We hope everyone had a great New Year’s Eve and aren’t nursing too bad of a hang over today. Now that we’re officially into 2016, and more or less half way through the off-season, it’s time for the hype train to slowly get on its way. Before we get too deep into 2016 here’s some news and notes from the last month or so.

Riverhounds affiliate with Columbus Crew

This was talked about quite a bit already so I won’t dive into it further. You can read our initial reaction here.

Player News

The Hounds have been pretty mum regarding the roster since in recent months. The silence has been a little frustrating, especially seeing other teams announcing guys left and right on social media. From what we’ve heard the Hounds have signed guys, but for various reasons they couldn’t start announcing them until after the 1st. That should mean we will start seeing announcements soon. In the mean time thanks to the internet we’ve now know of a couple guys who will be joining the team in 2016.

Mauricio Vargas (GK – FC Wichita) Initially announced on his Facebook page, and now confirmed on FC Wichita’s website, the Hounds have found a keeper to fill the unexpected hole. Vargas is young, big, and quite a bit of international experience. I expect him to be on par with Calle Brown at the end of last season, and probably the starting keeper in 2016.

James Bissue (M – Montreal FC) This signing was stumbled upon looking up information on Vargas. There’s not much information out there on Bissue. Hailing from Ghana, he’s had some success in their domestic league, but in recent years he hasn’t seen much play time. A bit of a wild card but obviously the Hounds see something they like.

See John K’s site for more info on Vargas and Bissue.

Hunter Gilstrap (GK – Carolina Railhawks) Earlier in the fall long time Riverhound Hunter Gilstrap announced he was returning to the Riverhounds organization to be apart of the goalkeeper academy. Word on the street is he’s looking to play as well. He’ll be a good experienced vet to have back in the locker room.

League Notes

If you missed all the hub bub Bethlehem Steel are joining the USL in 2016 as the Philadelphia Union’s B team. They may be another Keystone Cup contender, and another possible road trip for us. Any trips out to Bethlehem will be bright and early though as apparently they don’t have lights at their stadium.

Rumors are the schedule will be out mid January. Every year we hope the schedule comes out sooner, and every year we’re disappointed.

We’ve heard that opening weekend for the league will probably be the last weekend in March again. Mark your calendars for possibly another cold home opener.

Steel Army Stuff

Not a lot going on with us at the moment. We’re kicking around ideas based on your feedback from the end of the year survey and starting to get plans going for 2016. Speaking of planning we have set a date for our annual general meeting (AGM). Circle February 20th on your calendars. Start time and location TBD, however plan for early afternoon. If you’re a new member and don’t know what the AGM is, it’s our pre-season meeting where we all get together and discuss what we want to do this coming season. We’ll also give a recap of last year and go over any issues. All are welcome! You don’t have to be a member to attend, but you do have to be a member to vote on anything. More details coming soon. There’s a Facebook event if you’re into that.

The 2016 membership package is currently in production and will be available for pick up or purchase at the AGM. I have to say I’m a big fan of this year’s scarf, and the early production proofs look awesome. More details on the membership package will be available soon.

Know of a local business that would like to partner with us for 2016? Have them drop us a line. pghsteelarmy(at)gmail(dot)com.

Membership Representative nominations will start mid to late January. These are two yearly positions on the board open to any Steel Army member that’s interested in helping run the group. As with everything else, more information will be posted when the nominations open.

FYI we’ve done some tweaking to the website and it’s much more readable on mobile now.

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Happy New Year’s!

#UNLEASH