The Portland Hearts of Pine have signed their first player, marking another significant moment for the new professional men’s soccer team.

Michel Poon-Angeron, who had been competing in the Trinidad and Tobago Premier Football League, is the first player to be added to the Hearts of Pine roster. The center midfielder previously played for AC Port of Spain.

“Michel is a Trinidadian international player who plays for Trinidad and Tobago in World Cup qualifiers,” said Hearts of Pine coach/sporting director Bobby Murphy.

Hearts of Pine Coach Bobby Murphy speaks during a news conference at Allagash Brewery in Portland on Nov. 14. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald, file

Poon-Angeron was on the Trinidad and Tobago roster for an international friendly Tuesday against Saudi Arabia, played in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia won, 3-1.

“He’s a 23-year-old center midfielder. He has all the qualities we want. He’s aggressive against the ball and on the ball and he has a good soccer brain,” Murphy said. “He’s young. He’s ambitious. He’s one who will probably move on (from Portland) in a year or two. He caught my eye and we had a great talk.”

Murphy said he has assessed more than 500 players who expressed interest in making the Portland club.

Poon-Angeron is one of eight players who have signed to play for the Hearts. The other seven still need to have their contracts approved by the USL and/or FIFA, the governing body of international soccer.

“We have eight players under contract and we’ll be working that number up over the next week to 10 days,” Murphy said Tuesday morning.

Murphy said there has been no shortage of players to review. The club last weekend held an invitation-only combine-style tryout at Falmouth High for approximately 100 players. That was a week after an open, Mainers-only tryout. Murphy said one player from the two-day combine has agreed to a contract.

He’s also done “a lot of video review” of hundreds more players who were interested in playing for the Hearts of Pine. Poon-Angeron’s agent “used to play for me and he presented him to me,” Murphy said.

“A lot of it is networking and word of mouth,” said Murphy, who’s connecting with agents, former players (and former players who are now agents), and other coaches. “For me, the biggest part is the interview process. Any player we’ve considered seriously, I’ve had a video conference call with.”

He’s stressed to potential players that joining the Hearts means signing up to bring energy on the field and also wants to “be the best example of this club every time” they are in the public.

“We’re actually turning a lot of people away who are really excited about this project,” Murphy said. “It hasn’t been hard to recruit.”

Murphy, 54, was a two-time interim coach with Orlando at the MLS level – the top tier in American soccer – and spent the two seasons as the head coach at St. Louis City 2 in the MLS Next Pro league. A former collegiate player at Southern New Hampshire University (then New Hampshire College) and head coach at the University of Southern Maine in 1999, Murphy has also coached at the USL Championship and USL League One levels. USL1 is a third-tier pro league.

The Hearts of Pine will begin their first season in USL1 in mid-March. The league’s 2025 schedule is expected to be released later this week. Portland will likely play several matches on the road before its home opener at Fitzpatrick Stadium, probably in May.

The club is in the process of investing over $2.5 million to renovate city-owned Fitzpatrick Stadium, including new artificial turf, improved lighting, and two modular locker rooms. The visiting locker room will be available for Portland High and public use.

USL players’ minimum compensation in 2025 is $2,200 per month over a 10-month (Feb. 1-Nov. 30) season, per the current collective bargaining agreement between USL League One and the USL Players’ Association. Compensation can include salary and any payment by the club for housing and transportation, health insurance, and signing or guaranteed bonuses. Clubs must have at least 15 professional players under a guaranteed contract within two weeks of the start of the regular season.

Murphy said he has the leeway to negotiate higher salaries – within the club’s budget.

“I have a budget, and however I want to spend that budget is my choice, as long as I’m abiding by the minimum salary,” Murphy said.

Part of that budget could be spent on transfer fees if the Hearts go after a player currently under contract with another club.

“If a player plays for another team, the process is usually, I will reach out to the players’ agent to see if we can get a deal done (in principal),” Murphy said. If a deal seems agreeable to player, agent, and the Hearts, “then it’s going to the club and asking ‘What will it take to get this player out of your club?’ We haven’t paid any transfer fees yet. We are about to enter into a discussion with a European club.”