Seattle Sounders star Clint Dempsey has thanked the New England Revolution for giving him a start in professional soccer.
The 31-year old USA international was selected by the Revs in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft and starred for the club in his first three seasons before landing a dream move to English Premier League club Fulham.
On the weekend, Dempsey returned to New England to take on the Revs - which the home side ended up winning 5-0 - but prior to the contest, the ex-Tottenham midfielder was thrilled to be returning to the place where a successful career kicked off.
"It's always great to go back to where you started," Dempsey said.
"I owe a lot to that organization. They picked me up in the draft and gave me the opportunity to jump-start my career and, through playing there, allowed me to break into the national team, which allowed me to go overseas.
"I had good memories there. It will be great to go back, but I will still be looking there to try and get points."
Dempsey, who helped the Revs make the MLS Cup final in 2005 and 2006, added: "I enjoyed playing with all the players there: Andy Dorman, Steve Ralston, Shalrie Joseph, Taylor Twellman, Pat Noonan - the list goes on and on - Matt Reis.
"We had a really good foundation there, a good team. I thought we played a really good style, and I think that's the reason why we managed to go so far."
