York United’s Angus McNab on int’l players, changes to York Lions Stadium for 2021
The following story by Benedict Rhodes a CANPL.ca Contributor is from May 19, 2021 and can be found at https://canpl.ca/article/york-uniteds-angus-mcnab-on-intl-players-changes-to-york-lions-stadium-for-2021.
There are a lot of moving parts around York United, ahead of the 2021 CPL season.
Planning ways to return to training, finalizing their roster, and upgrading their stadium are all happening simultaneously, while the 2021 campaign is rapidly approaching.
CanPL.ca caught up with Angus McNab, York United’s President, CEO and General Manager to discuss all that and more.
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Loaned out players, and roster moves before the season
York United has been active this offseason, bringing in some high-profile free agents from around the league and abroad. They’ve also loaned out several players, to get them playing time during a long offseason.
“We’re trying to look at the fact that our guys have been inactive, and remain inactive because of some of the challenges we’ve faced with the pandemic and immigration, and the return to training in the province of Ontario,” McNab told CanPL.ca. “We look at each player individually, look at the situation we are facing, and come up with the best development plan for them.”
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Currently out on loan are Mateo Hernández and Lisandro Cabrera (both at Atlético Pantoja in the Dominican first tier), Michael Petrasso (Barnet, English fifth tier), Dominick Zator (Vasalunds IF, Swedish second tier), and Nicholas Hamilton (Dundee, Scottish second tier).
York may not be done making roster moves yet.
“I think there will be a couple,” McNab said. “We’ve got the ability for guys to remain out on loan and rejig our squad a bit. We may see a little bit more activity.”
Rivero & Ulbricht are in Canada, status of other int’ls pending
Two of York’s international players – Álvaro Rivero and Julian Ulbricht – are currently in Canada, and the club is hoping to hear positive news “in the next 7-10 days or so” about one of their other five internationals being able to enter Canada ahead of the new season.
“We play a bit of a waiting game,” McNab said of his five internationals outside the country. “It’s frustrating because we had all of our international business wrapped up by the end of November. Obviously, it’s a global pandemic, we’re not different or more important than any other business within Canada, so we wait our turn.
“When they are able to come to Toronto, I’m confident in the character of the guys that we’ve signed,” he added. “I love chatting to them and just hearing the determination, and what they want to do when they get here. The desire to get here lets us know we recruited the right guys in the first place.”
For the rest of the story by Benedict Rhodes please go to: https://canpl.ca/article/york-uniteds-angus-mcnab-on-intl-players-changes-to-york-lions-stadium-for-2021.