Pacific FC Signs Winger Kekuta Manneh

April 3, 2023 – Canadian Premier League (CPL) – Pacific FC News Release

Langford, BC – – Pacific FC today announced it has signed winger Kekuta Manneh ahead of the 2023 Canadian Premier League season.

Manneh, 28 makes his return to British Columbia after spending parts of five seasons with Vancouver Whitecaps FC from 2013 to 2017. His 171 overall appearances in Major League Soccer (MLS) make him the Canadian Premier League (CPL) player with the most experience in MLS.

In signing with Pacific, Manneh reunites with Head Coach James Merriman, who was a coach in Vancouver’s Pre-Residency and Academy Centre during the winger’s time with the Whitecaps.

“He is one of the biggest signings in the Canadian Premier League’s short history,” said Merriman. “He will absolutely have a great impact on our team. Kekuta is an incredibly humble character and I look forward to the season working with him.

“Since the first day of training with our team, Scoots has clearly shown his motivation to help us win. He’s ambitious and wants to enjoy his football again.”

Manneh was first identified as an up-and-coming talent during a tournament in his native The Gambia as a 15-year-old and he subsequently moved to the United States, where he competed for Texas Rush and Lonestar Soccer Club in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. He went on to represent Austin Aztex in the Premier Development League for a season before MLS came calling.

Manneh was 18-years-old when he signed a Generation Adidas contract with MLS, making him one of the most highly-touted picks of the 2013 SuperDraft. He landed with the Whitecaps, who traded up to select Manneh with the fourth overall pick. The rookie winger produced a standout campaign in 2013, making 20 appearances, scoring six goals and adding two assists for Vancouver. He became the youngest player in MLS history to score a hat-trick that October, after he put three past Seattle Sounders FC on Oct. 9. It marked the first MLS hat-trick in Vancouver’s club history.

He went on to make 123 appearances for the Whitecaps in all competitions, scoring 23 goals and adding 12 assists. Manneh’s time in Vancouver came to an end in March 2017 when he was traded to the Columbus Crew, where he spent the rest of the 2017 MLS season.

Manneh moved away from MLS after his time in Columbus, first landing with Mexican side Pachuca in Liga MX in January 2018, before moving to Europe in July 2018 to join FC St. Gallen in Switzerland.

But it wasn’t long before he was back in…