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Union sign McLaughlin to Homegrown deal

Photo: Earl Gardner

The Philadelphia Union announced on Monday the signing of 18-year-old Jimmy McLaughlin to a Homegrown Player contract.

McLaughlin, a graduate of Great Valley High in Malvern, played club soccer for FC Delco before playing this fall as a freshman at Colgate. In his college debut, the 5′ 8″ midfielder scored the game winning goal against Syracuse and went on to start all 22 games of the 2011 season. He finished the season as the Patriot League Rookie of the Year.

Per club and league policy, the terms of the deal were not announced. However, in a report breaking news of the signing before the official announcement from the club, Philadelphia Daily News reporter Kerith Gabriel noted, “considering [the signing] puts McLaughlin out of the running for January’s SuperDraft and already has met the criteria for league approval, it can be assumed that McLaughlin won’t be joining the squad at league minimum.” Philadelphia’s first Homegrown signing, Zach Pfeffer, earned $65,000 in guaranteed compensation in 2011 following his signing with the Union on Dec. 22, 2010.

McLaughlin made is debut with the Union academy squad in the U-17 SUM Cup in 2010, registering an assist.

McLaughlin also featured in the friendly agaisnt Reading United in May, 2011. In July, he saw minutes in the friendly agaisnt Everton at PPL Park and against Real Madrid at the Linc. He also played in three reserve league matches in 2011.

The announcement followed the end of Monday’s second stage of the Re-Entry Draft. The Union passed on making any picks in the draft. Stefani Miglioranzi and Chase Harrison, recently made available for the draft by the Union, were not selected.

7 Comments

  1. I never realized Pfeffer made more than Sheanon, which is ridiculous considering their actual value to the club. Hope Williams gets a raise…

  2. Good signing. Not only does it further cement the quality of our youth system so far, probably already one of the best in the league, but he looked good in our friendlies as well.

  3. GO ‘GATE!!!

  4. This is an absolute great signing. Love the kid, he has a bright future! The only thing I would say is the Union are loaded in the midfield, and are still in need of a left back. Wasn’t there a Union Academy player that played left back in some reserve games? I think his name was Campbell and from the games I saw him play, he was a solid defender with LOTS of speed. All we have right now is Gabe Farfan, then we have no left back, why not sign the kid? Regardless, CONGRATS JIMMY!

  5. For purely humor purposes, do you guys ever look at the comments posted on the Union Facebook page?

    I swear to God some of those people are so stupid they shouldn’t be allowed to post opinions on the internet.

    For example, we sign an academy guy who is 18 years old and has looked good in friendlies against high level European teams, the VERY first comment is:

    “Nice! Another midfielder n no left back”

    Please, do us all a favor and STFU.

  6. Malvern Proud!!

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