GOALKEEPERS

Brian Rowland
26-year-old Brian is from Toronto, Canada and was a member of the U-20 Canadian National Team. He has also played for Manchester United whilst on trial at Old Trafford as well as Halifax Town, Toronto Lynx and the Harrisburg Heat and Baltimore Blast indoor teams.

Karim Moumban
Karim, who has Cameroonian roots, was originally brought in as goalkeeping coach, but found himself promoted to substitute 'keeper after Michael Behonick was released. Has previously played for the Baltimore Blast as well as playing professionally in France, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Costa Rica.

DEFENDERS

Ibrahim Kante
Born in Mali 'Abe' is the Palace USA captain and has previously played for Baltimore Blast, Kansas City Comets, St. Louis Steamers and the California Cougars. Standing at 6'2, the 26-year-old left-back has the hardest shot in the USL, which the Charlotte Eagles found out about on the opening day of the season, when he scored Palace USA's first ever competitive goal.

Andrew Marshall
A hard worker and a solid player, Andrew attends Towson University where he is studying Social Sciences. The 23-year-old played all 53 games of his University career and a tremendous team leader. Andrew has also won the prestigious lacrosse state championship and is a natural athlete, with aerial prowess combined with timely and physical tackling.

Idris Ughiovhe
Born in Washington, Alex as he is known, has played for the Major League Soccer (MLS) teams Chicago Fire and DC United as well the Howard University Bison and Bethesda United. Alex was signed from the open trial, where he had to compete against 80 others "…that says a lot about him, that he was prepared to put himself through that" says co-manager Pete Medd. "Alex was on the pitch and after five minutes, it was obvious he was at a high level - he was above and beyond the crowd -a very committed player."

Shintaro Harada
A revelation in Palace's first season Shintaro, without speaking a word of English, flew over to America to try out at the Palace pre-season open trial. Previously to Palace, Shintaro played for ALO Hokuriku and Tokushima Vortis in the Japanese J-League.

Shintaro has been a consistent performer and alongside Sergio Flores, has appeared in all of Palace's games this season. He is a midfield engine who's accurate passing and link play is fundamental to the way Palace play. Originally a midfielder, Shintaro was moved to centre-back early on in the season, with immediate results.

"Shintaro has ability to steady a game down," says Pete "He completes every pass - you are never worried that he might lose the ball. He is a hard, committed player." Shintaro was named in the USL-2 second team of the year.

MIDFIELDERS

Bryan Harkin
Having left the Liverpool Academy after being coached by Steve Heighway, 26-year-old Bryan graduated from Fairfield University with a degree in Economics in 2003 and recently worked towards his MBA. He has previously played for the Cape Cod Crusaders. "He is a fantastic player" Pete says.

"He is the most unsung member of our team. He does all the little things that a central midfielder needs to do. All the little things that go unnoticed - organisation, covering for people and talking."

Mateus dos Anjos
24-year-old Brazilian Mateus is something of an explorer having played football in Moldova, Russia and now America .

Matthew Andongcho Mbuta
The 21-year-old Cameroonian has been one of the revelations of the inaugural season, after playing for PWD de Bamenda in the Cameroonian First Division and then for DPMM FC in the Malaysian Super League (who represent Brunei Darrusalom), where he was known as the 'Black Pearl.

Known as Matthew, he has been the engine behind Palace, scoring four goals in the process and is one of the players that are first down on any team sheet. "Matthew is a different level," says Pete. "The Cameroon national team are interested in him.

He has an unbelievable athlete and is a very, very skilful player. We are really excited about the Cameroonian interest - not too many teams in our league have international interest." It wasn't just Pete that was impressed - Matthew was named in the USL-2 team of the season - voted for by players and managers.

Josh Alcala
Josh, of Filipino/Hispanic descent has played for the Austin Lightning of the USL's Premier Development League (PDL) and has a degree in Media Arts.

FORWARDS

Gary Brooks
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Gary was signed after being released by the Vancouver Whitecaps of the USL-1.

Prior to that, he played for the USL-1 Atlanta Silverbacks and Virginia Beach Mariners, as well as the California Cougars and Philadelphia Kixx. He was the Mariners' leading scorer in 2002. Gary appeared nine times, scoring seven times and being named in the USL-2 team of the year.

"Gary is a unique individual, who is very committed and professional," said Pete Medd. Alongside Matthew Mbuta, Gary was voted into the USL-2 Team of the Season by his fellow players and managers.

"He just showed up on trial and volunteered to play left-back the first day when we didn't have enough guys! He threw his body around from that point forward, his attitude and the way he approached the game just inspired the team. Even in the warm up he is diving at feet to keep the ball in play - we all played better after he joined."

Sergio Flores
Bolivian born, but raised in Smithfield, Utah, Sergio has represented the United States with national team appearances at the U-18 and U-20 levels. Despite playing all of Palace's league games, Flores could only manage three strikes and will be looking to improve on that next season. Sergio has club experience with MLS team Real Salt Lake as well as Strongest FC in Bolivia and Charcrita Juniors in Argentina.

Harold Urquijo
Nicknamed 'Haroldinho' by his team-mates, Urquijo is a Colombian who has experience with Academia FC in the Colombian 2nd Division, as well as the Colombian U17 and U20 squads.
With a passion for Reggaeton music, Harold is a versatile player who can play in midfield as well as in a striking role bringing his touch, pace and ability to finish to the Palace USA squad.

Jarrod Smith
A quick 23-year-old forward, New Zealander Jarrod has just been selected for the New Zealand squad for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in October, where he will line up alongside Ryan Nelsen of Blackburn Rovers and will be hoping to add to his eight caps, after making his debut against Malaysia in February last year and has played against Hungary, Georgia, Estonia and Brazil. Jarrod has also represented New Zealand in the U20 and U23 (Olympic) teams.

The kiwi is due to make his debut tonight, having only signed for Palace a few weeks ago. Jarrod has previously played for MLS team Toronto FC, Boulder Rapids, Manawatu AFC, Napier City Rovers and West Virginia University in the US. A pacy, strong front-runner, Smith is the son of the famous test wicketkeeper Ian.

Cecil Lewis
Cecil is another new forward signing who is due to make his debut tonight and has previously played for the Fredericksburg Gunners, Wilmington Hammerheads and the Richmond Kickers. He has vital experience at the USL-2 level that will serve Palace USA well going into next season.