Charlotte FC action doesn’t stop when the season does

CHARLOTTE FC

Charlotte FC exercised its option on forward Tyger Smalls (above) as well as goalkeeper Drake Callendar and midfielder Djibril Diani.

The season may be over, but soccer never stops.

Charlotte FC announced a variety of news over the past week, including a contract extension for general manager Zoran Krneta and end-of-season roster decisions. The club’s first major signing, Christian Fuchs, has left his assistant coach position to take the reins as top man for a team in the English fourth division.

Who stays, who goes

Charlotte FC exercised options on Drake Callender, Djibril Diani, and Tyger Smalls. The midseason signing of Callender, the former number one goalkeeper for Inter Miami, signaled the end for Kristijan Kahlina’s backup David Bingham, who is eligible for free agency. 

Eryk Williamson is out of contract and a free agent. The eight-year MLS veteran came to Charlotte after seven seasons in Portland, making 24 appearances with four starts.
The options of Bill Tuiloma, Nick Scardina, and Jahlane Forbes were declined.

In three seasons with the Crown, Tuiloma, who joined from the Timbers in 2023, appeared in 29 MLS games with 23 starts and 37 appearances across all competitions. The New Zealand international, who played centerback and right back, scored three goals across all competitions in 2025.

The 24-year-old Scardina, acquired in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft with the 40th overall pick, is more of a surprise as he deputized reasonably well during Charlotte’s epidemic of outside back injuries that kept Nathan Byrne and Souleyman Doumbia off the pitch. In his third season, he started eight matches in 15 MLS appearances. Across all competitions, he made 19 appearances for the first team. His cost was just $104,000 this season.

Forbes was a 2024 MLS SuperDraft pick (38th overall) out of Wake Forest and accumulated 12 first-team minutes, coming off the bench against Monterrey in the Leagues Cup. The defender was on the bench for two MLS matches. Over two seasons, he started 25 of 26 games for the Crown Legacy, with four goals and four assists. 

Tuiloma, 30, and Williamson could be salary cap casualties as they were on the books for $525,000 and $775,000 guaranteed compensation, respectively. Callender over Bingham is a soccer decision as the former made $456,000 this year, compared to $104,000 for Bingham.

Two of the Crown’s top offensive threats, both on loan, will return. One is booked into next summer, while the other is becoming permanent.

Prime time players Wilfried Zaha and Pep Biel both triggered performance-based options. Closing out his second loan from Greek side Olimpiacos, Biel will join Charlotte FC on a permanent transfer. He had 10 goals and 11 assists in 26 games this season but missed key stretches, including the playoffs, due to injury. 

Zaha’s loan has been extended to June 30, 2026, which falls in the middle of the season and will have to be addressed. 

Two loaned players, Adilson Malanda and Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, will return to their clubs. While that’s accurate for Marshall-Rutty, Malanda was a loan who never left. His transfer to Middlesbrough FC in the summer window included a loan back that would keep him in the Queen City through the MLS playoffs. Marshall-Rutty’s loan did not include an option, and he will return to CF Montreal.

Brandon Cambridge and the Crown are in ongoing discussions about his future. Charlotte FC retains an option on the forward for the 2026 season.
The following players are currently under contract for 2026:

Goalkeepers (4): Drake Callender, Nick Holliday, Kristijan Kahlina, Chituru Odunze

Defenders (6): Nathan Byrne, Jack Neeley, Andrew Privett, Tim Ream, Mikah Thomas, Harry Toffolo

Midfielders (7): Pep Biel, Brandt Bronico, Baye Coulibaly, Djibril Diani, Nikola Petkovic, Brian Romero, Ashley Westwood

Forwards (7): Nimfasha Berchimas, Liel Abada, Archie Goodwin, Tyger Smalls, Idan Toklomati, Kerwin Vargas, Wilfried Zaha

Krneta keeps the reins

The club announced on Friday that general manager and chief soccer officer Zoran Krneta, the man responsible for roster and coaching staff build decisions, has been signed to a new multi-year contract.

Krneta, who has been with the club since its inception, oversees the Crown's sporting department which has registered three consecutive Audi MLS Cup Playoff appearances.

“We are on an exciting, upward trajectory, and now our aim is to win trophies. That is where our focus is going into the 2026 season and beyond.”

This past season continued an upward climb in league standings, which set multiple single-season records for the club, including points (59), wins (19), home wins (13), and goals scored (55).

After nine matches, CLTFC were top of the table in the MLS East, but a loss of form, exacerbated by 10 of 12 games on the road over May and June, fostered a bad run that dropped them to 10th. The team rebounded with a record-tying nine-game winning streak, from July into September, which vaulted them to fourth place at season’s end.

“Zoran has been an integral part of Charlotte FC’s progression and success since the team was launched,” owner David Tepper said in a statement. “We look forward to having the Club's sporting operations continue under his leadership and vision as the league enters a pivotal period of growth.”

As with any and every professional sports team, coaching and player choices will always be a mixture of success and failure for so many different reasons. 

Christian Fuchs to Newport County

After three seasons as an assistant coach for Charlotte FC, the buck now stops with Christian Fuchs, who named head coach for the Welsh club Newport County AFC in the English Football League Two.

Fuchs arrived in the town about 12 miles northeast of Cardiff just 48 hours ahead of his first game in charge and immediately had to travel to Manchester for a game at Oldham Athletic. The scope of his challenge was presented quickly. Currently mired in last place in EFL Two, Newport lost their first game 3-0.

Charlotte FC’s captain in the club’s inaugural season, Fuchs expressed the same leadership he brought to the Crown. 

“We’ll need to go back to basics before you’ll see me fashion any side in my image,” he said. “But when I look at my players in the dressing room, I know they left it all out there. They have heart, and you can, and I will, build on that.”

The former Austrian national team captain played for 19 years and won a Premier League title with Leicester City in 2015. He concluded his career with 577 total club appearances and 78 caps for Austria, culminating in his final season at Charlotte FC, where he made 27 appearances. He also played 17 games for the Charlotte Independence in 2021.

Local boy does good

Former Ardrey Kell High and Charlotte 49er soccer star Ian Pilcher is a starter at right back for San Diego FC in the MLS playoffs, including Monday night’s 1-0 win over Minnesota United, where he saved one shot off the line to preserve the clean sheet. They move on to the Western Conference final against Vancouver.

Selected 24th overall in the SuperDraft in 2024, the rookie has 14 starts in 24 appearances over all competitions, including all four playoff games.

In the net behind him is former CLTFC keeper Pablo Sisniega, who has been a stalwart since being signed last December. He had been competing for San Antonio FC in the USL Championship after being with Charlotte for the club’s first two seasons. 

NCAA College Cup

Charlotte FC Academy player Rocket Ritarita scored the goal that put Maryland ahead of UNC in a second-round match of the 2025 NCAA Men’s College Cup. The Tarheels would equalize and the game would be decided by penalty kicks (6-5) with the Terrapins advancing.

In other games involving Carolinas teams, (16) Furman beat Western Michigan 1-0, Duke downed (3) Princeton 2-1, (10) High Point beat West Virginia 3-2, (15) North Carolina State blanked Marshall 2-0, and UNC Greensboro upset (2) Virginia on PKs (4-3) after a 2-2 draw.

Third-round matchups include North Carolina State vs. UNC Greensboro, Duke v s.Akron, and Furman vs. Hofstra.    

In the women’s College Cup, (2) Duke beat (3) Kansas 2-0 and advances to a quarterfinal on Nov. 28 against (4) Washington, who upset (1) Virginia on PKs. UNC fell to (2) TCU in the third round on Monday afternoon. 

The 2024 national champions led for 82 minutes until TCU equalized off a corner kick with four seconds remaining. Dominant on the day, outshooting the Horned Frogs 16-4 (9-3 on target), two of the Tar Heels’ most dependable players, Kate Faasse and Olivia Thomas, both missed the frame in the penalty kick tiebreaker and TCU prevailed 4-3.

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