Toronto FC will add 10 players to its roster on Friday, Nov. 17 at 1 p.m. ET via the 2006 MLS Expansion Draft, the league announced Thursday.
Toronto, which will start play at BMO Field as the league's 13th team in April 2007, may choose no more than one player from each team. Two of the league's 12 current teams will not have a player selected.
Head coach Mo Johnston will know which players are available to him on Nov. 14, when all teams will submit their protected rosters. Johnston will make his selections from the list of unprotected players on Friday, with the results posted on MLSnet.com immediately following the draft.
Teams will be allowed to protect 11 players from their 28-man rosters. Generation adidas players are automatically protected, though players who are graduated from the program to the senior roster at the end of the 2006 season are not. Each team may only leave one senior international player unprotected.
While a player who officially retires prior to Nov. 14 will not be considered part of a club's senior roster and need not be protected, all other non-Generation adidas players who are under contract as of then must either be protected or made available.
The 2006 expansion draft will bring Toronto FC's roster to a total of 11 players, with the 10 selected through the draft joining midfielder Jim Brennan on the Queen City club's books. Brennan became the club's first player on Sept. 8.
With its domestic player rules being based until now on U.S. citizenship, MLS has made special considerations for Toronto FC, most importantly that Canadian citizens or permanent residents will count as domestic players on Toronto's roster.
Also, Toronto may sign up to four senior internationals and will have five youth international slots, two of which will expire after the 2008 season. The club may also sign up to three senior internationals who would count as domestic players on a U.S.-based roster; i.e., a U.S. citizen, green card holder or holder of other special status, such as refugee or asylum status.
Jason Halpin is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
