The Halifax Wanderers Football Club can today confirm the following roster updates ahead of the 2022 Canadian Premier League season.
Jamaican international Alex Marshall has agreed to a contract extension to remain with the club for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Marshall was recently selected for Jamaica’s upcoming friendly against Peru ahead of their World Cup Qualifiers in late January. Having joined the club for the 2020 season, Marshall made 23 appearances with 2 goals for the Wanderers in the 2021 season, while working his way back from knee surgery last October.
Additionally, the Wanderers are pleased to announce that the club has activated contract options for defenders Jake Ruby and Eriks Santos, midfielders Pierre Lamothe and Marcello Polisi and forwards Cory Bent and Samuel Salter.
After joining the club through the CPL-U SPORTS draft in 2020, Ruby was one of the club’s stand out young performers in 2021 and tallied the most minutes (1419) of any Wanderers U21 player before sustaining a season-ending hip injury in late September.
Brazilian, Eriks Santos, belatedly joined the club this past season after being unable to enter Canada in 2020 due to border restrictions at the start of the pandemic. In 20 appearances during the 2021 season, Santos played at both Left Centre Back and Left Back offering Head Coach Stephen Hart versatility in key positions.
Defensive midfielder Marcello Polisi joined the club shortly before The Kickoff in Winnipeg, immediately adding his renowned grit to the middle of the pitch. His season was also curtailed by a hernia injury which is being addressed during the off-season with the support of the Wanderers medical team.
Attacking midfielder Pierre Lamothe enjoyed a strong first professional season after ending his university career at Universite de Montréal, scoring a memorable winner against Valour in late July.
Winger Cory Bent returns to the Wanderers lineup for his third season having initially been selected first overall in the 2020 CPL-U SPORTS draft after a distinguished career at Cape Breton University. His Canadian Championship goal, a 30 yard rocket against CF Montréal (Major League Soccer) at Wanderers Grounds, was one of the highlights of the 2021 season. Negotiations are underway to extend Cory’s commitment to the club beyond the 2022 season.
Forward Samuel Salter earns his contract extension after a promising start to his playing career at Wanderers including 3 goals in his debut season. Salter’s 934 minutes accounted for almost 20% of the 5062 first-team minutes completed by U21 Wanderers players in the 2021 season, combined with Jake Ruby (1419), Kieran Baskett (1149), Kareem Sow (967) and Scott Firth (593).
At the end of the 2021 season, Wanderers confirmed contract options were declined for Alejandro Portal, Morey Doner, Scott Firth, Alessandro Riggi, Mamadi Camara and Stefan Karajovanovic while Jems Geffrard’s contract had expired. Since that time, midfielder Omar Kreim requested a mutual termination to pursue career opportunities outside of football. The club would like to place on record our sincere appreciation for the contribution of all the departing players and wish them all the best for the future.
The contract confirmations now bring the tally of retained Wanderers players to 15 including Goalkeepers Kieran Baskett and Christian Oxner; Full Back Jake Ruby, Centre Backs Peter Schaale, Eriks Santos and Mateo Restrepo; Midfielders Andre Rampersad, Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé, Pierre Lamothe and Marcello Polisi as well as Forwards Akeem Garcia, Cory Bent, Alex Marshall, Samuel Salter and João Morelli who recently also agreed to a contract extension through to the 2023 season. A full list of contract durations is shared below.
The club will provide an update on our new player and coach additions for the 2022 season every Wednesday throughout the months of January and February as part of our popular ‘Wanderers Wednesday’ series.