Injury changed trajectory for Toffolo
New English left back Harry Toffolo suffered a hamstring strain that cost him four games and the start he wanted here; Plus: Charlotte FC looks to start another win streak Saturday vs. Montreal
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Charlotte FC’s new English left back, Harry Toffolo, is using time off with a hamstring injury to acclimate to the city and get his family settled before gearing up to rejoin the team for its playoff push
Harry Toffolo (left) playing a game of “Subsoccer” during a recent visit to Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte FC.)
A move from England, a new three-year contract, and a hearty ovation from Charlotte FC faithful for his first MLS action late against Real Salt Lake were well and good. But a week later, in his first start Aug. 24, with Charlotte leading the New York Red Bulls 1-0, Harry Toffolo swung his left leg to defend a high pass toward the box and tried to flick it.
“I flipped my toe, and it felt like someone just shot me in the back,” said Toffolo, describing radiant, telltale hamstring pain.
Unable to make it through stoppage time, he hobbled from the game and has been out for five weeks since. He hopes to return to practice next week and work his way back into action over the final three regular-season games before the start of the postseason.
Toffolo changed teams nine times in England and never faced an injury out of the gate.
“Frustrating,” was Toffolo’s characterization. “Especially when you want to hit the ground running.”
It was easy to assume the problem was the unfamiliar turf at Bank of America Stadium, or joining Charlotte FC on the fly during what would have been a preseason in England. In the moment, for Toffolo, it felt more like a freak injury.
His wife, Annie, and their four children ages 1 to 9 left the Red Bulls game shortly after he went back to the locker room. It was a Sunday night, and the older kids had their first day of school the next day. So captain and fellow Premier League expatriate Ashley Westwood gave Toffolo a ride home.
Heading south on Providence Road, Westwood told him about pulling his hip flexor muscle four games into his first season in Charlotte in 2023 and missing six weeks.
“He said, ‘It happens,’” Toffolo said. “He said, ‘It’s the travel, the stress of moving.’ There are all these things that you go, ‘Nah, it’s not that. It’s my body.’ He said, ‘There’s an accumulation of all these things, and your body’s just gone: I can’t do it.’”
Westwood gave him license to let go of the worry and frustration and focus on taking time to settle.
Toffolo engaging with fans at “Meet the Team” night at Bank of America Stadium. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte FC.)
One thing Toffolo could still do was dive into community work. He’d made a name for himself at Nottingham Forest, and other clubs, for his dedication to causes off the field.
He and mascot Sir Minty had attended a “Pins for Kids” bowling event with Charlotte FC fan Nick Delago. The 18-year-old, who is autistic, participated in a weekend “Dream On 3” event where he was invited to join the team at practice and was honored at the Red Bulls game. Last week, Toffolo joined rookie Mikah Thomas for a visit to Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital.
“The hospital visits are big for me,” Toffolo said. “Look at the parents in the eye. Look at that little kid in the eye, and you tell me what scared looks like. I think that helps me. Having a lot of perspective in life is good.”
He has relished getting to know his new teammates and staff. And he’s thrown himself into his home life, which about a month ago was going “100 miles an hour.”
While his wife packed up their rental home in England, giving away as much as possible to keep the transition simple, he was making regular trips to Target and Walmart to furnish a rental home here. Then, less than 24 hours after his mother, wife and kids made the overseas flight to Charlotte, Toffolo left for Toronto to secure a visa.
In the four weeks to follow, Toffolo said, the pace has finally started to slow. His kids have had their fun at Carowinds and other local attractions and settled into both school and their own soccer schedules, now with practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays and games on Saturdays. And his wife?
“She loves the area,” Toffolo said. “She actually said to me, when we were driving down the road, going out for food, ‘I’m so glad we came here.’”
Toffolo said he had that same feeling this past weekend, when the biggest thing on his agenda was a trip to Home Depot. He went for propane for a new outdoor griddle and came home with a leaf blower. (His wife sent him back for the gas he’d forgotten with four kids in tow. So they moved car seats into his pickup truck and rode with the windows down, country music blaring.) As for the remainder of the weekend?
“We all just sat at home and we had football on,” Toffolo said. “We played in the garden, and that’s what we would have done in England. We’ve realized we’re not on holiday anymore. We live here now.”
Toffolo said watching his teammates roll off two more wins, before falling last Saturday in New York, taught him this: “We’re good.” And he’s looking forward to getting back into the fray as the playoffs approach.
“It’s not the start I wanted, but I’ll make it the end that I wanted,” he said. “… Now, I feel really settled here. The family’s really settled, and I think we’re in a good place. Now I can really kick on and give the fans, give the team what they brought me in for.”
Up Next: Charlotte FC (17-12-2) vs. CF Montreal (5-17-9)
When/Where: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Bank of America Stadium
How to watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. Find information about how to subscribe for the season here.
How to listen: WFNZ 92.7 in English, WOLS 106.1 in Spanish.
Notable:
Charlotte FC’s MLS record-tying winning streak ended at nine games Saturday in a 2- loss to New York City FC in a noon game at Yankee Stadium. Coach Dean Smith admitted the atmosphere there for a midday soccer game “felt like Coachella.” Charlotte gave up two penalties for the goals allowed.
The loss in New York put a damper on Charlotte FC’s hopes for a Supporters’ Shield as the regular-season champion in MLS. But the team continues to gun for a top-four finish and home-field advantage in the playoffs.
Charlotte FC is No. 4 in the Eastern Conference and faces the first of two opponents at the bottom of the conference, in Montreal (5-17-9) and D.C. United (5-16-10), both of whom have new coaches. The first of those is Saturday at Bank of America Stadium, where Charlotte is 12-2-1.
Midfielder Pep Biel has made appearances off the bench in each of the past two games coming off a hamstring injury. But he felt discomfort in his knee during the New York game and was diagnosed with tendinitis, Smith said. He’s 50-50 to play against Montreal.
Fullback Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, a native of Toronto, faces the Montreal team that loaned him out to Charlotte during the spring. After making just two starts in Montreal’s first nine games, he’s started 17 games and come off the bench in four others for Charlotte FC. He’s made use of opportunities filling in for injured Nathan Byrne, Souleyman Doumbia and now Toffolo to also earn his first call-up to Canada’s national team during the last international break.
Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now in her fourth season covering Charlotte FC. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her with questions, suggestions, story ideas and comments!
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