Detroit City FC signs free-agent midfielder Richard Ballard
Nolan BianchiDetroit City FC finally has a second offseason acquisition, as the USL Championship side on Tuesday announced the signing of midfielder Richard Ballard.
Ballard's contract is fully guaranteed for the first year and contains a second-year club option.
Ballard, who turns 29 at the end of January, made 32 appearances with Miami FC in his last two seasons. He joins an existing midfield corps that includes Cy Goddard, Michael Bryant, Abduolaye Diop and fellow free-agent signee Skage Simonsen.
An Indiana graduate and Louisville native, Ballard winged with Louisville City FC out of college. He had three goals and five assists in his first season and was a finalist for USL Rookie of the Year. Injuries limited him to six total appearances in 2018-19. After a year off (2020), Ballard joined Miami FC, where he spent the last two seasons, registering zero goals and one assist over 1,481 minutes.
On the surface — and with the caveat that there are surely more signings to come from DCFC manager Trevor James — Ballard's deal doesn't move the needle much.
Le Rouge actively needs to find replacements for the production of attacking forward Antoine Hoppenot, who signed with Hartford Athletic, and wing-back Deklan Wynne, who went with Charleston Battery. Together, Hoppenot and Wynne registered assists on 42.2% of DCFC's goals last season — a void that deals for Simonsen and Ballard don't seem likely to fill.
On the flip side, one has to be intrigued whenever James rolls the dice on a player who doesn't seem to have proven much or is one his career's last leg. He did so with many National Independent Soccer Association players ahead of the club's promotion to USL Championship, an ordeal that ended with the gang of 'NISA All-Stars' reaching the playoffs in their first season at the level.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @nolanbianchi