Nyal Christian-Anthony Higgins (born January 19, 1998) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays for York United FC in the Canadian Premier League. He plays as a centre-back.
In 2016, he attended Oakland University, playing for the Golden Grizzlies soccer team. As a freshman, he was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team and the NSCAA All-Great Lakes Regional Third Team. In his sophomore and junior seasons, he was named to the All-Horizon League Second Team.[1] In 2019, he transferred to Syracuse University to play for the Syracuse Orange soccer team.[2]
During the 2016 and 2018 seasons, he played with Vaughan Azzurri in League1 Ontario.[3] In 2017, he played with the Michigan Bucks in the Premier Development League.[4] In 2018, he trained with three Major League Soccer clubs - Sporting Kansas City, Columbus Crew SC, and Nashville SC.[5] He later trained with Toronto FC in 2019.[6]
He was selected 19th overall by Toronto FC in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft.[7] He attended pre-season with the club, but ultimately did not make the final roster for 2020.[8] In July, he signed a USL contract with the second-team Toronto FC II.[9] He was soon after sent on loan to Nyköpings BIS in the Swedish third tier, following TFC II's withdrawal from the 2020 USL League One season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] He scored his first goal on November 21, in a 7-1 defeat to IF Brommapojkarna.[11] He made his debut for Toronto FC II on May 22, 2021 against North Texas SC.[12]
In August 2021, Higgins joined Canadian Premier League side Atlético Ottawa on loan.[13][14] He made his debut in a substitute appearance, on August 25, against Forge FC.[15]
In February 2022, he signed a contract with FC Edmonton in the Canadian Premier League.[16]
In 2023, he returned to Vaughan Azzurri.[17] He was named a league Second Team All-Star at the end of the season.[18]
In April 2024, he signed a one-year contract with a club option for 2025 with York United FC in the Canadian Premier League.[19][20] He scored his first CPL goal on September 6, 2024, in a 1-0 victory over Vancouver FC.[21][22] At the end of the 2024 season, the club picked up his option for 2025.[23]
He was a member of the U-18 and U-20 Canada national team talent pools.[24]
| Club | Season | League | Playoffs | Domestic Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Vaughan Azzurri[26] | 2016 | League1 Ontario | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | ? | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Michigan Bucks[27] | 2017 | PDL | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |
| Vaughan Azzurri[28] | 2018 | League1 Ontario | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Toronto FC II | 2021 | USL League One | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| Nyköpings BIS (loan) | 2020 | Ettan Norra | 17 | 1 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 19 | 1 | ||
| Atlético Ottawa (loan) | 2021 | Canadian Premier League | 8 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | ||
| FC Edmonton | 2022 | Canadian Premier League | 24 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 25 | 0 | ||
| Vaughan Azzurri | 2023[17] | League1 Ontario | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 21 | 0 | |
| York United FC | 2024 | Canadian Premier League | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 19 | 0 | |
| Career total | 108 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 118 | 1 | ||
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