HERRIMAN, Utah (Monday, November 25, 2024) - Real Monarchs announced today that goalkeeper Fernando Delgado has been transferred to USL Championship side Birmingham Legion. Monarchs leadership thanks Delgado for his service to the Club and wish him the best in his future endeavors.
Delgado, 18, returns to Birmingham permanently, rejoining the Legion following a midseason loan spell with the team after spending most of the 2024 season with the Monarchs. In his first of three appearances with the Legion during a short-term loan this April/May, Delgado earned the clean sheet in a 1-0 win over Miami FC on April 20. Delgado would conclude his time on the pitch with Birmingham in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32, the Legion falling to the Tampa Bay Rowdies 6-4.
The Mexican-American goalkeeper - one who has been selected to represent the Mexican Youth National Team on multiple occasions - matriculated through the RSL pipeline, appearing for the RSL Academy prior to signing his first professional contract with the Monarchs in August, 2022. Delgado became the youngest goalkeeper to make his professional debut at 15 years, 2 months and 22 days in October, 2021, when he started for the Monarchs in a 4-3 win over former USL Championship side Austin Bold.
In 12 starts for the Claret-and-Cobalt MLSNP side this season, Delgado notched 21 saves en route to 2 clean sheets. With the goalkeeper position taking a larger role of building out of the back in Monarchs Head Coach Mark Lowry’s tactical shift, Delgado completed a professional career-high 85.1% of his passes this season, including a 46.7% long ball completion in 1079 minutes of 2024 MLS NEXT Pro competition.
Real Monarchs (9-12-7, 39pts, 9th West) completed its third MLS NEXT PRO season tied for eighth at the playoff line, a tiebreaker ultimately decided by a head-to-head, 2-1 loss to Houston Dynamo 2 on May 8 leaving the Monarchs out of the postseason. Real Monarchs finished the second half of its season averaging 1.92 ppg (fifth-best in the league during that time) under Lowry, in his first year with the club.
