— With the Carolina RailHawks’ first week of preseason training camp now in full swing, on Thursday the club announced signing a trio of veteran players — Mamadou “Futty” Danso, Austin da Luz and Chris Nurse — for their 2015 season.

Danso played the past four years in Major League Soccer, most of them as a center back for the Portland Timbers, for which he started 56 games from 2011 through mid-2014 after spending the two preceding seasons with the Timbers’ USL-1 club. Danso was traded to the Montreal Impact in June 2014.

Coming to the RailHawks is a return of sorts for Danso. The 31-year-old defender was a member of the RailHawks U23 squad that notched a surprise win over English pro side Burnley FC in a 2008 friendly in Cary. Danso originally immigrated to North Carolina from his native Gambia to play soccer for North Carolina Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount.

Da Luz returns to Carolina after spending most of last year with Orlando City SC. The 27-year-old midfielder played two seasons for the RailHawks in 2012 and 2013, when he was a regular starter and eventually named team captain. Da Luz played college soccer at Wake Forest University and spent two seasons in MLS with the New York Red Bulls and DC United.

Nurse is an English-born Guyanese international player also returning for his second stint with the RailHawks, the first being 2011-12. This year will be Nurse’s seventh consecutive season playing second division soccer in North America after spending eight years with various English clubs. Nurse was a member of the 2010 Puerto Rico Islanders team, then managed by current RailHawks’ manager Colin Clarke, that ousted the LA Galaxy from the CONCACAF Champions League and won the USSF D2 Pro League Championship over the RailHawks.

Nurse was voted FC Edmonton MVP by his teammates in 2013. As a member of the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Nurse was nominated for the 2014 NASL Humanitarian of the Year Award for his work with the breast cancer associations in South Florida.

The 30-year-old Nurse is currently competing with the Guyana national team and isn’t expected to arrive at RailHawks camp until late March.

The RailHawks kick off their preseason schedule at WakeMed Soccer Park this Sunday, March 8 at 3 p.m. when they face Korean side Seoul E-Land FC. Seoul E-Land is coached by former RailHawks’ manager Martin Rennie.