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War! A soccer war, that is. Over the past few years, the North American Soccer League and the United Soccer League have been at war with one another, jockeying position in the American (and Canadian) Soccer Pyramid. The NASL was ambitious, wanting to be able to compete with MLS. The USL wanted to be MLS2 in all but name, giving MLS clubs feeder teams to fill its ranks. The USSF was faced with a dilemma: who deserves to be the second rung of the ladder (a ladder that you cannot climb, but that's :worms:)? Well, you're not going to believe this. Are you sitting down? Both the NASL and USL were sanctioned as Division 2 leagues. They now have until January 2018 to figure out how they're going to make things work on the pyramid. Essentially, it's the reverse of the Wisdom of Solomon. OH! I guess I should explain what exactly we're talking about here. You know MLS, right? This is one step below that in the US and Canada. There, now that you're caught up, here are the leagues and teams that make up the NASL and the USL: North American Soccer League  Ah, the NASL. Barely alive a few months ago, the league lost five teams (2 to USL, 1 to MLS, 2 to folding) and expanded by one team to have a grand total of eight. Now that they have a new Commissioner without delusions of grandeur, maybe they can avoid the fate of the old NASL...? FC Edmonton - made the playoffs, yet finished next-to-last in attendance, ahead of only Fort Lauderdale (holy gently caress, what happened there?) Indy Eleven - successful on and off the field Jacksonville Armada FC - two seasons, five managers Miami FC - created to poke Beckham in the eye, EXTREMELY Italian New York Cosmos - eight-time NASL Champions! North Carolina FC - formerlly the Railhawks Puerto Rico FC - owned by Carmello Anthony and are bad San Francisco Deltas - a name and logo rivaling Pittsburgh's in terribleness United Soccer League  What was once a fairly stable league in terms of size became partly an MLS reserve league (all MLS clubs have affiliations with USL clubs). A good way to tell if a city is thinking about MLS is seeing if they are affiliated with an MLS club or not - if they're unaffiliated, they're probably trying to join the big boys. NOTE: THIS IS NOT A BLANKET CLAUSE Eastern Conference Bethlehem Steel FC - probably the coolest history for a team founded last year (Philadelphia) Charleston Battery - host a pre-season tournament involving MLS clubs that is well-known (Atlanta United) Charlotte Independence - fighting NCFC for territory in the Tar Heel state (Colorado) FC Cincinnati - will the magic continue? Harrisburg City Islanders - rumors of their demise have been greatly exaggerated Louisville City FC - gently caress these guys by proxy New York Red Bulls II - defending champions, and no one in New Jersey cares (RBNY) Orlando City B - gently caress THESE GUYS (Orlando City) Ottawa Fury FC - NASL refugees #1 (Montreal) Pittsburgh Riverhounds - bad name, worse logo (Columbus) Richmond Kickers - first pro club to win the U.S. Open Cup (D.C. United) Rochester Rhinos - last non-MLS club to win the U.S. Open Cup (New England) Saint Louis FC - probably going to MLS in 2020, if the stadium is built (Chicago) Tampa Bay Rowdies - NASL refugees #2 Toronto FC II - cool modified logo (Toronto) Western Conference Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC - almost forgot about these guys Los Angeles Galaxy II - started the trend of farm teams in backyards, so blame them (Los Angeles Galaxy) Oklahoma City Energy FC - survivors of the OKC soccer war (Dallas) Orange County SC - the most appropriate affiliation (LAFC) Phoenix Rising FC - get it?!?!?!? Portland Timbers 2 - no comment (Portland) Real Monarchs SLC - no comment (Real Salt Lake) Reno 1868 FC - expansion team (San Jose) Rio Grande Valley FC Toros - thank your lucky stars no MLS club uses this form of name (Houston) Sacramento Republic FC - WHELP San Antonio FC - these guys stink (NYCFC) Seattle Sounders FC 2 - no comment (Seattle) Swope Park Rangers KC - no comment (Sporting Kansas City) Tulsa Roughnecks FC - you'd think a team with an NASL name would play in the NASL, but no Whitecaps FC 2 - no comment (Vancouver) COMING IN 2018 (presumably) Austin Aztex (or whatever they'll call them) Nashville SC Below Division II in the US and Canada are the semi-pro leagues, and below that are the amateurs, but no one really talks about those leagues except in rare circumstances, so I'll skip them. If you want to talk about San Diego Zest FC or Toronto Skillz FC and any other Z-based team, be my guest. Edward Mass fucked around with this message at 03:46 on Feb 16, 2017 |
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Feb 1, 2017 23:58
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Hey, I did not notice the new 2017 lower league thread! Bumping it up. In a move that surprised no one, Rowdies 2 in NPSL is now Rowdies U23 in PDL: quote:Rowdies U23 to Compete in USL’s Premier Development League
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Feb 4, 2017 02:44
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all-Rush mixtape posted:North American Soccer League FC Edmonton - NASL's oldest franchise, founded in 2010. Plan to join the tier 2 Canadian Premier League when that starts in 2018. Last year's average attendance: 2,060. Distance from Bayamon, Puerto Rico: a 12 hour flight. Indy Eleven - America's team. Undefeated at home in all competitions in 2016, not that it matters. Ownership group single-handedly kept the NASL alive for 2017 while the Cosmos were out of business for a week, then promptly submitted an MLS expansion bid. Has an investment group ready to pay the $150 million expansion fee, but would require public funds to build a new stadium, which there is no public support for. Average attendance: 8,396. Nearest league rival: NCFC, a 10 hour drive. Jacksonville Armada - Have an inflatable octopus mascot named Squid Vicious. I think they are relocating to UNF's stadium which looks better for soccer but is outside of downtown. Average attendance: 3,499. (way down) Miami FC - Paid $750,000 for Kwadwo Poku. Finished 7th. Not to be confused with Miami United (NPSL), Miami Fusion FC (NPSL), Miami Fusion (MLS, defunct), Miami FC (defunct, became FTL Strikers, also defunct) or Miami Beckham United (defunct MLS bid with no public support). Attendance: 5,427. (up!) New York Cosmos - NASL's newest franchise, founded in January 2017. Planned to build a $400 million stadium at Belmont Park, which there was no public support for. Won the 2016 NASL championship at historic Belson Stadium, which failed to sell out with 2,150 in attendance. Moving to Coney Island's Brooklyn Cyclones baseball stadium. Average attendence: 3,775 (bad). NCFC - If you love dramatic brand restatements, renders of $150 million stadiums with no public support and Norwich City Football Club, the Carolina Railhawks are the team for you. Attendance: 5,058. (pretty good!) Puerto Rico FC - league's best commentary . Attendance: 3,801. The least expensive away day in the NASL if you fly Southwest. San Francisco Deltas - Venture capital and Portuguese language social media. Plan to play in a 5000-seat stadium in Golden Gate Park, which has no public parking.
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Feb 4, 2017 22:47
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all-Rush mixtape posted:FC Edmonton - made the playoffs, yet finished next-to-last in attendance, ahead of only Fort Lauderdale (holy gently caress, what happened there?) Speaking of, what is going on with the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers. Last I heard PSG were going to buy them and Bill Edwards had some kind of lawsuit, but have not heard anything in a few months. Supposedly they may be able to return for the Fall 2017 season? quote:Miami FC - created to poke Beckham in the eye, EXTREMELY Italian And that poke is proving to be a worthwhile gamble so far, as today, Feb. 5th, marks the 3rd year anniversary of the Beckham/MLS/Miami announcement, and they are no closer to getting an MLS team in Miami than they were three years ago. quote:Saint Louis FC - probably going to MLS in 2020, if the stadium is built (Chicago) I know no one believes me, but the Tampa Bay Rowdies are also probably going to MLS; and they don't have to ask the taxpayers for money for a stadium either. quote:Phoenix Rising FC - get it?!?!?!? No one liked my clever idea: Phoenix XI.  quote:Below Division II in the US and Canada are the semi-pro leagues, and below that are the amateurs, but no one really talks about those leagues except in rare circumstances, so I'll skip them. If you want to talk about San Diego Zest FC or Toronto Skillz FC and any other Z-based team, be my guest. There's ah....whataretheycalled....UPSL that announced they are going to have promotion/relegation within their own leagues. There's NPSL which is a sort of alternative to PDL (a U-23 league in USL). Others I can't recall. There's still a league out there that uses the "soccer football" name for the sport, the San Francisco Soccer Football League, established in 1902, and is "the oldest American soccer league in continuous existence": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Soccer_Football_League There are the two CSL's: Cosmopolitan Soccer League, in New York, and Canadian Soccer League, in Canada (kicked out of CSA for illegal match fixing/gambling). There's the Canadian Premier League which is supposed to happen in a few years. awyeahz posted:Jacksonville Armada - Have an inflatable octopus mascot named Squid Vicious. Noice. quote:New York Cosmos - NASL's newest franchise, founded in January 2017. Planned to build a $400 million stadium at Belmont Park, which there was no public support for. Won the 2016 NASL championship at historic Belson Stadium, which failed to sell out with 2,150 in attendance. Moving to Coney Island's Brooklyn Cyclones baseball stadium. Average attendence: 3,775 (bad). Cosmos did draw well the first few years at Hofstra. The move to Brooklyn is none too soon, though, as attendance was dropping steadily at Hofstra. Per the previous thread the pitch at MCU may not be too bad given that it is artificial (which is a different kind of bad, though); what really is bad are the viewing angles for the fans. If you Google the setup the Cosmos had at their game at MCU Park last year, it isn't great. It is a baseball stadium where the two stands come together at an acute angle so there's no way to really make the soccer pitch line up correctly with the stands. But still better than playing at a university stadium on Long Island. MCU Park is right next to major public transit lines, and there's no restrictions on beer.  quote:San Francisco Deltas - Venture capital and Portuguese language social media. Plan to play in a 5000-seat stadium in Golden Gate Park, which has no public parking. Kezar Stadium, where the 49ers used to play. Much reduced in size after the rebuild. No idea how they managed to have NFL games there back in the day. Also made famous by Dirty Harry. Home of the short lived California Victory.
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Feb 6, 2017 01:57
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Kezar Stadium update: it actually does have a parking lot and is right next to UCSF which probably has a parking garage. how's this for fixture congestion: https://twitter.com/sfdeltas/status/828665895773958145 Indy Eleven's schedule the first 4 weeks of the season at SF vs PR at PR vs SF and two teams get bye weeks for some reason AND they're keeping the split spring/fall season thing although with no summer break. I hope this means I don't have to go to yet another godawful friendly with a LigaMX team at noon on the hottest day of July like the past 2 years. MLS commissioner: NASL counting Canadians as domestics violates U.S. law posted:http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/garber-nasl-counting-canadians-domestics-violates-u-s-law/ Puerto Rico FC president Tom Payne posted:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2017/02/06/puerto-rico-fcs-off-season-major-headache-says-tom-payne/
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Feb 6, 2017 23:52
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Do over Ham posted:Cosmos did draw well the first few years at Hofstra. The move to Brooklyn is none too soon, though, as attendance was dropping steadily at Hofstra. Per the previous thread the pitch at MCU may not be too bad given that it is artificial (which is a different kind of bad, though); what really is bad are the viewing angles for the fans. If you Google the setup the Cosmos had at their game at MCU Park last year, it isn't great. It is a baseball stadium where the two stands come together at an acute angle so there's no way to really make the soccer pitch line up correctly with the stands. But still better than playing at a university stadium on Long Island. MCU Park is right next to major public transit lines, and there's no restrictions on beer. Holy moly you weren't kidding about those sight lines: 
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Feb 7, 2017 00:15
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camoseven posted:Holy moly you weren't kidding about those sight lines: It is a bit like the setup that the Rowdies (technically "FC Tampa Bay" at the time; thanks a lot you miserable trademark squatters in Texas) had in 2010 at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Fortunately the stands at Al Lang form a right angle so it was easier to put the goal lines and touch lines in proper alignment with the stands at Al Lang. Another view of Cosmos at MCU Park:  George Steinbrenner Field setup circa 2010: 
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Feb 7, 2017 08:52
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Canadian Premier League announcements are few and far between but this guy does a pretty solid round-up every month of what little news and rumours we get. Read it, or don't, whatever.
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Feb 7, 2017 17:01
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NYCFC announced an affiliation with San Antonio.
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Feb 10, 2017 01:22
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Happy 42nd birthday Tampa Bay Rowdies (yesterday, Feb. 14th). NASL wants to play USL for D2 "super cup": http://www.empireofsoccer.com/sehgal-of-nasl-is-bullish-on-division-ii-super-cup-57845-57845/
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Feb 15, 2017 06:07
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Do over Ham posted:Happy 42nd birthday Tampa Bay Rowdies (yesterday, Feb. 14th). I'm for that idea. Does the winner get anything, like a trophy?
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Feb 15, 2017 20:34
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the loser gets their entire league relegated
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Feb 16, 2017 02:21
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I've been to precisely 1 Rowdies game, they played the Sounders B-team in the US Open Cup and beat them 1-0.  Hopefully they land the MLS slot, I love that fancy waterfront stadium.
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Feb 16, 2017 02:35
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I just realized - both 2016 NASL and USL champions claim New York as their home. THAT would be an intense Super Cup if the Baby Bulls had, you know, people showing up to their games.
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Feb 16, 2017 03:44
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awyeahz posted:the loser gets their entire league relegated We've come full circle from 2010 when USSF forced USL and NASL ("TOA" or not yet NASL) to play as a unified D2 league...only, you know, without the shotgun marriage this time. Luigi Thirty posted:I've been to precisely 1 Rowdies game, they played the Sounders B-team in the US Open Cup and beat them 1-0. Rowdies beat the Timbers in Soccer Bowl 1975 so you can like us for that too.  all-Rush mixtape posted:I just realized - both 2016 NASL and USL champions claim New York as their home. THAT would be an intense Super Cup if the Baby Bulls had, you know, people showing up to their games. Red Bull should have revived the MetroStars name for their B team. Speaking of: quote:The complete list of MLS-USL affiliations, partnerships for 2017
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Feb 16, 2017 07:31
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A 'big' announcement involving Austin soccer is apparently happening the week of SXSW. It will not involve MLS directly, even though Don Garber is speaking during the conference.
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Feb 18, 2017 23:47
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I won't bother look up and post the links, but we have recent chatter about new NASL clubs in Orange County and in San Diego. Also, there is another group in Atlanta planning on making a big announcement soon about new men's and women's teams in Atlanta, presumably NASL and NWSL teams.
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Feb 25, 2017 02:10
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I don't see a purpose in putting an new NASL team in Atlanta when their MLS club hasn't even taken the field yet. Plus, there's a 0% chance that they use the Chiefs name, so what's the point?
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Feb 25, 2017 02:12
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So yeah the Atlanta noise is a $200M complex in Lithonia that will be the home for new NASL and NWSL teams. There's absolutely no chance for this to be successful. With a new MLS team in town that is getting all the attention, nobody is going to go out of their way to support another new lower tier team, especially with the Silverbacks still kicking around and siphoning off their diehard supporters. And the last NWSL team here went bankrupt twice. Also there isn't poo poo out in Lithonia/Stonecrest other than the mall they're going to build next to. https://www.atlantasportscity.com/
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Feb 25, 2017 06:05
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The USSF announced that the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup will have the USL and NASL teams enter in the second round, and MLS teams will enter in the fourth round.
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Mar 10, 2017 04:21
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quote:http://www.tribune242.com/news/2017/mar/13/bahamas-bid-united-soccer-league-team/ [adjusts shorts]
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Mar 14, 2017 08:51
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St. Petersburg is going to have a city-wide referendum on whether to negotiate with the Rowdies owner on a 25-year lease and the plan to expand the stadium to 18,000 seats. The owner of the team promised zero public funding required for the planned $80 million renovation. All they need is approval from the city council and a franchise from the league to expand.
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Mar 24, 2017 07:13
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The Rowdies bid looks very good and reasonable. Meanwhile, here in Eleventown we got ourselves a second kit sponsor! https://twitter.com/IndyEleven/status/845367055750696960 Turkish Airlines does not operate out of Indianapolis International Airport
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Mar 24, 2017 23:44
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That big Austin soccer news that was promised? Well, it was revealed that UT put the kibosh on it. 
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Mar 25, 2017 01:23
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So happy soccer is back! 
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Mar 26, 2017 00:23
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Rowdies win their first home opener since 2012, and against Orlando City.
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Mar 26, 2017 02:42
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Rayo San Francisco is periscoping all their home games in portuguese. e.: Attendance 4133 https://twitter.com/sfdeltas/status/845815371122667521 https://twitter.com/SF_DeltaForce/status/845854281714450433 awyeahz fucked around with this message at 06:01 on Mar 26, 2017 |
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Mar 26, 2017 03:01
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King of False Promises posted:Rowdies win their first home opener since 2012, and against Orlando City. 7,710 in attendance, the most for the new-era Rowdies since their return as "FC Tampa Bay" in their 2010 home opener in Tampa which was a little over 8,000. Edit: removed some pointless rumors on my part. Some people may have been causing trouble but on the whole things seemed to go fairly well, compared to the last time OCSC played at Al Lang. Anyway: MLS are you paying attention? You got your equivalent of the next Cascadia rivalry right there in central Florida. Screw Miami. War on I-4 is what you want. Nice crowd atmosphere and Ralph's Mob tifo, from what I see on social media. Hopefully Bill Edwards and his people are working hard to keep this up over the remaining home games this season. Easy enough to sell out the first game; getting people to come back regularly is harder. Especially when the weather is bad. Or when the weather is good. Florida is weird that way. Some more.... quote:2017 Rowdies Season Kickoff Party & Kit Unveiling Nice stadium.... quote:Best #USL stadium? Do over Ham fucked around with this message at 01:56 on Mar 27, 2017 |
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Mar 26, 2017 21:39
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awyeahz posted:The Rowdies bid looks very good and reasonable. Yes, but not "sexy" so we wait on David Beckham and Miami. I mean we're almost too reasonable; no government money. If Bill Edwards were asking for taxpayer money Garber would be all over the Tampa Bay Area pimping our bid. See St. Louis for an example of that. quote:Meanwhile, here in Eleventown we got ourselves a second kit sponsor! Well...that's awkward. I was at the Revs vs. Loons game at Gillette yesterday and suddenly realized that the Revs shirt sponsor is United Health Care; United Health just so happens to be the reason why the Loons are named Minnesota United and not the Stars or whatever. Hmmm. I think it means something but not sure what. Do over Ham fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Mar 26, 2017 |
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Mar 26, 2017 22:03
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Nice rant, but on point, and a nice shout-out to lower league soccer in Florida (though I can faintly hear the St. Pete provincials: "Tampa ain't St. Pete, REEEEEEEEE!"):quote:Miami's 'El Clasico' a blatant cash grab and everything that's wrong with American soccer To be fair, though, almost no one actually cares about "David Beckham's Miami MLS project", die hard grass roots lower level soccer fans included, except to the extent that it may impact the team they happen to support. Also to be fair, these friendlies put cash in the pockets of SUM, which is the same thing as saying that it puts cash in the pockets of MLS, so indirectly the Eurosnobs are supporting MLS without realizing it. But nice rant anyway.
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Mar 28, 2017 01:37
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So, ah, apparently Phoenix Rising in USL have signed Didier Drogba? Someone should probably look into that...  Fans in the Tampa Bay Area can help with the "get out the yes vote" campaign in St. Pete... quote:Ralph's Mob Tampa Bay Rowdies released a new iphone/android app, which is nice (there was an old one but it has not been updated since 2013), but I only found out about the new app from some chatter on Facebook (which I can't even find anymore; not sure who was talking about it). Nothing about it from the Rowdies; they need to step things up and promote this a bit more. If the app is only known and used by a tiny handful of fans it will be DOA just like the old app.
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Mar 30, 2017 06:47
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Third division soccer will come back in 2019 with what amounts to USL-2 being revived.
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Mar 31, 2017 05:12
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wat https://twitter.com/CLTIndependence/status/847796956030263296
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Apr 1, 2017 00:22
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I'm shocked that the Didier Drogba thing has not gotten more notice or comment. Still wondering if it was an early April Fools joke. Rowdies have signed Joe Cole to a new extended contract, so he will be with us for a few more years. Good move; Joe Cole has been an excellent signing. Florida House has passed a silly bill banning public lands use for sports stadiums; no comment yet from the Rowdies or from St. Pete but the bill is unlikely to become law as the Senate is not moving on it and it is unclear whether the law would even apply to the Al Lang Stadium situation, even if it passed the Senate. Almost a month now until the May 2nd referendum in St. Pete. #MLS2StPete
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Apr 1, 2017 09:35
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I don't want to bump up last year's thread, so will post this here. This details the rescue of the NY Cosmos and explains that yes someone was looking to buy the Cosmos just for the IP rights:quote:A fax away from destruction, Cosmos have new life in NASL under Commisso
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Apr 1, 2017 11:54
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Do over Ham posted:I'm shocked that the Didier Drogba thing has not gotten more notice or comment. Still wondering if it was an early April Fools joke. There is nothing on the Phoenix website that mentions Drogba at all, so it appears to be just a rumor at this point
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Apr 1, 2017 20:45
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trem_two posted:There is nothing on the Phoenix website that mentions Drogba at all, so it appears to be just a rumor at this point It's all over reddit from multiple sources including very reliable (as I understand it from a brief skim) French football sources. And I received multiple google alerts about it from what I have found to be reliable news sources in the past. If it is a hoax it is a very skillful one. No one has issued any denials yet. We shall see.
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Apr 2, 2017 00:40
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Rowdies top of the east; 3-0-0, 6 goal differential with no goals conceded so far. I'm not used to this success in one of my teams; will take some getting used to and fingers crossed they can keep this up all season. http://www.uslsoccer.com/usl-standings I'm liking the USL on Youtube; good way to watch the league with so many teams I wouldn't have a chance to watch otherwise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArhoeRb9_KE I've just discovered the "You Suck At Cooking" channel on Youtube and now every time I watch the Rowdies TV feed with Mike Pepper I mentally change his name to "pepper pepper pepper".
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Apr 10, 2017 03:42
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Removing John harkes was a horrible idea
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Apr 10, 2017 04:08
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/sports/soccer/didier-drogba-phoenix-rising-mls.html 39-year old Didier Drogba to Phoenix Rising! FC confirmed NYT posted:His contract allows for either one or two more seasons as a player, before moving to a role either in the back office or on the club’s coaching staff. He has also taken equity in the team, which aims to secure one of four M.L.S. expansion slots in the next three years. “I believe I can help them reach M.L.S.,” Drogba said. “I have always liked challenges.”
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Apr 12, 2017 22:31
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