Sacramento Republic FC announced earlier today that left back James Kiffe has re-signed with the club for the 2016 season.

Kiffe has been with the Republic his entire professional career, first joining late in the 2014 season. He quickly established himself as a starter and an important part of the team that won the 2014 USL Championship just 6 weeks after he was signed.

In 2015 Kiffe played the majority of the Republic’s games, but was benched in favor of Agustin Cazarez during the later days of original Head Coach Preki’s days in charge for reasons that were never entirely clear.

Kiffe has been impressive over his two years in Sacramento, showing off good crossing ability and a real strength when pushing forward up the left wing.

“I am delighted we’ve kept Kiffe at the club,” said current Republic FC Head Coach/Technical Director Paul Buckle in a press release. “He’s a brilliant lad to work with and a big part of what we are doing. He has a long way to go, but I mean that in the best sense. It’s because we know there is even more that we will see from him; he has already made the left back position his own.”

Republic fans will be delighted to see Kiffe return, as it means that 3 out of 4 members of the defense that conceded the fewest goals in the USL Western Conference in 2015 will be back for next year.

What do you think of the news of Kiffe’s return? Let us know in the comment section below.