Nearly one year ago, I wrote a letter introducing soccer coverage by The Athletic. We launched with one staff writer, two editors and some 50 freelance contributors all working to make the app a daily must-read for soccer fans. We welcomed a third editor in the fall and last week we added a second staff writer, Meg Linehan, who is covering the U.S. women’s national team and NWSL.

Today we are announcing the addition of five more staff writers. It seems hard to believe, but I’m pretty sure this makes us the largest employer of full-time soccer journalists ever to cover the game here in the U.S. and Canada. That’s a neat footnote, but what really matters is the quality of our coverage, and I hope that after I introduce the new members of our team, you’ll agree that things look bright in that department, too.

When Felipe Cardenas began writing for us last June, he immediately became a go-to source for Atlanta United fans. Even more impressive than his ability to break down the nuances in Atlanta’s playing style is the way he connects with the players, getting the kinds of insights I rarely see in player interviews whether he’s conducting them in Spanish or English, and this is something that will strengthen our coverage league-wide.

You might not have realized that Pablo Maurer was breaking D.C. United news (and telling some very unique stories beyond the beltway) while also working his day job as an auto mechanic on fancy cars. Now that he’s joining us full-time, he’ll be able to pursue many more of the ideas he brings us every week.

Matt Pentz’s many years covering MLS from Seattle gives him a deep historical perspective on one of the league’s most vibrant cities (and enabled him to write the book on the Sounders). However, the first time I worked with him, it was for a magazine feature, and I’m excited to bring his storytelling ability to pieces that range beyond Seattle.

It has been so much fun to watch Jeff Rueter take ownership of the Minnesota United beat, develop sources, carve out a niche covering the USL and still find time to do stories as fun as this one. I’m excited to see what he can do with an expanded scope and on a full-time basis.

Sam Stejskal will join us next week from MLSsoccer.com, where he has been one of Paul Tenorio’s main breaking-news competitors throughout the league. He’ll now be working with our team to keep readers abreast of the latest developments across MLS and of course he’ll also be doing more of the feature and opinion writing that represents the best of what the rest of our team has regularly published since launching.

These are the five writers—four of whom have been working with us as freelancers for some time—who are joining me, Meg, Paul, Alexander Abnos and Brooks Peck on The Athletic’s soccer staff as well as the dozens of freelance contributors who cover everything from the Premier League to the art of goalkeeping.

As the managing editor of this group, I view these developments in a couple of ways. The editor in me knows this will mean more and better stories for our subscribers. On the manager side, I am so happy to be able to help more reporters land good, full-time jobs.

The task now is to show how these changes will improve the coverage you support. Paul has carried a lot of weight in our first year, delivering pieces of interest to readers in Columbus, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Seattle, Toronto, Portland, D.C., Atlanta, Orlando, New York, Miami and lots of other places. He breaks news and writes profiles and features and columns. Basically, he does whatever it takes to get story after can’t-miss story. That’s what good reporters do, and we now have a whole team of writers who will replicate, in their own ways, the quality and breadth of coverage that Paul has provided for subscribers since last May.

I signed on to help launch The Athletic’s soccer coverage because the co-founders sold me on an ambitious vision for the future of sports journalism. (Alex and Brooks are with me behind the scenes and, though we hope you can’t tell, their prints are all over our stories.) I’m proud of the work we’ve published so far, features like our piece on Mike Piazza’s doomed ownership of a lower-division Italian club; breaking news on some of the biggest stories in North American soccer; deep analyses on the big questions MLS faces as the league continues to chart its course. The investment we are announcing today will allow us to take another decisive step into that future for soccer coverage in the U.S. and Canada.

Thanks to all of you who already support our work. For everyone else, we hope you’ll join us. You can follow this link to get 40 percent off your first year.

And with that, I’m off to the expanded soccer team’s first staff meeting.

(Photo by Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports)