Swiderski, his wife Martyna and their young son Antoni have settled comfortably in a neighborhood close to CLT’s Bank of America Stadium. He appreciates the new club’s gameday atmosphere and blossoming supporter culture, which last season fueled the league’s second-best home attendance numbers.
Swiderski also says he was impressed with the level of play in MLS right from the jump, and has fielded several inquiries from his Polish countrymen – most prominently, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny (Juventus) and superstar scorer Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona).
“Yes, he asked me sometimes,” said Swiderski of ‘Lewa’. “I’m not sure, but what I can see when I spoke with him, maybe he will want to go one day to MLS to finish his career here. I’m waiting for this moment, so I hope he will come here, because he’s really a legend, [not only] in Poland but even I think in Europe. He’s scored many, many goals, so it would be nice to meet him in MLS.”
Crucially, the league’s rising profile in the sport’s traditional hotbeds has made such conversations less about MLS’s respectability and viability, and more a matter of players sharing their individual experiences around their respective clubs and communities.
“Even I don’t need to say, like, ‘ah guys, this league every year goes forward.’ They see this and then they come and they say MLS, it’s not like five, six years ago, when only old players come to finish [their] career,” said Swiderski. “Of course it’s a really good league and really strong league, and they can see this as well.”
Swiderski and his Charlotte teammates know their goal of playoffs qualification could hinge on a better start to the new season than their stumbles out of the gate last year, which played a big part in the precipitous departure of former manager Miguel Angel Ramirez.
Now under the leadership of head coach Christian Lattanzio, CLT kick off 2023 at home vs. the New England Revolution on Feb. 25 (7:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass), then a week later visit expansion side St. Louis City SC for that club’s first-ever home MLS match.
Editor’s note: This interview was conducted before the tragic news that Charlotte FC defender Anton Walkes passed away at age 25.
Discussion about this post