Article content“Then I went to Loudoun (of the USL Championship) and that was also really good. Again, I was in a very different setup than I was used to. They were a very high-possession team and I was playing with a lot of ex-MLS guys and guys who had won in the USL before. So it was the same thing, just learning from them and learning from the coaching staff there. Looking at it, maybe I didn’t break through to the MLS at the time but that’s OK because it was very good for me as a person and as a player to go away and get those experiences.”Article content Halifax Wanderers FC midfielder Isaiah Johnston tries to control the ball during an Oct. 4 CPL game against York United FC at the Wanderers Grounds. Photo by Trevor MacMillan /Halifax Wanderers FCArticle contentDuring the off-season after the 2024 campaign, Johnston felt he needed to reassess. He had just turned 23 and still had aspirations of playing professionally in Europe but didn’t feel like staying put was the right fit. What he wanted most was to play big minutes and in a key role so he reconsidered the CPL.Article content“At the time where I was mentally and my position on the team in Loudoun, it didn’t really feel like I was going to get the game time that I needed at such a crucial point of my career,” he said. “At 22, 23, 24, 25 years old, you need to be playing games and getting in-game experience and I don’t think that I was getting that consistently at Loudoun. I was starting but I was in and out of the team so there wasn’t much consistency.Article contentArticle content“When the opportunity to come to the Wanderers was presented to me, I knew (coach Patrice Gheisar) and the teams that he’d coached (in Ontario) so playing for him was something that interested me. And then just being in the league before and coming to Halifax and coming to the Wanderers Grounds for games, you’d see the city and the fans and the stadium and it’s a grass field so just everything about the club had always appealed to me from what I saw before when I was in the league.Article content“So when the conversation came up and I was speaking to (club sporting director) Matt Fegan and (senior strategy adviser) Mark Watson and Pat — all of the guys around the club — I could see a very clear vision. They made the playoffs with Pat the first time two years ago and I felt like getting to have a playoff game at the Wanderers Grounds or winning something with the Wanderers fans, that’s something that every soccer player or athlete in general dreams about. The idea of winning something with that amazing fanbase and everything I saw from the club at the time, it really felt like a stars aligning kind of moment.”Article contentArticle contentAnd when it ultimately came time to consider Halifax’s two-year contract offer seriously, Johnston went back even deeper into his memory back to clinch it. When he said he went to school for a year before turning pro, he’s talking about an outstanding 2019 season with the Cape Breton Capers. He was the AUS rookie of the year and loved everything about his time in the province.Article content“To be completely honest, growing up I didn’t know a lot about Nova Scotia or what was on the East Coast,” Johnston said. “I kind of just knew my area where I lived and wherever I travelled for soccer. But when I was choosing where to go to university, I visited Cape Breton with my dad and my uncle and I really enjoyed it. I really liked the coaching staff and we thought it was a good place to be to really focus on my development as a player and a person.Article content“Nova Scotia was the first place that I ever really left home and where I started my adult life so now that I’m back, it’s kind of funny how it works. And I remember in Cape Breton in our pre-season, the Wanderers had a bye week so we played them in our first pre-season game so it’s crazy to be back here now and look back at it.”
Wanderers’ Isaiah Johnston winds his way back to Nova Scotia where he’ll face old team in critical playoff game
