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In 2018, Sam Layton walked into one of the over 1,300 Domino’s Pizza shops in England. The rattling door swung open, releasing the scent of freshly baked dough to the streets. Layton walked toward the counter, threw on his Domino’s cap and got to work.

It wasn’t where Layton should’ve been. His 6-foot-2 frame was perfect for reaching high shelves in the pizzeria, but his focus was elsewhere — achieving his goals on the soccer field.

But his scholarship with Burnley FC’s U-18 team in Lancashire, England, expired, and he had no choice.

While trying out for league and independent teams throughout England, Layton kept the minimum-wage job at Dominos. Eventually, Layton traveled to the United States, where he played four years at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Now, in his final season of college eligibility, Layton is one of Syracuse’s veterans, leading its defense as a center back.

“I’m able to lead a lot more as a center defender,” Layton said, “because I can see everything in front of me.”

Layton, a Brisbane, Australia, native spent most of his youth playing for local academies. With Zee Academy’s U14 team, Layton and his team spent the summer in Barcelona.

After his time in Spain, Layton signed with Burnley, quickly working his way up to the U-21 roster. Though Layton tore his labrum when he was 17, sidelining him for eight months. He returned, this time with the U-18 team, and started the last 13 games of the season. But at the end of the season, Burnley cut ties with Layton.

“They pretty much said, ‘You’ve been doing well, and we just don’t think that you were the right fit for our team,’” Layton said.

Layton was kicked to the curb and had no option other than trying out for professional teams in England. He tried out for multiple teams, but couldn’t crack a roster.

“When I wasn’t able to find a club, I was training with a non-league team and then working at the same time,” Layton said. “I was just trying to figure out what my next plan was.”

He had pursued every avenue there was in England, yet still couldn’t get signed. Then, after a year of continuous rejection, Layton connected with an agency called Vertex Soccer. The agency helps English players connect with American universities.

Vertex connected him with SIUE, and the search was complete.

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The new opportunity allowed him to escape minimum-wage work and continue to chase his dreams. While he didn’t enjoy his time at work, it gave him a better perspective on his future. Layton wasn’t just going to use SIUE as a vessel in his soccer career but as a backup option, too.

“Those kind of things kind of drove me toward coming over here,” he said. “I wanted to have a better education to be able to (fall back on) if soccer didn’t work out.”

Layton took his plan to the next level and followed the electrical engineering path at SIUE, graduating with a 3.9 GPA. On the field, Layton started as a redshirt in his freshman season, due to his gap year in England.

“We could tell immediately he was a really humble guy, good player, good person, and just needed to get his sharpness back,” SIUE head coach Cale Wasserman said of Layton.

In the spring of his first season, Layton played in six of SIUE’s 10 games, starting twice. When fall season came, Layton’s role was vastly different. He started 13-of-15 games he played in while racking up 1140 minutes. But then, his minutes decreased to 610 in his junior year.

In Layton’s senior campaign, he led the Cougars to an undefeated regular season. SIUE also clinched the Ohio Valley Conference Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth. Layton started 17-of-19 games, finishing with a goal and six assists.

After four and a half years at SIUE, Layton transferred to Syracuse with one year of eligibility remaining.

“It was bittersweet,” Wasserman said. “Obviously we wanted to keep him, and he was such an important part of the team, but we also understood he’s a human trying to have a holistic experience.”

Nine of SU’s 10 starters from 2023 departed, and the Orange were in need of new players, especially at center back. Even though he played defensive midfielder for SIUE, Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre moved him to center back. Now, Layton sits in the center of SU’s back three.

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He joined the team in January for SU’s spring semester and played for the Vermont Green FC during the summer. At Vermont, he played alongside fellow Syracuse teammates Gabe Threadgold, Ernest Bawa, Carlos Zambrano and Jahiem Wickham. The transition to the Orange this fall has been seamless for Layton.

“(The defense) has done very well,” McIntyre said. “Sam is kind of like the vocal leader of our group.”

By playing a key role for Syracuse this season, Layton can bolster his resume to potentially get drafted or be offered a professional contract at season’s end. For him, though, that’s not a concern.

“I’m gonna go game by game, try and play as best as possible as I’ll do any game I’ll ever play,” Layton said, “and just see where that takes me.”

Published on September 5, 2024 at 12:16 am

Contact Nick: nsjepson@syr.edu