Heidelberg United and Melbourne City have made respective moves for NPL Tasmania pair Pasquale Gioffre and Jacob Collard with the Olympia FC Warriors pair departing the club just four rounds into their season.
Collard – an ex-captain of the Perth Glory Youth team – is a versatile defender, most comfortable on the right of defence, but also capable of playing in a central role.
The 21-year-old will be a familiar face for Melbourne audiences, having made a second senior appearance for the Glory against City earlier in 2016.
In that game, the youngster departed the field just beyond the hour mark, sent off for a second bookable offence.
He made his debut for the club with a start in the 3-1 loss to Adelaide United, having impressed in his four season’s within the Perth NYL set-up, a side he won two Most Glorious NYL Player (MVP) awards with in 2014 and 2015.
Collard initially made headlines for becoming the first homegrown player of indigenous descent to make an appearance for the Perth Glory first team.
He links up with Melbourne City to add depth to their Championship tilt, as they prepare for an Elimination Final, ironically against the Glory.
Young Western Australian shot-stopper Gioffre joins Heidelberg United, having only signed with the Warriors at the beginning of the 2016 season.
A former ECU Joondalup junior, the talented keeper was also a former Australian Under 13’s representative, where he plied his trade with Socceroo Danny De Silva, and NPL Victoria players Jordan Brown, Milos Ridesic and Dimitar Mitkov.
“It is with regret that I wish to inform the football public that Jacob Collard and Pasquale Gioffre will no longer be a part of Olympia FC.” said Warriors President George Mamacas in a statement on their Facebook page.
“The club was aware upon signing them that this could be a possibility given the respective ability of these two talented players.
“The club wishes them both well in their future footballing endeavours.”