Louisville City Football Club held its first training Friday night at Spalding University’s new stadium in downtown Louisville. Head coach and Sporting Director John Hackworth spoke with www.loucity.com after the training.
“It’s always great to be back on the field and get back to work,” Hackworth said. “For all of us, while the off-season is nice to recuperate and recover, we start to get a little antsy. Being back on the field with the boys and our staff felt really good.”
Hackworth and Louisville City were able to bring back 17 players from the 2019 roster including 13 of the 14 players who saw action in the 2019 USL Championship Final.
“We want to build on all the things we did last year,” Hackworth said. “Because we have a lot of the same guys returning, we are looking to make sure that we are fit and trying to make sure we get our ideas established about how we want to play. Really in this first week, we are trying to have a review and at the same time work on some of the details we have to improve on.”
Having 17 returning players – including the recently signed Ben Lundt – Louisville City’s technical staff has an advantage when it comes to these early training sessions. Hackworth and Co. also added former MLS players Corben Bone and Jimmy Ockford to the roster, Bone from FC Cincinnati and Ockford from Nashville. The club also had several trialists practicing with the team Friday.
“Without giving away secrets of who is on trial, there are three new players out here and everyone else has been in this locker room, been on this team and understands what our standards are,” Hackworth said. “These players understand our culture and that makes our jobs that much easier. I have said it before that these guys are fun to work with because they are very driven.”
Louisville City will take the field twice on Saturday in its first day of double sessions for the 2020 season.
“For sure when you are doing double days there is a lot of work in terms of volume, and guys are going . to have to make sure they are taking care of themselves off the field in terms of regen- and recovering,” Hackworth said. “Training comes at you hard and fast this time of year.”
Louisville City will open its season on March 7 vs. North Carolina FC. The club will open its home schedule on April 11 at Lynn Family Stadium vs. Birmingham Legion FC. Season tickets are now available by calling 502-LOU-CITY or by clicking here for the Lynn Family Stadium Virtual Tour.
