LAS VEGAS – Las Vegas Lights FC announced today the club had acquired veteran midfielder Charlie Adams via transfer from fellow USL Championship club FC Tulsa ahead of the 2024 season. The transaction is pending league and federation approval.

Adams is the first new signing of the Lights’ new era and brings with him extensive experience in the league. The 29-year-old has made 196 appearances and logged 14,350 minutes of action across the regular season and playoffs since making his debut for Louisville City FC in the 2015 campaign.

A native of Hendon, England, Adams spent the past four seasons with San Diego Loyal SC, where he made 103 appearances and helped lead the side to three consecutive USL Championship Playoffs berths in the past three years. A central midfielder, Adams recorded eight goals, 18 assists and 141 chances created for SD Loyal while posting a cumulative passing accuracy rate of 87.9 percent. Adams also recorded 55 interceptions, 539 recoveries and a duel success rate of 59.6 percent over his four seasons in San Diego.

“We are delighted to add the experience and leadership a player like Charlie Adams brings to our club,” said Lights owner José Bautista. “The on-field qualities he brings make him a natural centerpiece for our side. I’m looking forward to seeing him in action in the upcoming season.”

Adams was a product of current Premier League club Brentford FC’s youth academy, and in addition to competing for the Bees he also spent time on loan with Barnet and Stevenage in England’s lower divisions before making his first jump across the Atlantic Ocean to join Louisville City FC for its inaugural season in the USL Championship.

He made a brief return to England to play for Stevenage in 2016 before signing with Real Monarchs SLC, where he became part of a midfield that helped the side claim the 2017 USL Championship Players’ Shield, recording eight goals and 10 assists in 62 appearances for the club. After three seasons with the Monarchs, Adams joined Orange County SC in 2019 before making the move to San Diego Loyal SC for the club’s inaugural season in 2020. This offseason, he signed with FC Tulsa in December, but now makes the move to Las Vegas to become part of new Lights Head Coach Dennis Sanchez’s squad. 

“This is an exciting opportunity for me, and I’m looking forward to leading Las Vegas into this new era on the field,” said Adams. “Given my past experience at new projects in Louisville and San Diego, I came away impressed by the plan the Lights’ leadership laid out and can’t wait to get going.”

Las Vegas Lights FC will kick off the new campaign on Saturday, March 9 when it visits Memphis 901 FC before its home opener against FC Tulsa on Saturday, March 16 at Cashman Field.