ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Rowdies announced on Thursday the club had signed midfielder Blake Bodily for the upcoming 2024 USL Championship season. The contract is pending league and federation approval.

“Blake is an outstanding attacking left wingback that creates and scores goals, as shown by his five goals and nine assists for San Diego this year,” said Rowdies Head Coach Robbie Neilson. “Along with those abilities, he also possesses strong defensive capabilities. Blake will bring excellent quality and competition to the squad for 2024.”

Bodily is coming off a breakout season in 2023 for San Diego Loyal SC in which he posted career-highs in both goals and assists over 32 appearances. Playing primarily as a left-sided winger or wingback, the 25-year-old ranked tied for fourth in the Championship across the regular season and playoffs with nine assists, while recording 22 chances created and seven big chances created.

“I’m super excited to get down to Tampa Bay after talking with Coach Robbie,” said Bodily. “In the first meeting I had with him, he really laid out a great picture and plan for what he expects from the team and what he expects from me. After speaking with a couple of guys I know over there, it was really a no-brainer for me. There was nowhere else I wanted to be. Being able to play consistently last year and build confidence, that was huge for me. Hopefully I can just keep that momentum going into next year and just build on that.”

Bodily made his debut in the Championship as a 17-year-old with Portland Timbers 2 and signed a Homegrown Player contract with the Timbers in 2020. He has made 71 appearances overall in the Championship, notching nine goals, nine assists and 33 chances created.

Analysis

Blake Bodily’s breakout season with San Diego Loyal SC highlighted his qualities as a wide midfielder that could fit into the left side as a wingback in the Rowdies’ system. It could be a challenge to replicate the success of his nine assists from a season ago – Bodily was the beneficiary of some outstanding finishing, ending the campaign with a 3.06 Expected Assists mark – but returning forwards Cal Jennings and Leo Fernandes and new arrival Manuel Arteaga should get solid service throughout the season.

Don’t underestimate his defensive qualities, either. Bodily won 30 tackles in the 2023 season at a success rate of 73.2 percent while winning 53.9 percent of duels and making 121 recoveries. While primarily an attacking piece, he’s more than diligent enough defensively and can be part of a pressing midfield unit as well.