Christian Eissele

Early life

Eissele was born in Orlando, Florida. His father, Bill, works as a high school drama teacher and football coach. His mother, Susan, plays the piano for a local church. Eissele also has a sister who works as a lieutenant who is stationed in Valdosta, Georgia. At a young age, Eissele had a keen interest in tennis however football was, with the help of his tennis coach Steve, his chosen sport.

He left the United States to go to Europe in order of finding a professional contract. He first travelled to Leeds, England to join the Richmond University International Academic & Soccer Academy. Despite developing at the academy, Eissele's hopes of playing professionally were stopped due to the American not being eligible for a work permit. In March 2012, he landed a trial at Finnish club PS Kemi and subsequently received a professional contract which he signed at the age of 19.

Eissele wasn't done there though, as little over three weeks later he scored five goals in one match against Warkaus. The match ended 8–0 in Kemi's favour. Warkaus' results from that season were cancelled in August 2012 due to Warkaus not turning up to a Kakkonen fixture against TP-47 and therefore were kicked out of the league, but the Football Association of Finland decided that statistics from all matches involving Warkaus would still stand. In the club's final Kakkonen fixture, Eissele scored another hat-trick in a 3–1 win versus Kajaani. Around two months later, in March, Eissele had a trial at KuPS and again played as a trialist in a League Cup tie. He participated in the full match versus SJK but didn't score.

He left Kemi on March 29, 2014. He made his first appearance for Brage on 21 April 2014 in a 2–1 win versus AFC United, he played 90 minutes before being substituted for Viktor Ekervik-Eriksson. It took Eissele eight matches to score his first goal for the club when he scored a 54th-minute equaliser against Umeå. Around a month later Eissele scored two goals in a 1–3 win away to Valsta Syrianska, but again didn't score for another month. However, he then scored in five consecutive matches in August and September which included a hat-trick in the final of those five matches against Huddinge. He scored once more in the 2014 season when he scored an equaliser against Valsta Syrianska to earn a draw for Brage on 19 October.

Return to PS Kemi After his release from Brage, Eissele returned to Finland to sign for former club PS Kemi. He made his Veikkausliiga debut on April 9, 2016, in a 3–0 home win against reigning champions SJK. He scored his first Veikkausliiga goal on August 13 versus Inter Turku.

FF Jaro On February 14, 2017, Eissele joined Ykkönen side FF Jaro. He made his debut on February 17 in a Finnish Cup tie against Kerho 07 and scored four goals in a 1–8 away win.

Sacramento Republic On January 17, 2018, Eissele signed with United Soccer League side Sacramento Republic. Five goals, notably two against Seattle Sounders FC 2 on 8 September, in twenty-seven matches followed as Sacramento reached the post-season play-offs; where they lost to Swope Park Rangers. Subsequently, in December, Eissele rejoined former club FF Jaro on trial.

Oklahoma City Energy Eissele returned to the USL Championship on January 16, 2019, signing with Oklahoma City Energy. He was released in December, having scored seven goals in thirty-two matches across all competitions.

Retirement Eissele announced his retirement on April 6, 2020, subsequently taking over from his father as Lake Mary High School's girls soccer head coach in August. He also set-up a training business for local footballers in the Orlando, Florida area.

2019

Honors PS Kemi Ykkönen: 2015