Friday, January 18, 2019 ~ VICTORIA.
~ West Shore Voice News
Pacific Football Club (Pacific FC) has bolstered its inaugural season lineup with signing on a trio of BC soccer players who have international experience.
As announced Tuesday January 15, the three BC-born players added to the growing Pacific FC roster are Alessandro Hojabpour, Matthew Baldisimo and Terran Campbell. These members of Canada’s youth U17 national team, will return to Canada to play this spring.
The inaugural Canadian Premier League season with seven teams across Canada starts in April.
“These three are solid young players in their age group and we are glad to have them join us to continue their careers back in Canada,” said Michael Silberbauer, head coach, Pacific FC. “They bring energy and excitement to our growing team.”
Attacking midfielder Hojabpour returns to Canada from the Bulgarian league where he has been playing for Lokomotiv Plovdiv U19 team since 2017. Raised in Vancouver, the 19-year-old made his debut with the Canadian youth national team in 2014. He scored the team’s only goal against Cuba in the U17 match in Panama City in 2017.
Baldisimo and Campbell come to Pacific FC from Fresno FC of USL Championship.
Twenty-year-old Baldisimo, a midfielder who was raised in Burnaby, captained the Canadian youth national team in 2015 at the CONCACAF U17 Championship in Honduras.
Campbell was also raised in Burnaby. The 20-year-old striker first played internationally for Canada in the 2013 Copa Mexico de Naciones.
Each of the players was part of the Vancouver Whitecaps youth residency programs and played on the team’s reserve team early in their careers.
“We are fortunate to be a position to be bringing young players like this back to BC where they can become the future stars of the game on Canadian soil,” said Rob Friend, CEO, Pacific FC. “They are hard workers and will be fun to watch.”
The trio of new players join Kadin Chung and Marcus Haber who were signed to Pacific FC in the last few months.
Over the coming weeks, the team will continue to build its roster preparing for spring training in March.
ABOUT PACIFIC FOOTBALL CLUB: Founded in 2018, Pacific Football Club brings professional football to Vancouver Island. Playing out of a renovated, 6000-seat Westhills Stadium in Langford, the club will provide an outlet for young Canadian soccer players to realize their dreams of playing at the professional level. Fans will be able to enjoy the thrilling, fast-paced sporting atmosphere associated with the sport when the Canadian Premier League season kicks off in April 2019.
For season ticket information: https://pacificfc.canpl.ca/pacific-football-club-ticketing
ABOUT THE CPL: Canadian Premier League (CPL) is Canada’s professional men’s soccer league set to debut in April 2019. Playing in world-class and unique venues, and partnering with strong community-led ownership groups, CPL is a league for Canadians by Canadians that will bring professional soccer to communities coast-to-coast.
For updates and more information, please go to CanPL.ca . On Twitter: @CPLsoccer and #CanPL
Pacific FC signs Marcus Haber for inaugural season (January 9, 2019)
Pacific FC opens downtown Victoria storefront & signs Kadin Chung (November 30, 2018)
For season ticket information: https://pacificfc.canpl.ca/pacific-football-club-ticketing