SANDY, Utah – Real Salt Lake announced on Friday that it has traded DF Lovel Palmer to the Chicago Fire in exchange for allocation money. Per league and club policy, the amount of allocation money exchanged will not be disclosed.
“I’d like to thank Lovel on behalf of the Real Salt Lake organization for his contributions to the team,” RSL GM Garth Lagerwey said. “He was an important part of our on-field success and a very good presence in the locker room this year. We wish him all the best in Chicago.”
Palmer spent one year with RSL, appearing 17 times and making 14 starts in regular season play and making 21 appearances and 16 starts across all competitions. The 29-year-old Jamaican was selected by RSL on Dec. 14, 2012 in Stage 2 of the MLS Re-Entry Draft and signed a contract with the team several weeks later.
“Real Salt Lake will always have a special place in my heart,” Palmer said. “I wouldn’t trade this last season with RSL for anything. If someone said to me at the beginning of the year that we would do it all over again, that RSL and Sporting Kansas City would be in MLS Cup and Kansas City would win, I wouldn’t trade teams. I wouldn’t trade the Real Salt Lake experience for the MLS Cup. That’s how much being with RSL, being in Salt Lake City and in Utah meant to me. It’s a bittersweet moment knowing I won’t be in that locker room again next year, but at the same time I’m excited to be with the Fire and stay with [Chicago Assistant Coach and former RSL Assistant] C.J. Brown. Joining Chicago is a very exciting opportunity and I’m really looking forward to being with the Fire.”
Palmer appeared in three of RSL’s MLS Cup Playoff games this year, twice coming on for injured DF Chris Wingert and starting the second leg of the Claret-and-Cobalt’s Western Conference Championship series win at the Portland Timbers on Nov. 24. Palmer has 24 career caps for the Jamaican National Team.
Player: Lovel Palmer
Position: Defender
Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 160 lbs.
Date of Birth: Aug. 20, 1984
Birthplace: Mandeville, Jamaica
Citizenship: Jamaica (U.S. Green Card Holder)
How acquired: Selected in the first round of Stage 2 of the MLS Re-Entry Draft on Dec. 14, 2012. Signed to a contract with RSL on Jan. 3, 2013.
How departed: Traded to the Chicago Fire in exchange for allocation money on Dec. 13, 2013.
