FC Edmonton Announces Return Of Several Eddies For 2016

FC Edmonton announced on Wednesday the tentative agreements with 13 players for the 2016 season, while also releasing five players to free agency.

Goalkeepers Matt VanOekel and Tyson Farago will return between the woodwork for Edmonton, while defenders Allan Zebie, Mallan Roberts, Johann Smith and Marko Aleksic patrol the back line. The Eddies midfield will feature Dustin Corea, Micheal Nonni, Ritchie Jones, Christian Raudales and Pablo Cruz, while the forward group sees the return of Sadi Jalali and Tomi Ameobi.

FC Edmonton also announced the release of goalkeeper John Smits, defender Kareem Moses, midfielders Tomas Granitto and Thiago de Freitas as well as forward Franke Jonke to free agency.

“It is always disappointing when you are releasing good people,” FC Edmonton head coach Colin Miller stated. “Both general manager Rod Proudfoot and I had meetings with each and every player. The players whose contracts we are not renewing have all been a great credit to the club. Thankfully, everyone has left on amicable terms and the players genuinely enjoyed their experience with FC Edmonton.”

The Eddies were impressive through several stretches of 2015, narrowly missing out on a spot in the NASL postseason and falling just shy of advancing to the Amway Canadian Championship Final. Edmonton’s returning players will have the benefit of these experiences when the team returns to competition in 2016.

“We are delighted to announce that we have 13 players currently under contract with the club while negotiating with an additional seven players at this moment in time that we are cautiously optimistic we can renew contracts with,” Miller added. “I’ve never been a manager who wanted to reinvent the wheel and start from scratch again. I think that would be quite foolish with our strong group of core players. Our job in the offseason is to bring in players that will add genuine quality to the group that is currently here.”