Vashon Neufville Returns To Atletico Ottawa

Canadian Premier League side Atletico Ottawa has secured its first returning international player with Vashon Neufville.

The 21-year-old English left-back cut an impressive figure at The Island Games, with the West Ham youth product putting forth dangerous runs, good passes, and displaying solid defensive acumen before a hamstring aggravation limited his impact on the latter half of the season.

Neufville ultimately made five appearances for Atletico Ottawa at The Island Games, with a whirlwind debut match against York United seeing him collect an assist on the club’s first goal followed by two yellow cards (and thus a red) stemming from individual battles with Joseph Di Chiara.

Vashon has already shown he can be one of the best fullbacks in the Canadian Premier League – he is eager and we are very excited about his performance during the shortened season.

Mista

When Vashon first signed with Atletico Ottawa, he spoke with us about achieving his dream to play abroad and gain international experience following his time with West Ham United and subsequent loan to Newport County.

It was at Newport where Neufville made waves on his debut, winning a penalty in the club’s 2-1 shock win against Premier League side Leicester City in the FA Cup. While ESPN reported that Manchester United and Arsenal were picking him up as his contract with West Ham came to its conclusion, a jump overseas to Canada ultimately came next.

Last season was a very difficult experience for me, there was a lot of unknown surrounding the season and I was thousands of miles away from home for the first time. But, with the help of my teammates and the staff at Atletico Ottawa, this transition was made much easier. That is what makes this such an easy decision for me to continue with the club and carry on progressing. Also, I can’t wait to finally get to meet all our supporters.

Vashon Neufville

He proved to be a dangerous attack-minded full-back on the left flank, connecting will with now-Liga MX midfielder Francisco Acuna. While the Spanish midfielder is no longer with the club, the return of Neufville bodes well for the club’s counter-attacking capabilities.

Most would have expected the first international athlete to publicly re-sign with the club to be Viti Martinez, who is presently listed as on loan at Alaves B in Spain.

Atletico Ottawa began announcing its returning players earlier this month, confirming the return of striker Malcolm Shaw, midfielder Ben McKendry, and defender Brandon John. The club has also seen Maksym Kowal, Ricky Gomes, and the aforementioned Francisco Acuna depart from the side.

It appears that the capital-based club is following a Tuesday and Thursday announcement window, which means two more player signings may come to fruition before the month’s end.

Atletico Ottawa did not release the contract length or financial details of Neufville’s contract.