Hartford Athletic announced two more additions to its roster with midfielders Andrés Hernández and Christos Hadjipaschalis both joining the club for the 2026 season. The announcements come with Hartford’s season opener against Sporting JAX just 30 days away.
Hernández, who was born in Dallas, Texas, has spent most of his professional career in El Salvador, making over a hundred appearances in the Primera División, split between Platense and Alianza. He was part of Alianza squads that won the Clausura in both 2024 and 2025, although he struggled to carve out playing time during both of those years.
Hernández really found his form when he was called on in the playoffs. He finally became a regular starter during the 2025 Apertura – landing among the minutes leaders for the club during that campaign – as Alianza fell at the final hurdle, losing on penalties to Firpo in the playoff final.
While he’s not one to show up much on the scoresheet – he has just three goals in his professional career – the fact that Alianza relied on him so heavily in critical moments suggests he brings the kind of mentality that Brendan Burke’s squad will need as they aim to defend their USL Cup title and make a run in the USL Championship playoffs.
Hadjipaschalis, a native of Nicosia, has spent his entire career to this point in Cyprus, playing in both of the top two tiers with a number of different clubs. Notably, he was among the minutes leaders for Othellos Athienou when they won the Cypriot Second Division in 2022-23, and while he’s also not a goal machine, he is perhaps the more attack-minded of the pair having 20 goal contributions in 87 career professional appearances since the beginning of that season.
There are actually only a few Cypriots who have ever played in the USL Championship. Former Latic Jack Panayotou is a dual national, although he was born in the United States, and London-born Tom Williams made one appearance for the Cyprus national team in 2006 and had a brief spell with Arizona United (as Phoenix Rising were then known) in 2016. Hadjipaschalis might actually be the first Cyprus-born player to take the pitch in the USL Championship when he does so for Hartford this coming season.
Along with fellow newcomer Barry Coffey, Hadjipaschalis and Hernández represent a fairly significant overhaul of Hartford’s midfield. While Coffey is expected to play a much more attacking role, the two more recent signings are more stabilizing pieces, representing the need to not only replace the now-departed Marlon Hairston, but add competition for Junior Moreira and Beverly Makingila.
In 2025, Hartford sometimes struggled to get a hold of the game in the middle of the park, and this overhaul brings together some pieces that aim to change that. While none of the three midfield additions has been tested in the Championship, they have played at similar levels, and Burke will hope they adjust to life in the USL without too much difficulty.
The signings bring the roster to 18 players, with the club yet to publicly announce the expected signing of Uganda striker Sadat Anaku.
