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SANDY — Real Salt Lake sent allocation money to Major League Soccer opponent the Portland Timbers Wednesday in trade for the rights to former RSL striker Robbie Findley.
“We’re very excited,” RSL general manager Garth Lagerwey told ESPN700 in a radio interview Wednesday afternoon. “Robbie was a major member of our team both in the 2009 championship season and in 2010 when we had our best regular season ever.”
Rumors began to flood social media a couple weeks ago that Findley, who has been playing overseas with Nottingham Forest FC for the past two seasons, would possibly be wearing an RSL jersey in the upcoming season.
“It’s been tough for me to keep it in,” Findley told ESPN700 in a radio interview Wednesday afternoon. “I’ve known about it a little bit for the past couple weeks. For me not to say anything was even tough because I know how good it was here and how much fun I had playing with the guys here, the coaching staff and of course the fans that come out.”
Shortly after the official announcement was made by RSL Wednesday, Findley tweeted, “Excited to be back at RSL! Looking forward to getting things going!”
RSL sideline boss Jason Kreis welcomed Findley back with a tweet that said, “Welcome Home Robbie Findley! I am extremely excited about his return and am eager to get back to work with him! Onwards and Upwards!”
Findley expressed his excitement to be back and play for the fans here during his radio interview with ESPN700, saying, “The time that I spent here and won the cup in 2009, met a lot of people, met a lot of fans, the atmosphere in the stadium is just ridiculous and I still speak to some of the guys on the team and they say it just keeps getting better and better.”
Although Findley says he’s excited to be back with the Salt Lake club, he told ESPN700 it was unexpected. “For me to be back here, I never really thought it would happen, but I’m glad it has worked out the way it has and we’ve got a good support team behind us so we’ve got all the pieces to make it happen again — it’s going to come down to us going out there and executing.”
Lagerwey told ESPN700 they look forward to what Findley can do for RSL. “I know Jason is really excited to work with Robbie, and my sense is that Robbie is really excited to be back. We’re very interested in having players who we think are going to come back and try to make us better, and I think Robbie is going to be a big part of our success going forward.”
Findley played for the Claret and Cobalt from mid-2007 through the 2010 season and then was selected by the Timbers in the November 2010 expansion draft. While with RSL, Findley notched 29 goals in 96 regular season matches and played a key role in the Salt Lake club’s 2009 MLS Cup Championship.
Findley told ESPN700 he was glad for his experiences in England and what he can bring back from it. “I’ve learned a lot from the players there that have played in England all their lives,” said Findley. “I definitely take a lot of positives from it, it was a great experience and it’s been something that I’ve dreamt of doing since I was a little kid.”
RSL reported that Findley will report to Rio Tinto Stadium for the beginning of the Claret and Cobalt’s preseason camp Jan. 19.
Kira Terry is a sports writer covering Real Salt Lake for KSL.com. Follow her on Twitter, @kiraterry.
