Ex-Premier League defender Harry Toffolo ready for big MLS season: “I’m a veteran now, I don’t like it!”

When Harry Toffolo signed for Charlotte FC last summer, he must have thought that he’d left the bleak British weather behind.

Six months on, Toffolo is preparing for his first full season in MLS and going through the first winter preseason of his professional career. The 30-year-old has been through plenty of these training camps but doesn’t usually have to contend with arctic winds and snow storms.

“It’s like Armageddon back home [in Charlotte], with all the snow and the ice storm,” Toffolo told AS USA from the team’s Florida training camp. “Then we came out here and Miami’s cold as well. It feels like the English have brought the weather over with them.”

But climate aside, the new season brings fresh hope for the left-back after a frustrating 2025. The Englishman had a storied career on the other side of the Atlantic, working his way from the fourth tier to the Premier League, spending three seasons with Nottingham Forest before making the move to Charlotte. His first year in North Carolina was disrupted by injury but he’s looking to make up for lost time in 2026.

“It’s been so important for myself personally to get a preseason, having missed one last year after leaving Forest,” Toffolo explained. “I think the best thing that I can give the coaches is availability and fitness, and then the quality will take care of itself. I don’t want to get injured this season, I want to show the Charlotte fans the real value that I can bring to the team. When you get injured it kills that momentum.”

Premier League experience in Charlotte

If he can stay fit Toffolo looks set to be one of the key figures in Dean Smith’s Charlotte team, part of a core of experienced players with top-level experience. Teammates Wilfried Zaha and Ashley Westwood both had long careers in the Premier League, while the arrival of Luca de la Torre from Celta Viga adds on-ball quality in midfield.

“The squad this year’s amazing. The depth we’ve got, the players we have, the club have done excellent with their recruitment already”

“They’ve added real value on the field and they’ve added real value off the pitch, as well. So it’s exciting and I hear this word ‘veteran’, which I don’t like. But as soon as you age over 30, you’re a veteran now," he joked.

“I can use that experience and what I know. But also let [younger players] do their own thing and let them show everyone what they can do.”

Up against the best in MLS

For all his experience, there are some elements of MLS soccer that he has had to learn. The league’s strict financial rules mean that only three members of each team’s squad - the Designated Players - can be paid without restriction.

That naturally ensures that each team’s resources become concentrated in a few key positions, and that usually means a tough job for the full-backs. For example, Toffolo will be up against Eastern Conference rival Lionel Messi at least twice a year for the foreseeable future. But that’s not a prospect that is making him any less enthusiastic about the start of the new season.

“Me and Nathan [Byrne] had a joke about it, the best players are usually on the wings so we’re going to have fun... But, no, it’s good, you want to put yourself up against the best in the league. You want to be playing against the best because you back yourself to stop him.

“But it comes with the territory I’m afraid, you just have to defend all the quick, skillful guys. It’s part of the job.”

Charlotte FC will begin the 2026 season against St. Louis City on Saturday, February 21. The team’s home opener will come against Austin FC on Saturday, March 7.

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