Austin Aztex - Most popular for 2008
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Austin, Texas is the home to the newest USL First-Division expansion team, the Austin Aztex. The
new club will begin play in 2009 and is also owned by Phil Rawlins. Rawlins also owns Stoke City FC
who play in the English Championship League. Not surprisingly, the two teams will work together as
far as players are concerned.
In the wake of the Austin Aztex' announcement that Everton Hall of Famer Adrian Heath (see the
Soccernet story here) is going to be the team's new head coach, I got to wondering about the future
of the United Soccer Leagues and it's ultimate relationship to MLS. The future I see is a bright
one, not just for the USL, but also, ultimately for MLS and teams, or at least those who choose to
exploit it, around the world.
Seven years after MLS folded the Tampa Bay Mutiny, a move that caused many to predict the sudden
demise of the league, professional soccer is returning thanks to a new USL First Division squad.
The new team will begin play next season.
This announcement comes one day after 'Hillsborough County commissioners gave limited approval to
building a $15 million soccer complex and stadium at a site to be determined' but a spokesperson
for the team says the two are unrelated as the owners want to build their own stadium in northwest
Tampa.
Here come the Austin Aztex -- the newest United Soccer Leagues team, who will play in the First
Division, itself one rung below Major League Soccer in the American soccer pyramid. Affiliated to
England's Stoke City, they represent the latest move in the internationalisation of the USL -- is
this good for American soccer?
One little historical oddity is that it's always been unclear just where the Aztec nation came from
before claiming what came to be Mexico as their home. Legends refer to them coming from the north.
Well, the Aztecs may have gone south, but the Aztex are coming north next year.
According to multiple sources, but I'll link to my favorites The Offside Rules and the official
announcement, brand new side the Austin Aztex will start play in the United Soccer Leagues (USL)
First Division beginning in the 2009 season.
Somewhere along the line, I lost track of the fact that the Houston Leones, a member of the USL's
Premier Development League, will take the field for the first time ever in 2008. They'll play just
32 miles southwest of downtown in Richmond, which, as part of southern Fort Bend County, is one of
the fastest growing areas not only of Houston, but also of the entire nation.
The endless talk of MLS expansion is a fun game, but it is not the only one it town. The USL-First
Division is also looking at increasing their numbers, which brings us to Edmond (just north of
Oklahoma City), Oklahoma.
The league recently sent a letter to the mayor concerning their interesting in placing a team in
the city for 2009, they just need to find some interested investors.
