The future of American soccer appears to be the past of American soccer.

It's being reported that the new breakaway league consisting of several former USL clubs has registered the name North American Soccer League, apparently with the intent of using it at launch next spring.

There are those of us old enough to remember the original NASL (if you're not, go here).

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Yesterday out at the Nike headquarters in Oregon the USL first division owners got together for a little meeting. It turns out the group does know how to play some hardball with the other group of owners known as the TOA who are planning to start their own league.

The USL called it a new era for the league, especially the first division.

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The USL is in Beverton, Oregon this week, home of Nike Soccer, the former owner and new league sponsors of the United Soccer Leagues. The teams are meeting in preparation for the Annual General Meetings that will take place in Tampa Florida in a few weeks.

According to a news article produced by the USL themselves, they are stating that Owners representing Austin, Cleveland, New York, Puerto Rico, Portland, Rochester and Tampa Bay were in attendance as well as individuals representing USL-1 Canadian expansion teams in Edmonton and Ottawa and American teams in Baltimore and Detroit were on hand.

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The USL is in Beverton, Oregon this week, home of Nike Soccer, the former owner and new league sponsors of the United Soccer Leagues. The teams are meeting in preparation for the Annual General Meetings that will take place in Tampa, Florida in a few weeks.

According to a news article produced by the USL themselves, they are stating that Owners representing Austin, Cleveland, New York, Puerto Rico, Portland, Rochester and Tampa Bay were in attendance as well as individuals representing USL-1 Canadian expansion teams in Edmonton and Ottawa and American teams in Baltimore and Detroit were on hand.

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I will hold my own personal feelings aside (I hate Man U, oops, did I say that out loud?) and report that the Tampa Bay Lightning captain, Vinny Lecavalier, stopped by Old Trafford while on vacation this off season.
You can check out the feature at the Lightning website. Pretty good stuff actually. Click to continue reading...

We are way behind on posting this, but since the last question answered has become more relevant after the events of the past couple days, it still make sense to post this.
The TBR Mailbag is a bi-weekly feature brought to you by the TBR front office to allow you, the fans, to write in and ask questions about the team, organization, and the return of professional soccer to Tampa Bay. Click to continue reading...

Our tiny little corner of the World Wide Web is all a titter because the USL office has emailed players under contract to Miami FC, Carolina, and Minnesota that their contracts have been voided. This information was broken by Brian Quarstad at Inside Minnesota Soccer.
It seems that these three ring leaders of the TOA group have not paid their fees for the 2010 season by the September 1st deadline. Click to continue reading...

Thanks to Kenn Tomasch we can now be underwhelmed with USL attendance for the 2009 regular season. Remember that the Rowdies will be in a league with some or all (we hope) of these outfits in 2010.
Montreal Impact are by far the standouts in this group with an average attendance in excess of twelve thousand a game. Click to continue reading...

The TBR Mailbag is a bi-weekly feature brought to you by the TBR front office to allow you, the fans, to write in and ask questions about the team, organization, and the return of professional soccer to Tampa Bay. If you have any questions you would like answered, please email us at mailbag@tbrowdies. Click to continue reading...

When: Tonight 7:30pm
Where: USF Soccer Stadium
The Bulls will start their 2009 regular season campaign tonight, at home, against UCF. This will be the Golden Knights' season opener as well.
USF senior Zak Boggs will be hoping to he and his teammates can start on the right foot with a win against his former team. Click to continue reading...

When a soccer player turns thirty-five, it is generally considered that his best days are behind him. There are exceptions to the rule and Steve Ralston [left] would be one of them. His goal in Saturday's match that helped the New England Revolution beat the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 is his seventh of the MLS season. Click to continue reading...

As reported by Tampabay.com, USF gridiron football coach, Jim Leavitt, requested some assistance in filling out his placekicker depth chart. Leavitt called on his colleague, Bulls men's soccer coach George Kiefer, who sent over three of his backup goalkeepers to show what they could do with a pigskin. Click to continue reading...

I believe that it is absolutely key for the Rowdies to do some grassroots, innovative marketing to be successful. They have decided to resurrect the Rowdies' name and associate themselves with the NASL team.
Take a look at what DC United of MLS is doing to promote their US Open Cup final showdown with Seattle Sounders FC. Click to continue reading...

Nothing referencing his days in Tampa, but interesting none the less, is this interview at Goal.com from March with the one time Rowdies forward, Adrian Alston [pictured right as he looks today].
Alston was an English born Aussie who played in the World Cup for Australia. He scored eight goals in nineteen games during his brief stay with the Rowdies. Click to continue reading...

it is played by robots. Yes, you heard right, not one, but both major area newspapers featured the footy match that took place on the USF campus Wednesday.
It was a three-on-three Lego robot match designed to promote computer sciences and engineering. Good stuff. Not to sound bitter here or down on higher learning and all, but neither paper can hardly give the time of day to real live humans playing soccer in the Bay area, but toy robots can make both fish wraps. Click to continue reading...

The Rowdies will most likely announce their temporary home soon (we hope). Most speculation rests on the soccer stadium on the USF campus [pictured left] as the place that the new Rowdies will debut in 2010 before opening their own purpose built ground in 2011 (we hope and pray). Click to continue reading...

July 30, 1979 - Rodney Marsh announces his retirement from playing effective at the end of the 1979 season at the age of 34. He made the announcement at a luncheon where he was recognized as the Rowdie Player of the Week for the two goals he scored against the Detroit Express. Marsh indicated that he wished to go out on his own terms rather than play past his prime and would pursue a coaching career next. Click to continue reading...

The Rowdies' biggest star, Rodney Marsh, comments on the train wreck that has become of the David Beckham 'experiment' at the Sun online. I agree with Marsh when he contrasts what Pele did in the NASL and what Becks has done in MLS.
The two are apples and oranges. Pele came for three years and was 100% committed to American soccer and the NASL. Click to continue reading...

July 21, 1979 - Forward Steve Wegerle (left) contributed his 17th assist of the season to break Rodney Marsh's Rowdies record for most assists in a single season. Marsh oddly enough, had two assists in the match as well. Wegerle's efforts spurred Tampa Bay on to win 2-1 over the Chicago Sting at Soldier Field in front of 11,509. Click to continue reading...

July 13, 1977 - Former Manchester United and Northern Ireland great George Best (left) was held scoreless as his visiting Los Angeles Aztecs fell 4-1 to the Rowdies in Tampa Stadium. Entering the match, Best was the NASL assist leader, but was unable to produce either a goal or assist against Tampa Bay. Click to continue reading...

For all of those who worry that the new Rowdies are missing the boat with merchandise, publicity, stadium plans, well...just about everything, here is proof that they will be at least joining the right league.
Looks like Miami FC is finally getting around to coming out with their new 2009 shirt, in umm . Click to continue reading...

Here's a first look at the renderings of the proposed new stadium for the revived Tampa Bay Rowdies, who are scheduled to play in USL-1 starting next spring.

You can see a bit more here. The Rowdies were shot down by NIMBYs in their attempt to build a stadium not far from where I grew up, so they'll likely play their first season at the University of South Florida's soccer stadium.

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July 6, 1979 - Rowdies defender Tony Crudo was sold to the California Surf after just 19 appearances in two-plus seasons with Tampa Bay. The Washington state native accused Rowdies coach Gordon Jago of being anti-American after Jago brought in English defenders Barry Kitchener and Manny Andruszweski which replaced Crudo in the lineup. Click to continue reading...

July 4, 1980 - Fans in the crowd of 56,389 booed the Rowdies at full time of a disappointing 3-1 loss to the California Surf. The ugly reaction was in response to Tampa Bay's worst home defeat in two years. The lack of the Rowdies' characteristic offensive prowess had soured their fan base. Click to continue reading...

An event like the USA reaching the Confederations Cup final only comes around every so few years; a soccer match that garners the attention of not just the hardcore soccer fans attention, but also the casual soccer fan, and yes even the casual sports fan. For one day, soccer pushed baseball off to the side. Click to continue reading...

June 27, 1992 - The US Olympic Team lost 2-1 at Tampa Stadium to the APSL Rowdies in front of a crowd of 4,723. The match was a tune up for the Summer Games in Barcelona and featured goals from Mike Lapper for the USA, Mark Abboud and Rob Ryerson for Tampa Bay. This was the last match the Olympic squad played before heading to Spain for the Games. Click to continue reading...

June 26, 1988 - Winston DuBose broke the club record for most shutouts in a season (6) with his third straight shutout of the ASL season. The Rowdies beat the Maryland Bays 3-0 in front of just 1,140 supporters on a Sunday at Tampa Stadium. In a case of past meeting future, Steve Wegerle (former NASL star) provided the opening Tampa Bay goal, while Derek Backman (who would later play for the Mutiny) scored a brace to round out the score sheet. Click to continue reading...

June 21, 1978 - The Rowdies extend their winning streak to five games with a 2-0 victory at home over the Portland Timbers. A crowd of 13,777 came out on a Wednesday night to witness goals by Wes McLeod and Dave Robb. Click to continue reading...

Further evidence that soccer is slowly (very slowly) creeping into the mainstream is the Real Salt Lake (MLS) - Jet Blue sponsor deal. As part of Jet Blue's partnership with RSL, they have given one of their jets a RSL livery.
This is exactly the kind of exposure that soccer needs in the United States. Click to continue reading...

The video's not in great shape, but it's a great historical find: highlights of the Tampa Bay Rowdies' 2-0 win over the Portland Timbers in Soccer Bowl '75, the North American Soccer League's title game.

It would be the only outdoor title the Rowdies would ever win in the NASL. Click to continue reading...