Before you know it the 2014 Harrisburg City Islanders pre-season will be in full swing. Once it gets started we always have a solid list of previous players who will be back again, new guys who have been brought in, and hopefuls that may just catch on with the team and earn a contract.

The City Islanders lined up for the natioanl anthem during 2013: photo by Derek Meluzio

The front office staff at the City Islanders have really been busy this offseason and one of the things they have been doing a great job of is communicating with the fans about which players will be returning. Lets take a look at the list of players who are under contract and will be suiting up on the island along with some guys who have moved on and signed elsewhere. I also added a bit of a "Where are they now?" for former players around the leagues.

Returning players back for 2014:

There is a long list of players that the City Islanders have confirmed will be back either through tweets, facebook, or press releases. According to my records that list includes but may not be limited to Coady Andrews, Matt Bahner, Brian Sylvestre, Colin Zizzi, Andrew Welker, Jason Pelletier, Morgan Langley, Jamiel Hardware, Stephen Basso, Garret Pettis, and Damani Richards. I also believe the team is hoping to have keeper Nick Noble return and hopefully we will know more details soon.

Some of these guys are key players from last year's squad (Pelletier, Langley, Basso) some are guys that had limited roles in 2013 but hope to make a bigger impact in 2014 (Sylvestre, Hardware), and some are guys who were out with injury but are back and ready to go (Welker, Pettis).

Harrisburg always does a great job of locking up their core group of key players heading into training camp. This year is no different. There are a bunch of major franchise players like Basso, Pelletier, Langley, and Welker who represent a great foundation.

Having Sylvestre signed gives us the knowledge that we have a capable keeper in the mix no matter what and knowing that Noble may come back firms up the fact that we could once again be a powerhouse in goal.

Players who have signed elsewhere:

The positions that always seem to get finalized late in pre-season are starting keepers and goal scoring forwards. Again, with Brian and Nick in the fold we should be fine in the back but as for who will score the goals... that is the biggest question. Sainey Touray has signed with the Scorpions of the NASL and Lucky Mkosana will be with the Tampa Bay Rowdies for 2014. That is a lot of offense from last season that will be missing.

We will need to find a guy that is a target man up front and/or a guy who is a finisher to replace Touray and Mkosana. Add to that the fact that Yann Ekra has not been confirmed to return and we have an area of concern. Speaking of Yann, many fans know he was training with Philadelphia for quite a while but he also spent time training with the Montreal Impact. That being said, Coach Becher always has an uncanny way of finding guys who can score plus we may have players on loan from Philly that could fill the voids also. I would say it is not time to panic (still early in the pre-season) but it is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Earlier we looked at a keeper who will be back, a keeper who might be back, now it is time to talk about a keeper who won't be back. Actually, he won't be back initially but might end up back in the long run. Confused? Let me try and explain. After spending time training with Philly and even dressing and warming up for them playing against Harrisburg in last year's annual friendly match, former City Islander Brian Holt signed with the Union. That is why I say he won't be back. Now just remember that he might end up being the third string keeper on their depth chart so it might make sense that they would assign him to Harrisburg on loan to give him playing time.

Andrew Ribiero will not be back as he was sold to Chivas USA during the offseason. Andrew played with Harrisburg last season but had also spent time with clubs that had connections to Chivas USA leading to the transaction.

Former players and where they will start 2014:

Bilal Duckett has signed with the Charlotte Eagles.

Andrew Marshall and Jose Angulo will once again return to Pittsburgh for 2014.

Nick Zimmerman and Ty Shipalane are once again listed on the Carolina Railhawks roster for 2014. Ty was a fan favorite on the island and a frequent contributor to the Upper 90 blog and I wish him and Nick all the best.

Tom Heinemann and Nicki Paterson are listed on the NASL's Ottawa Furt FC roster.

Milton Blanco has surfaced on the roster for FC Edmonton.

New player signings:

The only real true new player signing so far is Edinho Junior from Blackburn Rovers FC on a free transfer. Honestly I know very little about him and I have not seen him play but, I hear from some of the members of the staff that he will be a great addition to the team. You can get a bit more info from a Mike Bullock article on Pennlive.com from late January.

Former City Islanders with Philadelphia:

Lastly, do not forget that there are players currently with Philadelphia that either have played with us in the past or may once again join HCI on loan for 2014.

One time City Islander Jack McInerney will certainly not return to Harrisburg (except maybe for the annual friendly) but area fans will enjoy seeing him have a huge impact while playing for the Union. Sheanon Williams is another guy that Harrisburg fans love seeing do so well in MLS.

Aaron Wheeler, Jimmy McLaughlin, Leo Fernandes, Cristhian Hernandez, and Antoine Hoopenot all have experience with Harrisburg and will look to make an impact in Philadelphia.

Players who will not be back in Philly are Don Anding and Greg Jordan. Both players were waived by the Union late in 2013.

Upper 90 City Islanders blog on Twitter:

Just an FYI, Upper 90 now has its own Twitter page.