Hartford Athletic Sign Pair of Veterans
Hartford Athletic Sign Pair of Veterans
The last standing member of the Legion's inaugural 2019 roster made more than 100 appearances in black and gold.
Two days following the announcement of new head coach and general manager Brendan Burke, Hartford Athletic have announced the signing of five-year Birmingham Legion midfielder Anderson Asiedu.
The 27-year-old began his professional career in 2019 after being selected in the first round of the Major League Soccer SuperDraft by then-defending MLS Champions Atlanta United. He ultimately never featured for the first team, making 10 appearances on loan at Atlanta United II before being waived by the club in May 2019.
Less than two months later, Asiedu landed in Birmingham ahead of their inaugural campaign, where he would make a name for himself in black and gold across five decorated seasons. The midfielder made 123 appearances across all competitions as the club made five consecutive postseason appearances, scoring three goals and assisting nine on top of 107 chances created. Defensively, he also won 160 tackles, more than 600 duels and 136 interceptions, and was the only remaining player from Birmingham’s inaugural 2019 roster.
In 2023, Asiedu made 26 appearances for the club en route to a seventh-place Eastern Conference finish and subsequent conference semifinal run. He also made five appearances in the Legion’s farthest-ever U.S. Open Cup venture, a quarterfinal run that saw their first win against an MLS side — a 1-0 win over Charlotte FC in front of a record home crowd of more than 12,000.
In his early years, Aisedu was discovered by a high school coach at just 16 years old in his home country of Ghana, before moving to the U.S. to play high school soccer at St. Benedicts Prep in New Jersey. From there, he enjoyed a successful collegiate career with both Monmouth and UCLA, making 71 total appearances and scoring five goals. His concluded his collegiate career with a pair of All-PAC-12 second team nods before entering the MLS SuperDraft in 2019.
Earlier last week, Hartford also bolstered their defense with the signing of Rece Buckmaster, who most recently spent a pair of seasons in his second stint with Memphis 901 FC, making 53 starts in the backline and totaling more than 4,500 minutes from 2022-2023.
Another 2019 MLS SuperDraft pick, the 27-year-old graduated from Indiana University in 2018 before beginning his professional career with the New York Red Bulls. He made seven appearances with the senior squad, while also notching 18 for NYRBII of the USL Championship. He eventually moved to Memphis for his first stint with the club during the 2020 season, before spending a season at Indy Eleven in 2021.
The pair are the seventh and eighth new signings of the young offseason for the Green and Blue. They join midfielder Joe Schmidt, defender Thomas Vancaeyezeele, midfielder Emmanuel Samadia, midfielder Jay Chapman, midfielder Joe Farrell and goalkeeper Renan Ribeiro as the current new additions for Hartford in the offseason. Danny Barrera is the only confirmed returner.