Battery defender/midfielder Nicky Spooner, the Briton who has been team captain the last two seasons, has signed to stay with the A-League soccer club for two more years.
Charleston also signed two new players, tapping Europe to bring in Finnish midfielder Jukka Rantala and former league rival Raleigh to land midfielder Matt Farris.
The 5-11, 175-pound Spooner played 2,227 minutes during this past regular season in 25 starts to help the Battery to the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference titles. The 29-year-old former English First Division player with the Bolton Wanderers has supplied tenacity and experience to the Battery defensive midfield.
"We had a good squad the last couple of seasons and we came close to winning it all. I really think we can challenge for the A-League championship in 2001, especially if Paul (Conway) and Velko (Iotov) keep banging them in," Spooner said, referring to two of Charleston's leading goal-scorers.
Rantala, 25, has played the last five seasons for F.C. Haka, winner of the Finnish First Division championship the last three seasons and a qualifier for European competition in four of the five seasons. A defensive midfielder known for his ball-winning skills and solid tackles, Battery coach Alan Dicks said Rantala also will be valuable offensive weapon.
The 5-10, 180-pound Farris, who signed a two-year deal, is another ball-winning midfielder with an eye for the net. The 24-year-old from Tulsa, Okla., led the now-defunct Raleigh Capital Express in assists and minutes played for 2000, and his goals included a 30-yard sudden-death game-winner against the Battery. Before joining Raleigh in 1999, Farris was a three-time All-South pick at UNC Greensboro, where he is eighth in career goals.
