In case you didn't know, or hadn't read, the L.A. Galaxy have been a bit of a mess in the last
couple years. No longer. Ex-USMNT coach Bruce Arena took over the job in August last year and given one full season he's
turned them from a laughing stock to a title contender. For that reason, he's MLS coach of the
year. Click to continue reading...
I'll be honest, I can't seem to get much done today because of this news about the TOA group
starting their own league. We knew this news would probably come down eventually in one form or
another but I honestly didn't expect it to consume me as much as it is.
If you aren't reading a couple sites like The Kartik Report or Inside Minnesota Soccer for news
on this matter then you are certainly missing out.
Nov. 10, 2009 – The owners of the Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina Railhawks, Miami FC,
Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps, formerly of USL-1, together with St.
Louis Soccer United today announced that they have formed a new professional soccer league to play
in the United States and Canada beginning in April 2010.
I've always said that one of the realistic options for the disaffected USL owners was to leave and
then just setup their own league away from the USL umbrella. Today, that appears to be what has
happened, with everyone bailing on Francisco Marcos and the USL. I have not been following this all
that closely, but where does this leave Portland, who has one more year to go before they join MLS. Click to continue reading...
Some big news is coming out today. The Team Owners Association or TOA is moving forward in their
plan to break away from the USL first division and form their own league. TOA just released a press
release making their plans public with the decision to move forward with a new division 2 league in
North America.
Are we at all sure that Youri hasn't been hired by Red Bull already?
The French legend has been planting seeds in France, playing Red Bull ambassador in the hopes of
attracting his countrymen stateside through interviews like the one he had with football-ravageur,
a French footy outlet.
He has some great insights on the successes and short comings of David Beckham, the measure of
MLS against other leagues and the possibility of including more French players to the league
structure.
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.
Well, it looks like the NuRock v TOA saga is continuing, but only a little bit, while the USL-1
meetings are being held in Beaverton, OR this week. With the following teams certainly there -
Rochester, Portland, Tampa Bay, Puerto Rico, FC New York, Cleveland and Austin. The TOA clubs, may
or may not be Vancouver, [. Click to continue reading...
...and I like it! Following my weird and wacky vision for a new kind of MLS, which garnered some suprisingly positive
reactions, the Canadian Stretford End is pushing the idea for an interim Canadian Soccer League
(no, not that CSL) now that Vancouver and Montreal, the two USL-1 finalists, are homeless. Click to continue reading...
There isn't much tonight for the evening links and thoughts. Got some USL-TOA talk and a brief
thought about Kevin Payne's fine from the league earlier today.
But first there we gotta go back into the TOA-USL talk that we've been going around and around
with for the last few weeks. Reports tonight suggest the TOA and their clubs could very well soon
be forming their own league, even as soon as TOMORROW.
With talks at a stand-still between the Team Owners Association and Nurock Soccer Holdings, new
owners of USL, the chances of a breakaway league led by numerous USL 1 clubs next year is looking
more and more likely. Vancouver and Montreal became the latest teams to reportedly sever ties with
USL this week, and are part of the group looking to start a new league.
With talks at a stand-still between the Team Owners Association and Nurock Soccer Holdings, new
owners of USL, the chances of a breakaway league led by numerous USL 1 clubs next year is looking
more and more likely. Vancouver and Montreal became the latest teams to reportedly sever ties with
USL this week, and are part of the group looking to start a new league.
Just getting this out there, no time for extensive thoughts. 24thMinute and CBC on Vancouver and
Montreal pulling out of USL. Inside MN Soccer on the fuller situation. The TOA is clearly now the
2nd tier of the sport. Not just due to market size, but also due to the quality of the
organizations involved. Click to continue reading...
Now here's something interesting. United Soccer League's CEO Nick Papadakis told a Canadian radio
station that "the negotiations are finished" and Vancouver and Montreal are out of the league for
2010. Neither club has issued a statement though so perhaps this is just a hardball tactic on the
part of the honchos at USL 1. Click to continue reading...
This was my favorite goal of the week in any league. Montreal dominated Vancouver at home in the
USL Championship on Saturday and this goal from Joey Gjertsen was the one that just killed. His
finishing was certainly on-point but respect has to go out to Roberto Brown --yes, that Roberto
Brown-- for the outrageous assist because that sh*t was just ridonk.
The next-to-last weekend of MLS action sees the teams broken down into three groups: 1. In the playoffs, still alive for Supporters Shield 2. Not yet in the playoffs 3. Out of the playoffs Every contending team has two games left except Chivas USA, which has three. We'll update this glance as the day goes on, pressbox wi-fi permitting (wi-fi or not, check Twitter
updates). Click to continue reading...
It's weird to say that its been another quick week for me here but it has, this week has flown
by. Tonight's links and thoughts may end up being a quickie. I had some things planned for the day
and for the week for that matter but I never got around to some of them. Blame it on time getting
away from me and my normal day job.
"If I don't get a baseball deal done, I'm not going to finalize the deal with
Portland," Paulson told the Beaverton city council Tuesday night. "So MLS will not come to Portland
unless I do a deal for a new baseball park."
I HAVE NOT THE WORDS to adequately express my thoughts about this photo. I'm sure it's because I'm a pedestrian, parochial, flyover country rube and thus I don't appreciate
high concept art. Which I hope to God it is. Because otherwise it's just a bunch of DC United players holding onto their junk while hopping
about. Click to continue reading...
Boy I get back into town and starting seeing more USL headlines today. According to reports
(thanks to Inside Minnesota Soccer), the USSF is meeting today with USL officials and TOA officials
regarding the ongoing situation with the recent sale of the USL.
Apparently Tim Holt the president of USL sent letters to players for three clubs, the Carolina
Railhawks, the Minnesota Thunder and Miami FC.
South Florida Soccer Fans may be the ones that enticed a group of investors to discuss an MLS team
in Miami with Beckham. A recent conversation among South Florida Soccer fans revealed that some time ago a letter was sent
to David Beckham urging him to bring a team to Miami. Letters were also sent to possible investors
around the country. Click to continue reading...
I just watched the second leg of the Vancouver-Portland USL1 semifinal, and it was pretty
entertaining stuff. Sure it was played on a rug, some of the violence on the pitch was borderline
criminal (I'm aware of the MLS glass house I'm living in),... Click to continue reading...
Details are sketchy, but Brian Quarstad's Inside Minnesota Soccer reported on Saturday that USL
President Tim Holt sent an email to three USL-1 clubs in the Team Owner's Association
(TOA)—Minnesota, Carolina and Miami—terminating their player contracts, which was followed by
news from David Fellerath at Triangle Offense that the three club logos had been removed from the
USL-1 main site.
IMS is still working on getting a copy of the letter that USL President Tim Holt sent to players
who where under contract with the Carolina Railhawks, Minnesota Thunder and Miami FC Blues but have
still not been able to get the original document.
Tim Holt of USL was emailed and called for a comment and did not return either message.
IMS is still working on getting a copy of the letter that USL President Tim Holt sent to players
who where under contract with the Carolina Railhawks, Minnesota Thunder and Miami FC Blues but have
still not been able to get the original document.
Tim Holt of USL was emailed and called for a comment and did not return either message.
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...
Inside Minnesota Soccer had learned that United Soccer League President Tim Holt has released
the players from USL-1 teams, Minnesota, Carolina and Miami FC from their contracts. In an email on
Friday and addressed to all players from the 3-teams they were told that they were being released
from their contracts.
Inside Minnesota Soccer had learned that United Soccer League President Tim Holt has released
the players from USL-1 teams Minnesota, Carolina and Miami FC from their contracts. In an email
on Friday and addressed to all players from the 3 teams they were told that they were being
released from their contracts.
One of the arguments used against Major League Soccer expansion markets is that they already have a
USL-1 team that draws poorly. Now that the Seattle Sounders have jumped ship, there are two
franchises we can examine to see if this critique is fair.
Before Toronto FC came into existence in 2007, the Lynx represented that city in USL-1.
By L.E. Eisenmenger - BOSTON, MA (Sep 29, 2009) USSoccerPlayers -- After the first season success
of the Seattle Sounders, the USL-1 2008 Champions Vancouver Whitecaps FC have a hard act to follow
as they prepare to enter MLS as a 2011 expansion team. The Vancouver ownership group consists of
Greg Kerfoot, Steve Luczo, Jeff Mallett, and Steve Nash. Click to continue reading...
With the impending addition of franchises in Philly, Vancouver and Portland, I thought it would be
interesting to see how much of a "sophomore slump" expansion franchises experienced in regards to
attendance. Here are the numbers for the recent expansion teams, as well as Houston who moved from San Jose in
2006. Click to continue reading...
After the success of the Showdown in Chinatwon, Stevie Nash has decided to take the show(down) out
west to Vancouver. Highlights and inteviews in the clip above, including an appearance by one of
the best players ever to grace MLS, Youri Djorkaeff, in the 7th minute. Click to continue reading...
#2 Carolina RailHawks vs #7 Vancouver Whitecaps Sept 24 at Vancouver – 10:30 pm ET :: Sept 27 at Carolina – 5:00 pm ET #3 Puerto Rico Islanders vs #6 Rochester Rhinos Sept 24 at Rochester – 7:05 pm ET :: Sept 27 at Puerto Rico – 6:00 pm ET #4 Charleston Battery vs #5 Montreal Impact Sept 24 at Montreal – 7:45 pm ET :: Sept 27 at Charleston – 7:00 pm ET Click to continue reading...
