The Houston Dynamo signed midfielder Eric Bird to a first-team contract, the club announced today. Bird played with Dynamo’s USL team, RGV FC, for the last two years.
Bird finished his second season with RGV having played in 29 games and scoring four goals with three assists. The year before, he played in 22 games, scoring six goals and dishing one assist for the Toros. Prior to signing with RGV FC, the 24-year-old was drafted by the Philadelphia Union in the second round of the 2015 MLS SuperDraft and played on loan with the Harrisburg City Islanders.
The Virginia Beach, Virginia native played for the University of Virginia from 2011-14, serving as team captain as a junior and a senior, and helped lead the Cavaliers to the national championship in his senior season. Bird joins the Dynamo first team after signing a short-term agreement with the club earlier in the summer to compete in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Bird started both games of the Open Cup for the Dynamo.
The hybrid relationship between the Dynamo and RGV FC in which the Dynamo control all aspects of soccer operations, including employment of the technical staff and player selection, while RGV FC manages the business side of the club, was unique in MLS when RGV FC was launched in 2016 and has quickly been emulated by multiple MLS clubs over the past year.
With the addition of Bird, the Dynamo now have 20 players under contract for the 2018 season.
HOUSTON DYNAMO PLAYERS CURRENTLY UNDER CONTRACT
| GOALKEEPERS (1) | |||||||
| No. | Player | Pos. | MLS Exp. | Age | Ht. | Wt. | FIFA Nationality |
| Chris Seitz | GK | 11 | 30 | 6-3 | 236 | USA | |
| DEFENDERS (5) | |||||||
| No. | Player | Pos. | MLS Exp. | Age | Ht. | Wt. | FIFA Nationality |
| 3 | Adolfo Machado | DF | 1 | 31 | 6-0 | 160 | Panama |
| 4 | Philippe Senderos | DF | 1 | 32 | 6-2 | 181 | Switzerland |
| 15 | Dylan Remick | DF | 5 | 26 | 6-0 | 165 | USA |
| 16 | Kevin Garcia | DF | 1 | 26 | 6-0 | 185 | USA |
| 21 | George Malki | DF | 1 | 24 | 5-10 | 160 | USA |
| 22 | Leonardo | DF | 8 | 29 | 6-2 | 185 | Brazil |
| MIDFIELDERS (5) | |||||||
| No. | Player | Pos. | MLS Exp. | Age | Ht. | Wt. | FIFA Nationality |
| 5 | Juan David Cabezas | MF | 1 | 25 | 6-0 | 175 | Colombia |
| 6 | Eric Alexander | MF | 8 | 29 | 6-1 | 165 | USA |
| 18 | Memo Rodriguez | MF | 1 | 21 | 5-8 | 145 | USA |
| 25 | Tomás Martínez | MF | 1 | 22 | 5-9 | 145 | Argentina |
| 27 | Boniek García | MF | 6 | 33 | 5-9 | 150 | Honduras |
| 28 | Charlie Ward | MF | 1 | 22 | 5-8 | 168 | England |
| Arturo Álvarez | MF | 12 | 32 | 5-9 | 170 | El Salvador | |
| Eric Bird | MF | 1 | 24 | 5-9 | 174 | USA | |
| FORWARDS (5) | |||||||
| No. | Player | Pos. | MLS Exp. | Age | Ht. | Wt. | FIFA Nationality |
| 9 | Erick Torres | FW | 5 | 24 | 5-11 | 168 | Mexico |
| 11 | Andrew Wenger | MF | 6 | 26 | 6-0 | 185 | USA |
| 12 | Romell Quioto | FW | 1 | 25 | 5-11 | 170 | Honduras |
| 17 | Alberth Elis | FW | 1 | 20 | 6-0 | 165 | Honduras |
| 19 | Mauro Manotas | FW | 3 | 22 | 6-0 | 155 | Colombia |
TRANSACTIONS: Houston Dynamo sign MF Eric Bird from Rio Grande Valley FC.
