New Brit defender relishes fresh start
Harry Toffolo brings appreciation for American culture to new life and role with Charlotte FC; Club adds Australian striker; Advancing Salt Lake
It’s time for Fútbol Friday, The Charlotte Ledger’s weekly newsletter getting you up to speed on Charlotte FC.
➡️ Need to sign up for Fútbol Friday and other Charlotte-focused email newsletters from The Charlotte Ledger? You can do that here.
➡️ Ledger subscribers can add or drop individual newsletters on their “My Account” page.
You could sponsor this email newsletter and reach 8,300+ engaged Charlotte soccer fans. Find out more.
Toffolo latest in line of five Premier League players and a coach to take on American adventure with Charlotte FC
Charlotte FC’s new defender Harry Toffolo working on the side as he awaits his visa. (Photo courtesy of Charlotte FC.)
It would seem Charlotte FC’s new left back, Harry Toffolo, was ready for a move to the U.S. a lot sooner than anybody realized — unless they saw the Englishman cruising the streets of Nottingham in a pickup truck.
Toffolo, 29, said he’s been eyeing a move to Major League Soccer for years, and even after realizing a childhood dream by playing the last three seasons in the English Premier League for Nottingham Forest, he was ready.
So when his contract expired and his free agent musings began, Toffolo skipped overtures from Premier League teams like Burnley and Sunderland or Rangers in Scotland, and took the dinner with Charlotte FC general manager Zoran Krneta.
“There was loads of clubs back in England, and I was going through them, working out what,” Toffolo said this week. “I have scored and assisted in all the leagues, played at every stadium. I’m always someone, I want more. I always want to see something new. And then this came up. [My agent Tam Byrne] has got a fantastic relationship with Zoran, so it was almost like, ‘Let’s have a chat. Let’s see what we could work out.’ It all started to add up. It just kept on going. And before we knew it, we sat in London having lovely food all together. And then I was flying out.”
Toff [sounds like toffee] olo, and his wife, Annie, toured Bank of America Stadium and watched Charlotte FC defeat Toronto 2-0 on July 26. Less than three weeks later, he was actually in Toronto, trying to secure a visa to play for Charlotte FC. Coach Dean Smith said he would be back in Charlotte on Friday and was about 50-50 for his chances to debut Saturday against Real Salt Lake.
Charlotte’s pipeline from the Premier League is now half a dozen names long, starting with former left back turned assistant coach Christian Fuchs, captain Ashley Westwood, Smith, center back Tim Ream, star winger Wilfried Zaha and now Toffolo.
With each acquisition, the stakes get a little higher. Toffolo is the first of those to make the jump before turning 30, which he will do on Tuesday. And he signed the longest initial deal, inking a contract that keeps him in Charlotte through this season and three more.
Toffolo had the advantage of sharing an agent with Westwood, who not only showed Annie and him around town but gave him more than just the big sell. Toffolo said Westwood gave him the truth about what it’s like to have children in the States, far away from grandparents, and what it’s like to work through sudden pangs of missing home. Toffolo came in knowing fellow Brit Nathan Byrne, whom he knows as “Byrne-y” and played with during a loan with Swindon Town of League One. He brought a built-in respect for Smith, who has what Toffolo called a “massive” reputation in England.
Since he signed, Toffolo’s biggest job has been working out on the side with Charlotte FC athletic trainers and filling a house he rented for the arrival of his wife and four children, ages 9, 7, 4 and 1, who got here Tuesday.
Toffolo posted this family selfie shortly after they arrived in Charlotte from England, with “Reunited” as the caption. (Photo courtesy of Toffolo’s Instagram story.)
“I’ve rented a big pickup truck,” Toffolo said in a small gathering with press Monday afternoon. “I realize it’s not practical for [what] I want to do, but it’s fun. I'm driving from Walmart to Target, Ashley HomeStore. I’m going between Pineville and SouthPark, to every—I call them retail parks, you call them shopping centers. I’ve filled the car three times.”
In the meantime, he’s learned what a dually truck is — one with two wheels on each side of the rear axle — and that he wants one. He figured out that you’d best not say “hello” in an English accent around here if you don’t want to get stuck in a full conversation. And that even what we call Tylenol, or he calls Paracetamol, is bigger in the U.S. Ream explained that one to him.
“[He told me] you have to break them in half,” Toffolo said. “‘You’ll get used to that in America.’”
From the sounds of it, he’s game.
“I just love the American culture,” Toffolo said. “I’m excited. I can’t wait for my kids to see it, everything is so big, even their first McDonald’s.”
Toffolo said his kids were pretty easy to sway about making the move. His 7-year-old son’s reaction was a prime example.
“He just starts jumping around, going ‘Yes! I get a swimming pool,’” Toffolo said. “I’m like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa.’ … I showed him Carowinds. He thinks we get an annual pass. We’re going after school every day now.”
His oldest, who turned 9 this week, is a big fan of all sports and excited to see everything from the Panthers to the Charlotte Checkers. For his 4-year-old daughter, Toffolo secured a new princess bed for her room, which Toffolo joked was the most expensive bed on the website.
If Toffolo sounds like a regular guy, just wait. He’s learned to speak openly and authentically about mental health, having lived through struggles with anxiety and a gambling problem early in his career. In September of 2023, while he was playing for Nottingham Forest, the Football Association issued a report indicating that Toffolo had made nearly 400 sports bets, including 40 involving his own team. The bets were made between the ages of 17 and 21. He was ultimately fined and given a suspended ban, never missing any playing time, after he was credited for his candor and remorse.
“It was brutal,” said Toffolo, who also addressed the issue during a candid interview with Britain’s Sky Sports [above]. “I always look back now, my son remembers it because he says, ‘I saw my dad cry,’ and it was awful. But Nottingham Forest were fantastic, the support they gave me. I weathered that crazy part of my life, having to open a box of someone you were six to nine years before, which is crazy. But I’ve got respect for the FA because they’re doing their job. They listened to my story, they listened to all my mitigating factors, and they took that into account, and they, for me, gave the right outcome.”
Toffolo was already known, by then, for his work in the community advocating for those struggling with mental health issues. It’s something he plans to continue in Charlotte. Toffolo said Monday he’s particularly interested in those with anxiety and depression, Alzheimer’s and dementia, and members of the military, who struggle with mental health issues.
“These are people I sit and have a coffee with,” he said. “People say, ‘Oh, you've been reactive to the betting thing.’ But this is something I’ve been doing my whole career. For 13 years, I’ve been talking about stuff like this.”
Charlotte FC adds Australian striker Archie Goodwin
Archie Goodwin, 20, was tied for the lead in Australian’s top league last season with 13 goals. (Photo from Charlotte FC’s X account.)
Charlotte added the striker it’s needed since Patrick Agyemang went packing for Derby County, and the club has gone Down Under to do it. Charlotte FC signed 20-year-old Australian Archie Goodwin, who scored 13 goals in 26 games in Australia’s top tier of professional soccer. His three-year deal was announced this week.
As diehard Charlotte FC fans might recall, Goodwin is not actually the first 20-year-old Australian who played for Adelaide United signed by Charlotte FC. But he’ll be the first one to actually play, pending the receipt of his visa.
An Australian midfielder named Riley McGree was the second player Charlotte ever signed, after Spaniard Sergio Ruiz, in October of 2020. Charlotte loaned McGree out to Birmingham City of the English Championship, while awaiting the start of its MLS schedule, which was delayed a year by the pandemic. Just as Charlotte was poised to debut in 2022, McGree notified the club he wasn’t keen on coming back. GM Zoran Krneta worked out a transfer to Middlesbrough in January of that year, a month before Charlotte’s inaugural game, and netted a $4 million transfer fee along the way.
As for Goodwin?
“I liked the runs he makes,” Smith said. “I like the fact that he gets inside the penalty box and gets on the end of passes, of crosses. He can score all kinds of goals, right foot, left foot, headers, and he’s got a hunger for that. He looks really coachable as well. He makes really good runs.”
Charlotte FC adding goalkeeper from Miami
Give Me Sport’s Tom Bogert reported, and a source familiar with the situation confirmed, that Charlotte FC is on the verge of acquiring goalkeeper Drake Callender from Inter Miami.
Callender, 27, was Miami’s starting goalkeeper during its Supporters Shield-winning 2024 season and for the 2023 Leagues Cup title. He has missed all but three starts this season after undergoing surgery for a sports hernia in April. He was replaced in goal by Argentine Oscar Ustari, characterized by the Miami Herald as a friend of Lionel Messi’s. Callender has played a club record 118 games for Miami.
What exactly that means for Charlotte FC’s goalkeeping group is yet to be seen. Kristijan Kahlina is the defending MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. He has had an inconsistent season but is coming off arguably his best performance of the year in Cincinnati. Backup goalkeepers David Bingham and George Marks have their contracts expiring at the end of the season.
“We want depth within the squad,” Smith said when asked about the addition of another goalkeeper Thursday. “If that's a goalkeeper, right back, left back, center back, we’re looking to make the squad better all the time and improve all the time with each [transfer] window that we go through.”
Up Next: Charlotte FC (13-11-2) vs. Real Salt Lake (9-12-4)
When/Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte
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 plays five of its final eight games of the MLS regular season at Bank of America Stadium where it has gone 9-2-1 this season.
Charlotte is coming off a 1-0 upset win in Cincinnati, despite being without Pep Biel (hamstring) and Westwood (yellow card accumulation), thanks in part to a Cincinnati red card. Wilfried Zaha scored the lone goal to extend his streak of games with a goal contribution to nine.
If Zaha picks up a goal or an assist Saturday, he would become only the second player in MLS history to record a goal contribution in 10 or more consecutive games in his first MLS season, joining Ronald Cerritos, who notched a contribution in 11 consecutive matches for the San Jose Clash in 1997.
Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna, who has made a splash this summer with the U.S. Men’s National team, is suspended for this game after picking up a controversial second yellow card in a 2-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls.
Fullback Bill Tuiloma and forward Tyger Smalls are both out with hamstring injuries.
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!
—
Need to sign up for this e-newsletter? We offer a free version, as well as paid memberships for full access to all 6 of our local newsletters:
The Charlotte Ledger is a locally owned media company that delivers smart and essential news. We strive for fairness and accuracy and will correct all known errors. The content reflects the independent editorial judgment of The Charlotte Ledger. Any advertising, paid marketing or sponsored content will be clearly labeled.
◼️ About The Ledger • Our Team • Website
◼️ Newsletters • Podcast • Newcomer Guide • A Better You email series
◼️ Subscribe • Sponsor • Events Board • Merch Store • Manage Your Account
◼️ Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, LinkedIn
Great writing Carroll!