Charlotte FC's 2024: 12 months in 12 moments
By Brian Maurer
Karol Swiderski celebrating his goal against CF Montreal (Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90)
As 2024 ends, here is a look back through the year at 12 moments, one each month, that helped define Charlotte FC’s 2024 season. The moments towards the end of the year show the direction the club is heading to start 2025.
January
January 14, 2024 — Dean Smith’s first preseason as Head Coach of Charlotte FC began. The club flew to Miami for its first training phase before traveling to California for the Coachella Valley Invitational. The Coachella Invitational preseason games were the first time Charlotte fans could watch the Crown play with Smith at the helm.
February
February 24, 2024 — Charlotte FC opened the 2024 campaign with a 1-0 win versus NYCFC in front of over 60,000 fans. It was the club’s first-ever win in their home opener and Adilson Malanda’s goal was the first ever scored by the Crown in their opening game of a season.
Homegrown winger, Nimfasha Berchimas (16) also made his MLS debut in the opener, which made him the first Charlotte FC homegrown academy prospect to debut in an MLS game.
Nimfasha Berchimas enjoys a laugh in the post-match press conference after making his MLS debut (Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90)
March
After going winless in three straight road games Charlotte FC returned to the bank to face the defending MLS Cup champions, the Columbus Crew. After a nervy contest for most of the game, as Charlotte was up a man and yet were still level 0-0 until late, Ashley Westwood chested down a loose 50-50 ball and hit it on the half volley from outside the box into the top corner to take a late lead. Westwood's goal was spectacular enough to be nominated as a Goal of the Year candidate.
This was the club’s only win in March but it showed their strength at home against any competition and foreshadowed Dean Smith’s ability to get Charlotte back on track without going on many significant losing streaks.
Ashley Westwood celebrating his long-range goal against the Columbus Crew (Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90)
April
Club-record transfer signing, Liel Abada had his first start for Charlotte FC on the road versus the New England Revolution in a 1-0 loss on April 6. The following week, Abada started at Bank of America Stadium for the first time scoring his first goal for the club as the Crown went on to win that game 3-2 versus Toronto FC.
Liel Abada watches as his first goal for Charlotte FC hits the bottom corner versus Toronto FC (Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90)
May
In May, Charlotte FC kept five straight clean sheets, a club record. After this streak nationwide media and pundits began to acknowledge the steady improvements that Smith was implementing to the team’s defensive structure.
Charlotte finished with the second most clean sheets on the year and a big reason for that stat holding is this five-game streak.
Kristijan Kahlina with the Charlotte FC supporters section behind him versus the LA Galaxy (Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90)
June
June 22, 2024 — Charlotte FC went on the road and beat the Philadelphia Union. Patrick Agyemang scored a brace with two second-half goals to seal the win. His second goal was a highlight reel finish that demonstrated why he was in the conversation amongst some fans to be the starting striker. It was a stepover dribble drive that left Philadelphia defender, Jakob Glesnes, tackling air and the young striker buried the weak-footed shot near-post.
This was one of the 24-year-old’s last performances as a starter before Karol Swiderski’s return to the club from Hellas Verona. Before Swiderski started against Austin FC, Agyemang had five goal contributions (4g/1a) in his previous five starts. This streak, Swiderski’s return in July, and the following rough patch in August all led to a continuous Swiderski versus Agyemang debate among fans and media throughout the summer.
July
July 20, 2024, versus Austin FC — Swiderski returns and immediately scores a penalty in the first half. The game ended in a draw but many in the fanbase felt that the return of Swiderski was going to be the solution to the goalscoring problems that had plagued Charlotte for most of the season. Moral was high until the six-game winless streak continued into September dampening the mood.
August
August was a chaotic month for Charlotte FC fans. To pin this month down to one moment is tricky because so many wild things happened. The transfer window rumors and reports were constant. At one point Charlotte looked to be having one of the better summer windows in MLS and then it fell apart after their expected midfield signing, Calvin Stengs, failed his medical.
The summer window left a lot to be desired because of the other names Charlotte was connected with like Miguel Almiron and Giovani Lo Celso, and on top of that the Crown was knocked out of the Leagues Cup so they didn’t have a game for over three weeks. When the club did return to action so did their winless streak.
A signing as notable as the Tim Ream deal should have had a bigger reception, but with all the other emotional highs and lows that happened, it was almost a footnote in the month. Once the dropped points resumed at the end of August it likely became a month Charlotte fans would prefer to erase most from their memories.
September
September 21, 2024 — Charlotte FC turned the tide in a big way against New England. Beating the hapless Revolution 4-0 at home, the club's largest margin of victory on the season, and it couldn’t have come at a more pivotal time. Charlotte was on a six-game winless streak in MLS play and their place in the table was becoming more precarious with each game.
Smith opted to make a few changes to his lineup and an explosion of goals ensued. The irony is most of Smith’s changes were defensive but the defensive additions added more freedom to the attacking three of Pep Biel, Abada, and Swiderski who all began to thrive from this game through to the finish of the season.
Kerwin Vargas celebrating after scoring against the New England Revolution (Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90)
October
October 2, 2024 — Charlotte FC clinched their first home playoff game in club history with a wild 4-3 win over the Chicago Fire at Bank of America Stadium. Charlotte fans had even more to cheer about as they got treated to another win that weekend against CF Montreal. The Crown then finished the season with a third straight win at DC United on Decision Day to clinch fifth in the Eastern Conference.
Kerwin Vargas (left) and Junior Urso (right) celebrating Urso's goal against the Chicago Fire
November
November 1, 2024, versus Orlando City — Charlotte FC’s first-ever home playoff game. Winning in penalties was an exclamation point for all attending fans. The first half especially, was one of Charlotte’s best halves all season, as they held Orlando to zero shots, except they couldn’t find the net.
Adilson Malanda (left), Patrick Agyemang (center), and Brandt Bronico (right) celebrate winning the Game 2 penalty shoot-out against Orlando City (Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90)
While the season ended with a tough Game 3 loss back in Orlando things still seem bright and the club captain Westwood stated a new high standard moving forward. “Our minimum is top four next year” stated Westwood in the post-match presser after Charlotte was eliminated from the playoffs in 2024.
Charlotte FC’s Kristijan Kahlina was also named the 2024 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in November adding an emphatic end note to the success of the Crown’s defense. This was the first individual end-of-season MLS award won by a Charlotte player in club history.
December
This past month the transfer rumors and news are heating up again. Miguel Almiron talks have reportedly resumed and our own Jorge Gonzales reported that Charlotte FC also has a “Grade A DP 9 in the works.”
With the rumor mill swirling and multiple spots on the senior roster open as well as at least one DP spot the next couple of months could be a busy time for the Crown and their fans.
The whole TopBin90 crew is excited for 2025, as we continue covering Charlotte FC, and all the other soccer news in the Carolinas. Have a Happy New Year!
