CALIFORNIA NATIVE LEAVING HOME STATE FOR FRESH START IN MUSIC CITY
NASHVILLE – The growth that Major League Soccer has experienced in the last decade is unprecedented.
Expansion teams hop on board left and right, creating a need for personnel turnover each year. Some players move from roster to roster, which is a necessary and an expected part of playing a professional sport.
However, Nashville SC’s newest signing Dave Romney has achieved a feat that few can claim: he has played every single season, as both an amateur and as a professional, in his home state of California. Come 2020, he’ll be digging up his roots for the first time and will make the move 2,000 miles away from Los Angeles to one of the country’s fastest growing cities.
“I’m really excited. I’m definitely really excited,” Romney told NashvilleSC.com. “I’ve always looked at expansion teams, and I’ve almost gone in a couple of expansion drafts already, so I’ve definitely had to think about it, and it’s something I’ve always been interested in and intrigued about. It’s pretty sweet to finally get to be involved with one in such an awesome city that everyone just raves about. I actually haven’t ever been out there. I’ve had tons of really close friends and people that I know who have been to Nashville. They all love it.”
Romney was born in Irvine, Calif. and played club soccer with the Irvine Strikers from eight to 18 years old. In 2011, he took his talents to the University of San Francisco and played collegiately for the Dons until 2014. Following a brief stint with amateur club San Francisco City FC in 2015, he began his professional career and soon became the club’s first LA Galaxy II player to sign an MLS contract when he was signed by LA Galaxy on Aug. 5, 2015.
“Expectations will definitely be a little different in year one. I definitely want to win a trophy here,” he continued. “This is only the fourth team I’ve ever played on. I’ve not been someone to move around. I had the same club team for 10 or 11 years, then I had my college team and then the Galaxy for the last five. I want to bring Nashville into MLS as seamlessly as possible. You’ve seen a lot of expansion sides be really, really competitive. It’s definitely possible for us to be competitive early on.”
While he hasn’t played on many teams, the six-foot-two defender has played in plenty of games. Romney plans on providing some MLS experience to Music City as he joins an expansion team with a wide range of experience levels and ages on the roster.
“I lead by example,” he explained. “I’m not one of the loudest guys in the locker room, but I always have a level head. So whether it’s talking at halftime or in practice or in games to guys around me, organizing everything, and also bringing some veteran leadership. I’ll bring a calming presence to the team as well.”
Be in the stands as Romney and Nashville SC take the field for the club’s 2020 inaugural MLS season by becoming a season ticket member today. Click here for more information.
