But, this year, FCE has no trialists on hand. And, no plans are in place to bring in any. Everyone at Wednesday’s training session at Commonwealth Fieldhouse knows they will be Eddies this season. They know they’ll be going to Scotland for the team’s March preseason tour.

“We have to adopt a culture of winning in the office to match the culture on the field,” he says. “There is not one culture in the front office and one culture on the field. It should be one culture for the whole club.”

Shome turned down offers from a couple of NCAA programs; instead he chose to play at the University of Alberta, where he could be closely monitored by the FC Edmonton brass.

“I was hesitant at first,” Trafford said over the phone. “I was still fully committed to Ottawa, despite all of the changes that were happening at the team.”

So, for those wondering “who is Jay Ball?” I can offer a little bit of fill-in-the-blanks.

“The NASL, now, for sure is the strongest that it’s ever been, other than the old NASL I played in — the dinosaurs, it seems that long ago,” said Miller after FCE’s session at Commonwealth Fieldhouse. “Certainly there’s been a lot of movement within the league because we’ve got three new franchises. Of course, there will be a lot of announcements that way. But the money that’s being spent now within each club is fantastic.

“Hanson was free to do what he did,” said Miller. “He was terrific for us He’s decided to move on, the club had made a terrific offer for him to stay. He’s gone from us and we wish him well. He’s come through our academy and we’re after our fee and we won’t stop till we get it, simple as that.”

“Down here in Edmonton, I can’t really say much about it!” laughed Corea after the Eddies’ training-camp session Wednesday at Commonwealth Fieldhouse. “I might get my head chopped off by the gaffer and some of the guys here. But I want my team to qualify.”

FC Edmonton will open training camp this Wednesday the Commonwealth Fieldhouse, and on hand will be the team’s newest signing, Senegalese central defender Pape Diakite.

“This was a bittersweet situation for Mason as he really enjoyed his time in Ottawa, especially developing relationships with the Fury fans and local community, but Miami FC aggressively pursued Mason and created a package that justified Mason’s market value as one of the best defenders in NASL. Having represented Mason from his first professional contract to the present, it is a great testament for him to have Italian legend Alessandro Nesta seek him out to be a leader on defence."