AFC Mobile has released a preliminary roster for the club’s upcoming inaugural Gulf Coast Premier League (GCPL) season.
The roster features a number of players with Premier Development League and National Premier Soccer League experience as well as some who have trained with Major League Soccer clubs.
“I’m really excited about the players we’ve been able to bring in,” reports AFC Mobile head coach Nate Nicholas. “We had a lot of quality players to pick from, and I think we have a good group coming in.”
The diverse roster features players from several countries including Scotland, Mexico, Nigeria, and France. Still, the vast majority of players have played high school or college soccer in the Mobile Bay Area.
Coach Nicholas said, “This club will truly represent the diversity of Mobile’s different ethnic groups, nationalities, and ages of our players. You can see the hunger in the players to represent AFC Mobile and the community.”
Players on the preliminary roster have played for several clubs across the country and around the world including Oro Jalisco, Chicago Fire, FC Wichita, Birmingham Hammers, and AC Storm, plus academy programs such as Cruz Azul, Houston Dynamo, and Chivas de Guadalajara.
“First and foremost, we’re excited to announce a roster that we believe has the talent to compete in this league and that represents every part of our incredibly global community,” said AFC Mobile board member Sean Landry. “We’re grateful to everyone who tried out and we’re looking forward to fielding a team that Mobile can be proud of. Narrowing down the field of participants to a small roster was no easy task because the Mobile area has so many high quality players.”
AFC Mobile Initial Roster
Below is the 25-player preliminary roster. When the Alabama High School Athletic Association soccer season is finished, there will be a final invitational tryout for graduating high school seniors. The final roster will be 22 for the first official match.
- Hugo Aranda
- David Blake
- Jorden Cruz
- Mathieu Dazet
- Martin Fiemauhle
- Jorge Fuentes
- Elijah Gibson
- Nathan Gillespie
- Caleb Govati
- Brent Grube
- Austin Hilyer
- Devin Hodges
- Greg Hosford
- Tanner Kukes
- Guillermo Lumbreras Jr
- Jason Mallis
- Matthew McArthur
- Baba Mediaten
- Moses Muhubao
- Barou Ndaw
- Patrick O’Neal
- Chisom Ogbonna
- Christopher Rumsey
- Alex Salinas
- Sherman Winchester
AFC Mobile will begin its inaugural season in the Gulf Coast Premier League on May 14, 2017, at 7:00 p.m. at the Archbishop Lipscomb Athletic Complex against Pensacola’s Gulf Coast Texans. Season tickets are available here.
