The dust had barely settled on Louisville City’s USL Championship season before the club announced that sixteen players on the 2017 squad would return for 2018. That kind of continuity is both rare and good for any USL team, whose rosters often turn over by 50% or more in the average offseason. Let’s pour one out, though, for those not returning: Sean Reynolds, Micah Bledsoe, Guy Abend, and most likely Tarek Morad, who is out of contract. The club announced yesterday afternoon that Abend would not be returning.

It is obvious that City wouldn’t have won the title this season without the four of those guys. We never saw Bledsoe play in a game, but we got plenty of Reynolds, Abend, and Morad ever since City started USL play. They were great for us, legendary, even. We’ll surely miss them, and wish them the best wherever their lives take them next.

Now that the club is on firmer financial ground thanks to the tentative stadium and development district project, there could be more money available for O’Connor to spend on a roster in 2018. City struggled a bit in 2016 with a roster that was almost too big, in my opinion. It was hard to make lineup decisions because there were too many options. This past season, City could have done with some depth at both wing positions, maybe another central defender, and another central midfielder. I think the ideal roster size is probably 23, so look for City to sign seven new players this offseason, including a third goalkeeper.

Phillip Durbin has compiled a wishlist on Reddit comprised of MLS castoffs. More players will soon be available pending the demise of two NASL teams (FC Edmonton and SF Deltas) and probably the Rochester Rhinos. Roster news from LouCity, in my experience, is generally very sudden and sporadic, but we’ll keep up with it here as best we can. Got someone you’d like to see in purple next spring? Jump in the Reddit thread and voice your opinion. It’s what the internet is for (sort of)!