During an especially trying summer stretch of York United’s 2022 season, head coach Martin Nash would glance down his bench at times and see maybe one or two first-team players at most.

Instead, he would find youth players or other emergency signings, sometimes those who had met just that morning as his squad suffered a devastating injury crisis. There was no real chance to rest players, and no significant tactical or squad rotation was possible which only led to more players being sidelined.

Coupled with the sale of Diyaeddine Abzi, perhaps the league’s best left fullback, to Ligue 2 side Pau FC, the Nine Stripes struggled immensely through the middle part of the season. They went over two months between mid-May and July without a win, and failed to score in eight of the ten matches they played during that stretch. Despite a strong finish to the season, there was no coming back from that run of form.

“We were a little bit of a patchwork last year,” said York United President Angus McNab. “With the injuries and the way things played out across the season for us. We’ve recruited and we added at points that were not necessarily to plan. We had the opportunity to sit down with [the staff] to really look at what we had and what we felt was going to win, quite frankly.”

This offseason, McNab and his staff have set out to more carefully weave the fabric of their roster. So far, they have been one of the most active clubs in the market, making seven new signings, and adding some significant quality during what has been a dramatic roster turnover.

“It is about fit and what we need to do moving forward and making sure that we are comfortable going into this season,” said McNab of his roster construction this far. “[Making sure] we’ve got the cover at positions that we need, and we’ve got the technical ability and tactical flexibility to do what we need to make sure that we compete for the league title.”

Their plan to compete for that title — as well as return to the playoffs — starts with players who have been competing and impressing for other clubs within the league. So far this offseason they have signed Elijah Adekugbe (previously Cavalry FC), Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé (Halifax), Brian Wright (Atlético Ottawa) and signed Matthew Baldisimo permanently after the midfielder was on loan with York for the back half of last season.

McNab highlighted Gagnon-Laparé as one of their top targets this off-season when the coaching staff sat down for their end-of-season reflection. Last year with Halifax, the midfielder was one of the league’s top chance creators.

“He’s a guy that we think can set tempo, we think he can get Mo [Babouli] forward in good positions, we think he can play out of things as well with his passing range,” said McNab. “That is on field, off the field you start to speak to people about Jérémy and everything you get back is that he is a first-class human, great person and the kind of guy we want in our locker room as well. 

As has been a big part of their club DNA in recent years, York has also signed a couple of promising younger players with the likes of defender Clément Bahiya and attacking midfielder Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy.

Bahiya is a Canadian youth international with solid MLS experience having played for CF Montréal. Voytsekhovskyy, meanwhile, just won League1 Ontario Young Player of the Year as a member of ProStars FC.

Helping to make those signings possible was York’s history of developing and moving promising young talent. That continued this offseason as well with Ronan Kratt joining Werder Bremen II in Germany on loan, and Isaiah Johnston moving to Huntsville City FC.

“Having had the success of a Ronan, Isaiah, things like that, that helps us in our recruitment,” said McNab. “So being able to have an established track record and show that we can improve guys and help them move on is excellent. It is vital for us.”

Also vital is the fact that a number of players should be healthy again after injury-hampered seasons. Starting goalkeeper Niko Giantsopoulos missed significant time last season creating a carousel in the net that did little to help York’s consistency. Attackers Michael Petrasso and Austin Ricci also missed most of the season, while McNab highlighted Max Ferrari as a player who was hungry to prove himself again after an injury-riddled 2022.

While they already looked significantly different from last year’s side, especially the club that started 2022, York is far from done. McNab said the club is still looking to sign a pair of central defenders, as well as still bolstering their attacking options. Versatility remains key in these positions as well, something through injury or otherwise Nash didn’t have nearly enough of at his disposal last season.

One offseason departure, however, will be more difficult to replace than the others. Defender of the Year nominee Dominick Zator left the club for Korona Kielce in Poland, a move that was bittersweet for the club.

“For me he’s been the best centre-back in the league for two years,” said McNab. “There are others that have made a really good claim for it but I think Zats just his consistency, he gives us an 8/10 every week. It’s a hole for us to fill and we are now looking to do that.”

If York is able to do that, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic about this upcoming season. In particular, after adding star attacker Mo Babouli, the Nine Stripes became perhaps the most exciting team in the league over the final third of the season. They lost just four of their final twelve matches, scoring three or more goals six times in the process.

If their new signings can mesh well with that already established core of talent, there is no reason to think York won’t be back among the league’s contenders.

“We are really excited about the group and what they can do,” concluded McNab.