Platt: New Cavalry Forward To Bring Championship Experience

Just about one month after Cavalry FC was forced to move on from Matias Roskopf due to visa difficulties, it appears that the Alberta-based side is near-ready to unveil its next attacking acquisition.

The Canadian Premier League side already brought in the surprise addition of former Forge FC striker Anthony Novak last month, though head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. previously teased that multiple strikers were set to be signed by the club.

According to OneSoccer analyst Oliver Platt, the side’s newest forward has spent the majority of his career in the English Championship, which is a tantalizing prospect for fans of the burgeoning domestic league.

Online discourse has painted Caolan Lavery as a high probability target, with the Canadian-Northern Irish forward ticking a lot of boxes: he’s from Alberta, spent time in the Championship, has liked Cavalry FC posts on social media, and in theory could occupy an international slot. However, most of his career has been spent in between League One and League two rather than the Championship itself.

His signing would raise a big question on whether it’s possible for clubs to assign an international roster spot to someone who holds Canadian citizenship. New league rules are pushing for clubs to have a minimum of four international signings vetted by Twenty First Group, though this roster rule has now led several clubs into turbulent water in terms of ensuring these overseas acquisitions can even enter the country during the pandemic.

For what it’s worth, it appears dual national Ahinga Selemani is listed as an international on the CPL Roster Tracker, though he holds dual citizenship between Canada and the United States of America.

If Cavalry’s new signing is ended Lavery, the CPL side is getting a proven talent with over 200 professional appearances to his name. The Red Deer, Alberta-born forward has made 37 appearances in the Championship (six goals), 49 in League One (nine goals), and 116 in League Two (22 goals).

That means about one fifth of his career appearances took place in the English second tier, with the forward having signed for Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United, and Walsall FC with several England-based loan stints in between. He has also appeared for both Canada and Northern Ireland at youth levels.

While it remains to be seen if Lavery is indeed the new signing, his strong links to Alberta would make him far from the first athlete to seek a move to the Canadian Premier League in order to be closer to family.

With the only hints offered being that Tommy Wheeldon Jr.’s new signing can fill an international slot after having spent most of their career in the Championship, however, the list of possibilities are high.

Fan speculation regarding the identity of the new arrival also prompted former Canadian international Iain Hume to clarify that his career has now taken a different pathway following two years without any contract offers. While he had an offer from a CPL club in 2019 and was interested in playing in Canada before hanging up his boots, it appears the popular midfielder has taken his first steps into punditry as a guest on OneSoccer, though he holds coaching licenses as well.

Cavalry FC has announced 19 players so far ahead of the 2021 Canadian Premier League season, most recently re-signing Brazilian attacking midfielder Oliver Minatel following his recovery from a long-term injury suffered at The Island Games. The Alberta-based side began preseason camp about a month ago, though it lost Elijah Adekugbe to an Achilles injury shortly afterwards.

For now, the club has remained quiet on the inbound transfer speculated on by Oliver Platt.