New Faces, Fresh Challenges: Kickers Sign Two Players Amidst Slide

Looking to spark an attack that has struggled for consistency, the Richmond Kickers announced the signing of two experienced players over the past week.

The first addition was forward Zahir Vazquez, a 26-year-old league veteran who most recently played for Chattanooga Red Wolves in 2025. He enjoyed a career year there, scoring four goals in 29 regular season appearances, plus another in the US Open Cup during Chattanooga's upset of Las Vegas Lights. Despite that production, he was not retained for the 2026 season.

Before Chattanooga, Vazquez spent three seasons with Central Valley Fuego before the club folded its professional team following the 2024 season. He signed his first professional contract late in the 2022 campaign and scored seven goals across 54 regular season appearances during his time with the club.

While working toward another professional opportunity this season, Vazquez appeared in the US Open Cup for Valley 559 FC. He helped the amateur side upset USL League One club AV Alta FC before advancing to face USL Championship side Sacramento Republic.

Kickers fans already got a glimpse of how he could fit into the squad. Vazquez made his debut last weekend against Spokane, replacing Landon Johnson at halftime. He started up front before dropping into an attacking midfield role behind Josh Kirkland when Kirkland entered in the 68th minute.

Vazquez immediately brought energy to the attack, something the club had sorely lacked earlier in the week during its 4-0 loss at Forward Madison. He finished with two shots on target while winning four of his five duels.

Earlier this week, the Kickers announced the signing of Harold "Kofi" Hanson, a wingback who spent the 2023 season with Central Valley Fuego. He primarily served as a backup there, making nine starts in 21 appearances while scoring once.

Hanson previously spent four seasons with Portland Timbers 2 when the club competed in the USL Championship. More recently, he has played for Irvine Zeta in NISA, Empire Strykers in MASL, and Eintracht Nordhorn in Germany's sixth tier. Eintracht Nordhorn has become something of a pipeline to USL League One in recent years, as current Kickers midfielder Austin Amer also played there before arriving in Richmond.

Hanson is expected to compete for minutes with Hayden Anderson, Daniel Moore, and Mujeeb Murana, giving Richmond another option with pace and attacking ability from the wingback position. 

After extensive lineup changes following the Madison loss led to a slightly less-bad performance against Spokane, Richmond now faces an even tougher challenge this weekend with a trip to third-place Charlotte Independence.

We already previewed Charlotte once this season, and those players are still ones to watch when they're on the pitch, especially Golden Boot and MVP leader Luis Álvarez. The 23 year old returned from injury against Spokane earlier this week, and should be fit enough to start against Richmond.

We'd also keep an eye on midfielder and set-piece maestro Jon Bakero. The long-time professional veteran could be trouble for a Richmond side that has been undisciplined at times this season, conceding a league second-worst 51 yellow cards.

Catch the Kickers in action at 7:00 PM on Saturday, July 25th. The match will be on ESPN+ with a team-hosted watch party at Bingo Beer Co.

The team then returns home to host AV Alta FC on Saturday August 1st.