Loudoun United announced their end of season roster decisions Wednesday afternoon and while most of the names came as no surprise, there were some notable inclusions for the coming offseason.

Loudoun had a substantial amount of players with contracts that expire at the end of 2025, and they are players who played significant minutes as well; with the departures of Florian Valot, Thomas McCabe, Keegan Tingey, Hugo Fauroux and Yanis Leerman, five of Loudoun’s top eight minutes played leave as well (a sixth, midfielder Drew Skundrich, announced his retirement on Tuesday and earlier Wednesday announced he was joining the technical staff as a health and performance coach). Ben Mines logged 10 assists across all competitions (the first time a Loudoun player has done so) exits, along with Robby Dambrot.

Several other players who had had options for 2026 will not return; Alex Nagy, Cole Turner, Surafel Dagnachew and Riley Bidois were among those names (Bidois scored the goal that sent Loudoun to their first playoff appearance in franchise history), along with former D.C. United midfielder Moses Nyeman, and forward Zach Ryan was a surprise inclusion to the group. The 26-year-old joined Loudoun before the 2023 season and leaves as the all-time team leader in appearances (103), goals in League play (25) and across all competitions (30), including the US Open Cup (4), and is second in minutes played (6,266). Goalkeeper Dane Jacomen was due to return after a season-long loan at League One expansion side Westchester, but agreed to mutually terminate his contract.

With those departures, combined with coach Ryan Martin’s exit and subsequent signing at Oakland, expect some players to go West with Martin also; Tingey is from the Bay Area, and players such as McCabe and Dambrot could fill into positions of need in Oakland.

Of the returnees to the group, leading goal-scorer Abdellatif Aboukoura comes back, Bolu Akinyode and Jacob Erlandson return for a full season (the latter of whom missed the latter half of the year to injury), goalkeeper Ryan Jack and midfielder Pedro Santos had contract options exercised for 2026; Santos continues to serve as a youth coach at Virginia Revolution, and midseason acquisitions Luca Piras and Arquimedes Ordonez return to the fold. Midfielder Florian Valot is in talks to re-sign with the club as well.

Along with the question of ‘who will comprise Loudoun United’s 2026 roster,’ the larger question of ‘when the team will play’ is ominous. The Collective Bargaining Agreement that the Players Association and League (agreed upon in 2021) expires at the end of the year. The Players’ asks appear to be simple; safe working conditions, fair pay, employer-provided healthcare and a consistent experience across teams and leagues regarding playing conditions:

The PA also has been making the second division rounds of late, with Executive Director Connor Tobin appearing on a couple of podcasts over the last two months (both of which are worth listening to). For those that don’t, the USL sells franchise rights, and working conditions are uneven, to say nothing of healthcare, which given the nuances between states, can develop into workers’ compensation cases if a player gets severely injured in practice or game conditions. Pay for USL players varies as well, with some players (according to Tobin) making less than $30,000 annually, so moonlighting and working odd jobs is frequent and even required to maintain living standards.

Given that Loudoun’s stadium and working conditions made national headlines at the beginning of 2025 and have been reportedly brought up in CBA negotiations as part of the Players’ point about professional working standards. The USL appears to enjoy making announcements, as their desire to make a Division One League with 15,000 seat stadiums, or their competitive change with promotion and relegation. Tobin’s rebuttal to this has been wondering how the structure will impact the players and their working conditions (as he should), as they would certainly change from a Championship side in Rhode Island to a League One side in Spokane, Washington.

With the recent announcement that North Carolina FC would suspend play for 2026 and 2027 with the intention (hope?) of returning in 2028 as a Division One side, this would presumably be a macro effect that would be mentioned in discussions. On a smaller level, Finn Sundstrom signed his first pro contract with NCFC barely three months ago. The defender, who turned 19 days after NCFC made their news public and played superbly in the team’s win that knocked Loudoun out of the playoffs, has been part of the NCFC system for almost half his life, is now told to find another employer. He’ll be one of the lucky ones that can, though as the PA notes, news of a team suspending or flat out contracting is common, as NC is the 8th case of this occurring over USLC and League One since both Leagues had their respective CBAs ratified in the 2021 offseason. Both teams in last Saturday’s Championship Final (Tulsa and Pittsburgh) wore shirts as they entered the field with their message about professional standards, and Pittsburgh’s trophy lift after 120 minutes and penalty kicks was conspiculously omitted from television along with an onfield presentation.

As the USL finds themselves with increased teams and attendances, the League finds itself at a crossroads as to whether they can be brave enough to ensure the safe and consistent conditions of the workforce they employ. Loudoun has trimmed themselves to the point where there is a nucleus of players, it’s up to them and the League to help build on what they have.