Goodbye, FC Edmonton: Lance Laing confirms he won’t return to the club

Lance Laing

Lance Laing says he has yet to decide where he will play next season, but it won’t be in Edmonton.

The Jamaican left winger confirmed that he is looking at various offers from MLS, NASL and USL clubs, but confirmed he has made the difficult decision to move on.

“Looking into offers; I have quite a few, from MLS, NASL to USL,” Laing said in a message to The 11. “Signing one of these deals is imminent.”

Laing said “I appreciate the love of the fans here [in Edmonton], our supporters group is the best I ever had… I have been a pro for eight years now and I never had a better support than FC Edmonton Supporters Group. I spent three years in Alberta and, apart from my teammates and coaching staff, they are the best memories I’m leaving with. I enjoyed every moment of them cheering us on winning or losing, raining or snowing, they were always there and I’m glad to have met such great fans. They will stay with me forever; you guys have no idea how hard this was to leave. Wherever I’m at, I will be singing in my heart with you, we love you, we love you, we love you, anywhere you go we’ll follow cause we support the Eddies the Eddies and that’s way we like oh oh oh ohhhh ha ha ha. Love it! Thank you to the FC Edmonton Supporters Group and all the fans of FC Edmonton. All the best!”

Laing scored eight times and added seven assists in just 20 NASL games this season. The Eddies won just one of the 10 games that Laing missed because of Jamaican international duty. He was part of the Jamaican national squad for both the Copa America and Gold Cup. He is widely regarded as the best left-sided player in NASL.

Laing said he is sad to leave the city.

Laing’s career went into full Renaissance mode in the final game of the 2014 spring season. FCE coach Colin Miller made the decision to move him from left back to left wing, and the player responded by becoming one of the most feared crossers of the ball and free-kick takers in NASL. His form led to his recall to the Jamaican national team; and, ironically, those 10 missed games were likely the major reasons why FCE missed the playoffs in 2015.

UPDATE: FC Edmonton issued a statement Tuesday afternoon, after Laing made his stance public.

““We would like to thank Lance for his time with the club,” Miller stated in the release. “He developed a great reputation within the league for being a bit of a free kick specialist. We made Lance the strongest offer we’ve ever made to a player at our club to stay and unfortunately it wasn’t enough for him, his agent and his family to accept.

“Lance went from being an ordinary club player at one point in his career and now through his time at FC Edmonton and his development at FC Edmonton he is now considered a regular Jamaican international. It speaks volumes for his development as a player and as a person at FC Edmonton. He’s now looking elsewhere and we wish him luck other than when he plays against us.”