pittsburgh Soccer Now. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Indy Eleven Signs Forward Edward Kizza from Pittsburgh Riverhounds". IndyEleven.com. Indy Eleven. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  15. ^ Edward Kizza at Soccerway