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LEHIGH VALLEY WEATHER

Steel FC signs first batch of players

Bethlehem Steel FC have signed four-players to their roster this month, as midfielder Derrick Jones became the club’s first-ever player signing.

The club then added Boluwatife Akinyode, Michael Daly and Gabe Gissie to their inaugural season roster. Jones, 18, becomes the first player in Bethlehem Steel FC history and currently lives in the City of Philadelphia with his family.

He’s a dual-national from Ghana and spent the past three seasons with the Union’s academy. He’s played in 26 games with 21 starts for the Union U-18s, scoring eight goals while helping lead the team to the United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) playoffs, where they finished second in group play. He’s scored three goals in eight games for the U-18s so far in 2015-16.

Daly and Gissie join Bethlehem Steel FC after two years with Sacramento Republic FC. Members of the original Sacramento squad, Daly and Gissie helped lead the team to the 2014 United Soccer League (USL) title.

The 28-year-old defender Daly has played the most minutes in club history and is one of three players to have played more than 2,000 USL minutes in back-to-back seasons for Republic FC.

Gissie, 19, appeared in 33 games for Republic FC as a forward during his two seasons with the club. On May 23, Gissie became the youngest player in Republic FC history to record a goal in a USL match with a match-winning goal against Oklahoma City Energy FC at 18 years, 209 days old.

Akinyode, 21, joins Bethlehem Steel FC from New York Red Bulls II, where he helped the team reach the playoffs in 2015. Akinyode appeared in 21 matches last season, starting 10 of them.

Press photo by Tim GilmanBethlehem Steel FC held tryouts and recently announced their first signings.