Carolina RailHawks Captain Brad Rusin Signs with HB Køge in Denmark
Brad Rusin
On Sunday Carolina RailHawks captain and defender Brad Rusin was in Cary, N.C., helping his unstoppable NASL RailHawks to another shutout victory. This time his team triumphed over the Montreal Impact with a 2-0 win. It was the team’s 13th undefeated game and their 4th shutout this year. Rusin’s team has allowed the fewest goals in the league with just 11 and helped themselves to a 0.786 goals against average which the big man has been integral in helping the team achieve.
The 2-0 win over the Impact earned Rusin his 3rd NASL Defensive Player of the Week honor, which is the 3rd time this year the defender has earned the award.
Just a day later the Indiana native and IMG Soccer Academy graduate was on a plane to northeastern Germany for preseason training with HB Køge, the first first division team in Denmark.
Yanks Abroad writer David Smith published an article on Wednesday afternoon saying the RailHawks’ 6′ 4″ defender has made the long-planned switch to HB Køge and signed a 3 year contract with the club. HB Køge is a team that competes in top flight football in Denmark.
“Brad has signed a three year contract with the team,” said Køge sporting director Per Rud. ”He flew in from North Carolina overnight, had a transfer through Munich this morning and is with the team now.”
Smith’s article states that the team plays Dynamo Dresden in a friendly on Friday so they gave the big defender the day off from training but plan on him contributing on Friday. Rud also said Køge has been watching Rusin for a while now and tried to sign him last year but the deal fell through.
“We were hoping to have him here already one or two weeks ago, in which case we would have expected him to be able to start in our first game next Sunday,” Rud stated. “However the first game is soon so it’s too short of a time to say how soon he’ll be in the starting lineup. I can say 100% that he’s not just here to be a reserve player and we expect him to contribute to the first team.”
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This is a good move for Brad. We all wish him well. I wonder how many other RailHawks will be around by the time playoffs come?
It’s also positive for the league to be attracting interest from European teams. How easy would it have been for Rusin to move to Denmark now were he in MLS?
SoccerbyIves reported that they sold him for $20,000 and 20% of a transfer fee if HB Koge sells him on.
Not a bad payday for the Railhawks.
I’ve scoured SBI and can’t seem to find that info Sam. Link to the specific article?
BQ: I read elsewhere where that info was from a tweet, FWIW.
A big loss to the CR and NASL. One of the best, most consistent guys outside of MLS who really should have received a look. Still, this deal has been on/off for a year or more and fair credit to him. All the best Brad.
($20k is absolute peanuts?!)
Good move for the player. That dude is a straight up baller! That league is probably a real good fit for him.
@Aljarov: $20k is “peanuts” but if it had been an MLS club then the deal would have been a friendly (to be played at some date to be determined in the future) and a bag full of soccer balls).
MLS is so stingy when it comes to second and third division clubs, it’s ridiculous (but hey, if you can continue to get away with it then why stop)…
@yankiboy – Probably because MLS doesn’t think much of what is in D2 and D3. Let’s be honest. There isn’t much talent here now. Rusin was unique and was too good to play in NASL. The good players there will work their way up to MLS anyway. You always want to play at the highest level as a player. And $20,000 is nothing. The Red Bulls payed $175,000 for a Silverbacks player a few years ago.
But you’ll never see MLS pay real money for NASL players. They’d form a MSL2 and take over D2 first.
@MH – It means nothing for NASL. Euro teams would prefer to see players perform at a higher level than American D2. They feel any player with Euro club talent in America is already in MLS and not hanging out in the minors. Rusin had already been in Norway and was a known commodity over there. Players move from MLS to Europe all the time.
The Railhawks will lose more players.
Now there is word out that Caleb Porter has also transfered to Europe.
Caleb Patterson is also on his way to Europe. He has will transfer to Atlético Clube de Portugal, which plays in Portugal’s second division, pending the finalization of his player registration and international transfer clearance.
http://www.carolinarailhawks.com/index.php?id=111&newsid=809
“But you’ll never see MLS pay real money for NASL players. They’d form a MSL2 and take over D2 first. ”
I suppose this all hinges on what your idea of big money is, but really, this is a pretty silly thing to say. MLS has said they have no interest and the cost would be enormous compared to paying for a player here or there.
@Dave: That is pretty much the only time that MLS has paid an amount worth mentioning for a second division player. Credit to Boris for getting it. The Silverbacks discoveref Khandji.
All of the good players are not going to work their way up to MLS. If only it were that easy. There are dudes playing in USLPRO that could be a good piece for an MLS club but they are not there for for more reasons than that they aren’t good enough.
Yes, players usually do like to play at the highest level. I agree on that. But sometimes things aren’t always as simple as that.
MLS clubs don’t think very much of the NASL or USLPRO players when it comes to transfer fees. That is clear. History shows that. Generally speaking, they prefer to get players, in general, on free transfers–which isn’t a bad business plan. Why pay for a guy if you can get him for free?
Hey, I ain’t mad at them. MLS is very consistent.