Major League Soccer has hit the 5 million mark for attendance this season with a few weeks to go. MLS has also been averaging around 18,500 per game this season.
MLS's highest season attendance averages were 17,872 in 2011 and 17,406 in its inaugural season of 1996. Obviously the more clubs the league has added, the higher the attendance overall.
Yesterday we saw the departure of Troy Perkins to the Montreal Impact. Truth is, he was a great
player who both really loved the team and the city that we all endear so much. It's for this reason
that he became such a huge fan favorite here in Portland, even if he wasn't the best keeper in
recent months.
United's new investors make a record deal yesterday for MLS. (Photo by: Patrick McDermott/Getty
Images)
Yesterday's big news with D.C. United made waves across the land. Erick Thohir and Jason Levien
purchased ownership stakes in D.C. United from Will Chang and according to reports have even taken
over the majority stake in the club from Chang.
The first few months of the Montreal Impact's inaugural season in MLS have been both exciting
and frustrating. Last Wednesday, I grabbed my camera and took a trip up to Montreal with a good
friend. We took in the Canadian derby between Montreal and Toronto FC.
Maurice Edu has been the go-to guy for the folks here in Toronto, the midfielder returning to the
city where he began his professional career.
Edu on the field against Italy on February 29th, 2012
Selected as the No. 1 pick in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft, Edu appeared 25 times in his inaugural
season and went on to earn MLS Rookie of the Year honors.
The Philadelphia Union will have their third ever captain soon, as their current one will be on
the move.
A trade offer for Califf was acknowledged by the Union brass after today's 3-2 loss to the New
York Red Bulls. Head coach Peter Nowak and Sporting Director Diego Gutierrez both mentioned that
the Union were mulling over a proposal for Califf.
Week five of the 2012 MLS season has come and gone and the biggest story going into week 6 has
to be the struggling LA Galaxy, who dropped yet another game, this time to red hot Sporting Kansas
City. While LA continue to try and find answers, the Montreal Impact found some, getting their
first ever MLS win, defeating a tired Toronto squad.
Chicago Soul FC Announce Inaugural Season Schedule Home opener set for Friday, December 7 at Sears
Centre Arena HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL - The Chicago Soul FC of the Major Indoor Soccer...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more!
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Philly Soccer Page's series of fan posts continues now on a weekly
basis. This week, we feature a missive from Lori Bilyou, who is currently serving
in Afghanistan with the Delaware National Guard. Lori wrote this Saturday, before Philadelphia
Union's big win over Kansas City.
A nine-man Mass United FC gave the Rhode Island Reds a run for their money in Saturday's 3-2
loss.
CRANSTON, R.I. Despite playing with a two-man advantage, it took a Wilder Arboleda 63rd minute
goal to keep the Reds ahead in Saturday's 3-2 win over Mass United FC at Cranston Stadium.
After a scoreless first half, a nine-man Mass United, who started two players short due to
injuries, broke the scoreless tie when backup keeper-turned-midfielder Baboucarr Njie tallied in
the 50th minute.
Date: Sunday, June 2, 2012 Time: 5:00 PM Venue: Northeast High School Charles Martin Memorial Stadium, 1601 Cottman Avenue,
Philadelphia, PA 19111
Coverage of Junior Lone Star's National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) inaugural season home
opener starts just before kick-off on the team's CoveritLive channel.
While Saturday's match against Pocono Snow was postponed due to thunderstorms, Junior Lone Star
returns to action on Tuesday in National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) play on Tuesday when they
face Jersey City Eagles at 7:45pm (Cavens Point Sports Complex's Cochrane Stadium Jersey City,
NJ.)
Match coverage of the game starts just before kick-off with the Star's CoveritLive thread As
the game unfolds, you can post your comments in the CoveritLive thread or on the team's Twitter
feed.
The weekend of May 18-20 will be one to forget for the Stars as they started their inaugural
season in the National Premier Soccer League with two successive losses.
FC Sonic 2–0 Junior Lone Star
In their league opener on Friday, May 18th, the Stars traveled to Bethlehem, PA where they lost
0-2 to FC Sonic.
The Reds hosted preseason tryouts in Seekonk, Mass. with the hope of finding players hungry to
contribute during the team's inaugural season. (Photo: Rhode Island Reds FC)
After a three-year hiatus, semi-pro soccer officially returns to the Ocean State on Saturday
when the expansion Rhode Island Reds FC kick off their inaugural season against the Brooklyn
Italians at Cranston Stadium.
Mike Woitalla of Soccer America writes of how the Seattle Sounders, who lead MLS in attendance for
the fourth straight year, has seen it's attendance grow to the point that it now competes among the
best clubs and leagues in the world.
The Sounders have led the MLS in attendnace for the past four years, dating back to their inaugural
2009 season, and now average nearly 40,000 fans.
Soccertown USA honors hometown soccer heroes Fritz Schmid and son, Sigi Schmid: From left, Torrance
Mayor Frank Scotto; long-time AYSO referee Fritz Schmid; Valerie Schmid, wife of Seattle Sounders
coach Sigi Schmid, an original AYSO player in the inaugural season in 1964; and Roland Schmid, of
Seattle, Sigi's brother, are
Two of the newest MLS franchises are extending the league's presence in the U.S. Soccer
Development Academy.
U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the Portland Timbers and Montreal Impact have been approved
to have teams entered into the Development Academy, giving MLSÂ 17 teams in the 80-team academy
system.
Portland's Jason Massie scored in the second minute and the Phoenix never looked back in
Saturday's 5-0 thrashing of the Victory at Scarborough High School.
Massie early goal gave way to strikes from Eric Anderson (10′), Ben Havey (18′), Keegan
Ziada (76′) and Andrew Jones (82′). Goalkeepers Terence Dieterich and Aidan McParland combined
for the clean sheet while Boston's Joao Santos and Portland's Rory Kennedy were shown red cards in
the 53rd minute.
Worcester's Eric Robertson and Michael Bustamante both scored to lead the Hydra to a 2-0 win
over the Phantoms in Saturday's season finale at Portsmouth High School.
Robertson opened the account in the 60th minute the while Bustamante added an insurance goal in
stoppage time to lead the Hydra to their sixth win of the season.
Boston Victory Soccer Club announced this morning via press release that they have signed former
New England Revolution midfielder Andrew Sousa. Sousa will be joining the new USL Premier
Development League (PDL) side for their upcoming inaugural season.
Sousa, a Providence College product and Fall River, Mass.
Cara Joftis has been the  VP of Marketing for the Union since September, 2009. Prior to
joining the club, she was Vice President of Sponsorships and Brand Promotions at Citizens Bank for
more than six years. She managed brand presence and messaging  for Citizens Bank properties in
13 states, including Citizens Bank Park.
On March 29, 2009 the WPS kicked off its inaugural season with a nationally televised match-up
at the Home Depot Center. Pitting the Los Angeles Sol against the Washington Freedom, the opening
match featured Brazilian star Marta and U.S. National Team scorer Abby Wambach. At the time, this
site was just over one month old and covering the birth of the league was a natural fit.
Head coach Kabba Joof and his Rhode Island Reds claimed their first win in franchise history
in Sunday's 3-1 win over the Seacoast United Phantoms.
Diego Tabares (18′), Pedro Mendes (30′) and Paulo Mendes (81′) all scored for the Reds
(1-1-1, 4 points) while Jimmy Petruccelli (44′) pulled one back for the Phantoms (0-2-1, 1
point) at Cranston Stadium.
Union's Nowak waiting for league's verdict on suspension - delcotimes.com
"I don't want to really go into details before the situation (arrives) with the verdict," Nowak
said Wednesday during his weekly meeting with the media. "We want to see what happens. Going into
details won't change that.
The Philadelphia Fever, one the Women's Premier Soccer League Elite League's newest teams, have
signed four new players in Megan Minix, Laura Di Clemente, Kelsey Haycook and Cherie Sayon. These
four signings come off the heals of the Fever's first two signings back in mid March; Defender
Leanne Champ and midfielder Brittany Baldwin.
While the ending to the 2012 season didn't turn out quite like many who support FC Dallas had hoped it would, with FCD making the playoffs for a third straight year, one big highlight of the season was the strong support the club received. The final tally saw Dallas draw more fans than every year in franchise history except for 1996, the club's inaugural season.
The big business story coming out yesterday was the announcement that the perennially disappointing Toronto FC soccer team would roll back its season ticket prices to 2007 levels. 2007 was the team's inaugural season and the team has yet to pull off a winning season. Until this season, the team's season ticket base has been resilient, but the persistent losing finally took a toll on ticket sales in 2012.
The Inaugural season for the San Antonio Scorpions came to a close this weekend, as the Alamo city fell 2-1 at home (2-1 aggregate) to defending champion Minnesota Stars in the semifinals. A 21st minute red card was given to golden boot winner Pablo Campos, who had earlier given them the lead, after a head butt during an altercation.
Sydney may have just provided the A-League with a life-saving shot in the arm after they secured
the signature of Italy legends Alessandro Del Piero.
The 37-year-old was a free agent after leaving Juventus in the summer and Sydney officials have
worked hard to bring this sensational deal to fruition.
The Portland Phoenix finished off the PDL regular season by crushing the Boston Victory, 5-0, in
front of a reported 225 at Scarborough High School.
The Phoenix (10-4-2, 32 points) had already clinched second place in the Northeast Division and
a playoff spot heading into the match, while the loss means the Victory (3-11-2, 11 points), finish
their inaugural season in last place in the eight team division.
A pair of Bavarian SC boys teams closed out the inaugural season of U.S. Club Soccer's National
Premier Leagues with victories on the final day of the Midwest Developmental League playoffs Sunday
in Libertyville, Ill.
The Bavarians slipped past the Madison 56ers 1-0 in Under-15 action, while the club's Under-16
side rolled past the Chicago Magic 4-0.
In 1996 Mark Dodd was named Pepsi Goalkeeper of the Year for MLS, an outstanding achievement in
MLS' inaugural season. His 1997 season was even better. If you never say him, let me just tell you
that Mark Dodd was a heck of a keeper.
The Dynamo will enter the group stages of the 2012/13 CONCACF Champions League later this year
in Group with Olimpia (Honduras) and FAS (El Salvador). Considering some of the big fish lurking in
the water, this is a pretty favorable draw for the Dynamo. That doesn't mean it'll be easy, but
it's better than ending up against Santos Laguna or Tigres.
On Saturday, Junior Lone Star are on the road again, this time to face Pocono Snow FC in
National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) play (7:00pm – East Stroudsburg University, East
Stroudsburg, PA). Match coverage of the game starts just before kick-off with the Star's
CoveritLive thread As the game unfolds, you can post your comments in the CoveritLive thread or on
the team's Twitter feed.
At this time last year, the Portland Timbers were just eight games into their inaugural season,
and they were already creating a reputation for a dangerous ability to score goals off corner kicks
and free kicks.
By May 8 the Timbers had scored eleven goals, seven from set pieces. Portland's next game came
against Seattle, when Futty Danso famously got his head above Kasey Keller's outstretched mitts and
redirected Jack Jewsbury's long free kick for the score.
The New England Mutiny added six more players to its roster on Tuesday in preparation for its
inaugural season.
Goalkeeper Vikki Alonzo, forward Kate Howarth, defender Zoe Lombard, defender Casey Morrison,
defender/forward Toni Pressley and forward/midfielder Lauren Reilly were added to the Mutiny
roster.
D.C. United aims to end one dubious streak Wednesday night, while Sporting Kansas City looks to
keep their impressive one intact.
That is what's on the line in two mid-week MLS matches, as D.C. hosts the Montreal Impact and
Sporting Kansas City leaves the confines of Livestrong Sporting Park, heading north to face the
Vancouver Whitecaps.
As this season winds towards its end, one small town in Suffolk's football club is continuing
its upward trajectory. Needham Market FC are in the play-off places in the Ryman League Division
One North, only sixteen years after they were still competing in the amateur Suffolk & Ipswich
League. Andy Ollerenshaw went to see what they're getting so right there at the
moment.
