Spirits Add to Inaugural Roster with Sebastián Velásquez

Former MLS and USL Midfielder Begins First Indoor Season in Lehigh Valley

July 29, 2026

Allentown, PA – The Lehigh Valley Spirits have signed veteran midfielder Sebastián Velásquez ahead of the club’s inaugural season in 2026-27.

Velásquez, 35, brings more than 14 years of professional experience at the professional level across stints in Major League Soccer, the USL Championship, USL League One, and international competition. The technically skilled attacking midfielder will now bring his creativity and veteran presence from the outdoor game to the indoor turf for the first time in his career with the Spirits.

A native of Medellín, Colombia, Velásquez moved to Greenville, South Carolina as a child. He developed through several local youth programs and helped Greenville High School capture a perfect 27-0 record and a South Carolina Class AAA state championship during his sophomore season.

Selected by Real Salt Lake with the 36th overall pick in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft, Velásquez made the jump directly from the junior-college level to MLS and went on to make more than 50 appearances for the club across parts of three seasons.

During Real Salt Lake’s run to the 2013 MLS Cup Final, Velásquez appeared in all five of the club’s postseason matches and scored his first professional goal in a 2-0 victory over the LA Galaxy in the second leg of the Western Conference Semifinals. He was traded to New York City FC in December 2014 and appeared 12 times during the expansion club’s inaugural campaign.

Velásquez became the first player signed by North American Soccer League (NASL) expansion team Rayo OKC in 2016 before returning to Utah with the Real Monarchs of MLS Next Pro the following year. He delivered the most productive season of his professional career in 2017, recording nine goals and six assists across 27 appearances.

His career later included nearly 100 contests among five clubs in the USL system, including, El Paso Locomotive FC, Miami FC, Memphis 901 FC, Indy Eleven, and Greenville Triumph SC. Over the last two seasons with Greenville, Velásquez registered three goals and an assist in 23 games with the club.

Aside from his North American professional career, he also gained international experience during stints with South Korean club Suwon FC as well as Israeli clubs Bnei Sakhnin FC and Hapoel Umm al-Fahm FC.

Prior to turning pro, Velásquez played two seasons at Spartanburg Methodist College, where he compiled 55 goals and 33 assists in 55 appearances for the Pioneers and earned NJCAA Second Team All-America honors in 2011.

For more information, visit LVSpirits.com.