Let's get the obvious out of the way up front, shall we? There is not currently, nor has there ever been, a full, traditional system of on-field-merit-based promotion and relegation in any American pro soccer endeavor that I'm aware of[1].

With that said, the essence of promotion and relegation, the ability to move between levels of a nebulous pyramid, does exist, and has for more than a decade[2].

Richmond Kicker Press Release:
KICKERS ANNOUNCE PRESEASON SCHEDULE Local Favorites, NCAA Champions and ACC Powerhouse Featured
RICHMOND, VA – (Monday, January 30, 2012) – The Richmond Kickers are pleased to announce the 2012 preseason schedule, featuring games against local favorites Virginia Commonwealth University on Saturday, March 3 and NCAA National Champions University of North Carolina Chapel Hill on Saturday, March 17 at the state-of-the-art sports complex, Ukrop Park.

The 2012 Chicago Fire season is almost here. The 2012 Chicago Fire preseason starts on Wednesday if you count the players reporting for physicals as preseason. The team will start actually training in Ave Maria, Florida on January 20. Preseason scrimmages on the calendar include January 29 vs. D.

U.S. Soccer Communications
The 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup begins May 15, and with the 99th edition comes a multitude of changes. For lower-division teams, the most significant is the random selection process for determining home teams from the first round through the quarterfinals.
In previous years, all teams pursued this opportunity through a bidding process.

Date Opponent Time 4/7 at Charlotte Eagles 7:00 pm 4/15 vs. Wilmington Hammerheads 6:00 pm 4/21 at Richmond Kickers 7:00 pm 4/28 vs. Richmond Kickers 7:30 pm 5/5 vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds 7:30 pm 5/11 at Antigua Barracuda FC 7:00 pm 5/13 at Antigua Barracuda FC 4:30 pm 5/24 vs.

Richmond Kickers News Release:
RICHMOND, VA – (Wednesday, January 11, 2012) – The Richmond Kickers are pleased to announce the 2012 professional schedule, opening their 20th Anniversary season against longtime rival Charleston Battery on Saturday, April 7 at 5:00 p.m. As one of the three longest tenured professional soccer clubs in the United States, the Kickers will celebrate 20 years alongside the Battery and the Charlotte Eagles in 2012.

The New England Revolution today announced the additions of three members to new head coach Jay Heaps' staff. Jay Miller joins Heaps as his primary assistant, while former Revolution defender Nick Downing was named strength and conditioning coach and Scott Emmens was hired as the team's equipment manager.

He recommended I go play for the Charleston Battery in the USL, and have them keep tabs on me. He mentioned in his speech at the end that the Sounders had a kid they drafted who didn't do too well in his first year, so he went to Charleston and really played well, and now he's back with them.

By Sharon Hom
The Kansas Magic bolstered their roster this week by adding 2 players familiar to followers of college and indoor soccer in the Kansas City area. Both locals participated in the Missouri Comets' invitational tryouts prior to the 2010/2011 season.
Midfielder/Forward James Katajwa played at Park University (MO) and was named to the 2007/2008 PASL All-Star team during his 3 years with the Kansas City Kings.

October 20, 2011–Brandon Massie will return home to play soccer and goes down Norfolk SharX history as the team's first-ever signing. He'll also get to celebrate his 25th birthday a few days early.

Massie, who played high school soccer at Hickory and collegiately at Virginia Wesleyan–where he is also an assistant coach–will be on the field Nov.

October 20, 2011–Brandon Massie will return home to play soccer and goes down Norfolk SharX history as the team's first-ever signing. He'll also get to celebrate his 25th birthday a few days early.

Massie, who played high school soccer at Hickory and collegiately at Virginia Wesleyan–where he is also an assistant coach–will be on the field Nov.

The Syracuse Silver Knights are looking to make a serious splash in their inaugural season as they continue to build their roster. Most recently the Silver Knights announced the signing of Andriy Budnyy, a Ukrainian forward who recently played for USL Pro Club Wilmington Hammerheads.

The Syracuse Silver Knights are looking to make a serious splash in their inaugural season as they continue to build their roster. Most recently the Silver Knights announced the signing of Andriy Budnyy, a Ukrainian forward who recently played for USL Pro Club Wilmington Hammerheads.

When Osvaldo Alonso signed with the Seattle Sounders back in the fall of 2008 it was coming off a season with the Charleston Battery that wasn't just impressive, but amazing. He was the team Player of Year, led the team to a US Open Cup Final appearance (after beating Seattle in the semis), USL-1 Rookie of Year, scored seven goals and assisted on seven more.

Lamar Neagle has broken onto the scene this season in Major League Soccer. After taking time to develop in the USL-2 with the Charleston Battery, Neagle returned to his home state to play for the Seattle Sounders. This season has become a career year for the winger/forward. We checked in with Lamar to ask about everything from the Open Cup to the locker room antics.

Lamar Neagle has broken onto the scene this season in Major League Soccer. After taking time to develop in the USL-2 with the Charleston Battery, Neagle returned to his home state to play for the Seattle Sounders. This season has become a career year for the winger/forward. We checked in with Lamar to ask about everything from the Open Cup to the locker room antics.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

The quarterfinals of the USL Pro playoffs passed with only a marginal upset over the course of the weekend.

The Wilmington Hammerheads' late-season hot streak did them little good in the end as they succumbed on penalty kicks to early-season favorite Richmond.

Monday, August 22th 8PM EDT - 5PM PDT
Guests:Chris Enger of the RSL Show discusses Real Salt Lake
Mikey Buytus discusses Charleston Battery of the USL Pro League in the Playoffs
NASL Segment: Reviewing the Week of Games
Red Bulls Hour: Re-Capping the Road game At New England Revolution

2011-12 CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage Round 2 Review
Friday, August 26th 8PM EDT - 5PM PDT
Guests: Duane Rollins of the 24th minute Blog on Toronto
Patrick Quinn on Colorado
Adam Serrano of Soccer By Ives on Los Angeles
Dave Clark of Sounder By Heart on Seattle
Daniel Robertson of Big D Soccer on FC Dallas

No related posts.

The final USL Pro playoff berth wasn't decided until the final whistle of last Friday's USL Pro Game of the Week on FOX Soccer. Here are the highlights of the Charleston Battery's 4-3 win over the Charlotte Eagles, one that included a two-goal, Player of the Week performance by the Battery's Mike Zaher:

The playoffs begin Friday, with Rochester hosting Pittsburgh, Wilmington hosting Richmond and Los Angeles traveling to Harrisburg.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

After 20 weeks of regular season play, the playoff picture in the USL Pro came into focus in dramatic fashion with a flurry of high-scoring games.

The Charlotte Eagles failed to lock up a playoff spot with a mid-week loss to the Harrisburg City Islanders and fell late in a 4-3 shootout with Charleston, which would claim the final post-season berth in the American Division.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

After holding a dominating lead going into its nearly three week break, Orlando City S.C. finds itself with a serious contender breathing down its neck.

The Wilmington Hammerheads won twice over the weekend in convincing fashion to put themselves within three points of the American Division Leaders.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Just as it looked like Orlando City is poised to run away with the American Division, the mid-season leaders go winless over a weekend.

In a move that is becoming all too common among division leaders, Orlando gained just one point from two games over the weekend with a scoreless draw against the woeful Dayton Dutch Lions and a 1-0 loss to the Charleston Battery.

The U.S. Open Cup is a tradition that dates back to 1914. The City of Chicago has been around since 1837. The Chicago Fire were founded in 1997. It's a little crazy to think about but the founding of Chicago is chronologically closer to the beginning of the U.S. Open Cup than the founding of the soccer club we call our own.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

There was no shortage of action during the holiday weekend as the USL Pro packed 10 games into four days.

Despite the glut of games, everything is pretty much as it was in the races for the division titles as Orlando City padded its massive lead in the American Division and Rochester clings to a three-point lead over on the National side.

Partnership equals profit.
The debate will always rage between the fans of a European game and the MLS system faithful: the debate of relegation. This article is not about that. Relegation is not a reality in modern American soccer, so let it rest. Instead the focus is on the relationship between Major League Soccer (MLS) and the second tier North American Soccer League (NASL).

FC Dallas midfielder Eric Avila may soon be playing in Mexico.

Avila is on his way to Guadalajara to potentially seal a six-month loan to Primera Division side Atlas, FC Dallas announced on Friday. Should he join Atlas, he would be the second MLS player to go there this season after Chicago sold Gaston Puerari to Atlas a couple of weeks ago.

Philadelphia Union head coach Piotr Nowak and assistant coach John Hackworth head a team of front office staff members that looks to defeat a Sons of Ben team for charity.

The Union released the bigger names on their River Cup team, with Nowak and Hackworth the most notable names on the list.

A few days late (I was on vacation, sue me), but here are the highlights from last week's USL Pro Game of the Week between the Wilmington Hammerheads and Charleston Battery on FOX Soccer.

This week (tomorrow night, actually) we're in New York as FC New York hosts Antigua Barracuda FC.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

If the rest of the American Division isn't careful, Orlando City could wrap up the division title before the end of July.

A couple of weekend wins saw Orlando City move 10 points clear of the Richmond Kickers. Richmond does have three games in hand but a scoreless draw with FC New York highlights the early-season leaders inconsistent form.

Photo by David Leah/ISIphotos.com

Between the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the European U-21 championships and the FIFA Women's World Cup there's plenty of international soccer to satisfy the soccer fan's craving, but one matchup this weekend that's not in any of those competitions will have everybody's attention, at least in North America.

Photo by John Todd/ISIphotos.com

So long, Qwest Field. Hello, CenturyLink Field.

The home stadium for the Seattle Sounders has undergone a name change, with CenturyLink replacing Qwest. A press conference will be held on Thursday during which the new logo will be unveiled.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With Antigua on hiatus and Orlando drawing with Wilmington, Richmond had an opportunity to mount a charge in the American Division.

Unfortunately for the Kickers, a 1-0 defeat to the Harrisburg City Islanders saw them fall to six points behind Orlando.

Here are highlights from our second USL Pro Game of the Week broadcast on Fox Soccer over the weekend. We had a great atmosphere and pretty exciting game in Orlando between City and the Wilmington Hammerheads.

This week we travel to Wilmington, North Carolina as the Hammerheads take on the Charleston Battery.

Due to high demand (1 person asked) we are going to run a 2011 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup contest. The unique nature of this tournament makes an NCAA style bracket is impossible; hosts aren't known throughout the tournament and we still don't know match-ups for the eight MLS teams that will enter the contest in the Third Round.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Orlando City took advantage of its rivals being on hiatus during the weekend to increase its lead in the ultra-competitive American Division to seven points.

Orlando scored three times in the second half to earn a comeback victory over a Wilmington team that was riding a four-game unbeaten streak.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

The Richmond Kickers' fall from grace continued with a 1-1 draw to FC New York on Saturday.

Richmond is winless in four games after starting the season with a six-game winning streak. The Kickers find themselves three points behind Orlando City with no games in hand.

Starting in the Pacific Northwest of the PDL where the Kitsap Pumas and Portland Timbers U-23 wind up their US Open Cup Qualifying perfectly tied. Tuesday there will be a coin flip to determine which team gets to compete for the Open Cup and a potential regional Third Round match with the Seattle Sounders.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

With their closest rivals on hiatus, the Richmond Kickers are looking to take advantage.

A midweek loss to Orlando City put the Floridians into pole position in the American Division, a place Richmond has occupied since the first week of the season.

Another week of former Wizards updates. A day late after the Sporting KC home game last night. The European season is winding down, and another former Wizard has appeared. Diego Walsh has apparently signed with the Charleston Battery, meaning there are 3 former Wizards playing in Charleston as he joins Stephen Armstrong and John Wilson.

CHARLESTON, SC – The Richmond Kickers (6-1-1, 19 points) suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the Charleston Battery (4-4-2, 14 points) on a steamy Tuesday night at Blackbaud...
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