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| Part I - USL Pro || Part II - MLS Reserves || Part III - NASL |
The third season of the league was supposed to be a big deal with the return of the Cosmos, who won’t debut until the fall, and the new split season, but that has been tempered by the spiraling Puerto Rico Islanders and the limelight stealing deal between United Soccer Leagues and Major League Soccer, which has thus far not led to much player erosion from the NASL. The good news is, however, that the league was able to sell Minnesota to new local ownership, though Traffic Sports still owns its club Fort Lauderdale as well as Carolina and a share of Atlanta - a factor that is significantly affecting player budgets according to RailHawks coach Colin Clarke in a report from Neil Morris of Indy Week.
Until the Cosmos fully come back online in the Fall Season, the highlight to the 2013 campaign is the new two-season format the league adopted in what it claimed was a move to bring the NASL more in line with the global calendar as MLS continues to take barbs for not conforming to the fall to spring format most of the world utilizes. The problem with the NASL change, however, is that its entire two-season schedule falls within the MLS schedule window and only mirrors the format used widely in Central and South America as well as Mexico and not their calendars. The leading nations all typically run an opening season that runs July to November or August to December and a closing season that goes from January to May or February to June. All (Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Paraguay) feature nearly a two-month break between seasons with the shortest gaps coming in Venezuela and Paraguay.
The most excitement for the league lies beyond the 2013 campaign as numerous stadium and expansion projects are slated for 2014 and beyond. The league has already lined up at least three new teams for 2014 – barring any stadium delays – with clubs from Ottawa, Virginia and Indianapolis joining the league. Ottawa and Virginia are awaiting new stadia to be built, though they will have to share them during the summer, and the Cosmos have unveiled their own stadium plans. Fort Lauderdale is also in serious discussions for major renovations, or perhaps a new park entirely, for the Strikers. And though the odds look dim, the Islanders could also return from their hiatus in Puerto Rico in 2014, especially if a significant investor steps in, though it is surprising Traffic has not stepped up considering the profits it has made off Caribbean television rights over the years.
SCHEDULES: Spring runs through July 4. Fall starts three weeks (four weekends) later on August 3.
Here is a quick glance at the long and short-term futures of the current and incoming NASL clubs…
2012 Record (W-L-D): 7-12-9
Season & Home Opener: Apr 13 v Fort Lauderdale
Big Picture: Heading into their third year back from a two-year hiatus, the Silverbacks had one of their best seasons off the field a year ago with over 4,500 fans per game, but still have only reached the postseason once in the last eight years (2007). Whether it was to grab headlines, or a concerted effort to make significant changes for a club that has a long tradition of coach turnover (14 coaches in 16 seasons of play), the Silverbacks brought in as interim coach Eric Wynalda, who appointed Brian Haynes as the current head coach. Wynalda now serves as an absentee technical director for the club, which recently unveiled a new logo after 11 seasons with the previous incarnation. Another big picture concern, though it has quieted in the past year or so is the threat of MLS expansion via the Atlanta Falcons ownership.
What’s Ahead for 2013: After opening the season with one win in their first 15 games (1-9-5), the club turned things in the right direction with the switch to Wynalda as interim coach and his appointment of Haynes later to finish the second half of the year 6-3-4. The two leading scorers from last season’s seventh-place side are not returning, highlighted by the league’s fourth-best goal scorer Matt Horth, 10 goals, leaving for the Rochester Rhinos and Reinaldo Navia being released. The club snared a pair of players from the Charlotte Eagles in Mark Bloom and Brad Stisser in addition to the loan of forward Kellen Gulley from the Chicago Fire, though the club sent defender Chris Klute to the Colorado Rapids. The bulk of the team, however, remains recent college or amateur league products, though some of the Cal FC players from the Open Cup darlings a year ago have professional backgrounds. A light preseason slate was highlighted by a 3-0 victory against USL Pro Charlotte Eagles.
2012 Record: 10-8-10
Season Opener: Apr 6 @ Tampa Bay || Home Opener: Apr 13 v FC Edmonton
Big Picture: Heading into its third year in the NASL, the club remains owned and operated by the league’s ownership, Traffic Sports, but will enjoy its newly-expanded stadium, WakeMed Soccer Park, with 3,000 additional seats for a total of 10,000 for a club that has not surpassed an average of 4,000 since their debut at nearly 5,000 in 2007. In February the RailHawks announced a new partnership with CASL that will bring the large youth club into the RailHawks fold once again after working together previously. The agreement makes the RailHawks the most expansive club vertically in the NASL.
What’s Ahead for 2013: The roster has undergone some significant changes with Amir Lowery, Gale Agbossoumonde and Mike Palacio leaving but some quality additions in their place coming in are Ciaran O’Brien of Atlanta and Puerto Rico Islanders star Nicholas Addlery. Goalkeeper is the one critical position that remains a question mark with established veterans Nic Platter and Ray Burse both leaving the club. The team retained Akira Fitzgerald, who has only four professional appearances (with Carolina) and added three-year New England reserve keeper Tim Murray, who never made an appearance for the Revolution and only one on loan to FC New York in USL Pro in 2011. The RailHawks have had an extensive preseason that included 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps, a 2-1 loss to Mexican powers Pumas UNAM and series of games against the Richmond Kickers, a 4-1 win, and the Charleston Battery, a pair of losses.
2012 Record: 5-13-10
Season Opener: Apr 6 @ Fort Lauderdale || Home Opener: Apr 28 v San Antonio
Big Picture: Heading into their third full season of play, the Eddies have yet to have a coaching staff go beyond one season. The bigger issues in front of the team, however, are stadium issues and financial concerns. In their own statement about the dismissal of the 2012 coaches, the club stated it was for ‘budgetary reasons’ and as Canadian soccer writer Steven Sandor reported for The11.ca, the club’s cuts went well beyond the staff as they slashed the entire budget, including for players, 30-35 percent for the year, eliminating winter indoor training and preseason camp in Arizona. The debate, however, is over whether or not the club is struggling financially because of the lack of revenue from poor attendance or if the budget cuts are in anticipation of potential stadium initiatives that may require significant capital from the team.
Stadia have long been an issue in Edmonton where it has become a chicken and egg type debate as to whether fans are not attending lower division soccer because of apathy or due to the terrible facilities. FC Edmonton has drawn between 1,500 and 2,000 in the past two seasons and their predecessor Edmonton Aviators of 2004 drew only 1,500 as well. The Eddies are pushing for a 15,000-seat facility to be built after efforts to expand 1,700-seat Clarke Stadium a year ago fell apart, but the city in January tabled the decision for a year, forcing the club to show that its newly expanded 5,000-seat capacity at Clarke will make a difference. If the Eddies struggle with their low-budget roster, though, increased attendance may be difficult to attain.
What’s Ahead for 2013: With the budget slashed, list of players out from the last-place 2012 roster is extensive at least 18 players. The team has managed to lure in some known players, though, in the form of Neil Hlavaty from Minnesota, Wes Knight of San Antonio and Chris Nurse from Puerto Rico along with lining up the loan of defender Carlyle Mitchell from the Vancouver Whitecaps. Staying in Canada, the Eddies played a number of college sides in the preseason, but the big contest was a 4-2 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps.
2012 Record: 9-10-9
Season & Home Opener: Apr 6 v FC Edmonton
Big Picture: Owned by Traffic Sports, which owns and operates the NASL, since its opening days in 2006 as Miami FC, the club’s future ultimately lies with the future of the league as Traffic plans to continue owning the club. Attendance jumped to nearly 4,000 in its first season under the revived Strikers name in 2011, but dipped a year ago. Similar to Atlanta, the club also lives under a regular threat of MLS expansion coming to the market, especially if it is in tandem with Orlando City of USL Pro moving up as recent news items have inferred.
The team’s home, Lockhart Stadium, has served well despite its outdated amenities, making the future home of the Strikers the biggest focal point moving forward. Within days of announcing a significant plan led by Tim Robbie to push for a new stadium, news broke that a deal between the city, the FAA and a developer for a water park facility in the plans since 2010 was still being worked out. That deal could also lead to renovations at Lockhart, which the Strikers have included more frequently in their discussions about the future such as when they made a deal to operate the facility themselves in 2013. The FAA’s control over the land has been a thorn for the Strikers, the city and other developers in recent years and nearly resulted in the stadium being shut down in 2011 midway through the first NASL season.
What’s Ahead for 2013: Starting keeper Matt Glaeser is back between the posts and the majority of the team’s leading strikers from a year ago – Walter Restrepo, Andy Herron and Mark Anderson – are back, though Aly Hassan is out on loan and Abe Thompson retired for a management position at USL. The club also lost Alfonso Motagalvan, but has brought in NY Cosmos spring season loanee Stefan Dimitrov and Puerto Rico Islanders standout David Foley along with a trio of internationals that include MLS veterans Ivan Guerrero (Honduras) and Shavar Thomas (Jamaica) along with Stephane Guillaume (Haiti), who previously played for the club as Miami FC. The Strikers had a busy preseason, but played primarily college opponents.
2012 Record: 8-9-11
Season & Home Opener: Apr 6 v San Antonio
Big Picture: After two years of being league-owned following the departure of the National Sports Center, the team’s home facility, as ownership, the club was acquired by local mogul Bill McGuire in November. Though the club has a new name, its roots run deeply with head coach Manny Lagos, whose playing days date all the way back to the creation of the Minnesota Thunder, and CEO Djorn Buchholz, a long-time front office manager dating back to the Thunder. The team will also continue to play at the NSC, which was home to the Thunder and Stars from 1990 to present with the exception of a three-year stint. The club unveiled its new name, Minnesota United FC, and look in early March. Though the name is Euro in style and came with a generic unity of the community rationale, perhaps the underlying and unsaid inspiration of the name came from the background of the ownership itself as McGuire made his fortune building UnitedHealth Group from 1991-2006.
Side Note – Last year, Minnesota management broke ground as the first club in North America to feature its fans on the uniforms with a special line of numbers that featured photos of fans. Perhaps inspired by the unique design, the Colorado Rapids unveiled new kits on ‘Jersey Week’ in MLS in which their new primary shirt is a first in MLS history. The new shirts feature the names of the club’s season ticket holders in fine print, creating the darker appearing hoops on the solid burgundy torso.
What’s Ahead for 2013: New, determined ownership has completely changed the mindset from managing a modest budget to a Yankees-style high-price roster. The made huge splashes immediately by signing Etienne Barbara and Pablo Campos, who were the scoring champions the last two seasons. Campos was not the only player the club lured away from the 2012 regular season champion San Antonio Scorpions as they also snared veteran midfielder Aaron Pitchkolan and standout keeper Daryl Sattler. The additions pushed out, however, leading scorers Amani Walker and Martin Nunez. The new-look side’s biggest preseason tests were a pair of MLS friendlies, a 2-1 loss at Sporting KC and a 1-0 win at Chicago Fire.
2012 Record: 13-7-8
Season Opener: Apr 6 @ Minnesota || Home Opener: Apr 13 v Tampa Bay
Big Picture: Despite competition from the NBA’s Spurs, who were trying to land a stadium deal with the city for a soccer team, in the early going of the Scorpions existence, the dream of having their own park has become a reality and the club will make its second season debut at the newly-opened 8,000-seat Toyota Field, which lies next to the STAR Soccer Complex and Morgan’s Wonderland. All three facilities are operated by the same non-profit group, which is dedicated to funneling all the profits of the Scorpions and the stadium toward the nation’s only amusement park for disabled children.
What’s Ahead for 2013: After finishing as the regular season champions, it was no surprise the roster was raided by other clubs, or that the club let them go knowing the unveiling of the new stadium would compensate in attracting fans to a team that may not be as competitive. A key trio of league-leading scorer Pablo Campos, goalkeeper Daryl Sattler and Aaron Pitchkolan all departed for Minnesota. To replace Sattler, the club brought in former NY Red Bulls reserve Jeremy Vuolo, who made no league appearances, and veteran lower division and indoor keeper Patrick Hannigan. A number of unknowns are coming in for the attack, but recognizable names were added defensively in the form of Lyle Martin, Chris Williams and Stephen DeRoux in addition to midfielders Pat Phelan and Bryan Jordan.
2012 Record: 12-7-9
Season & Home Opener: Apr 6 v Carolina
Big Picture: Still trying to capture the glory of the past, the reigning champion Rowdies enter their third season at Al Lang Stadium in St Petersburg, where they have only averaged around 3,000 per game, a drop-off from their inaugural season (3,900) in Tampa at George Steinbrenner Field – both of which are baseball parks. With a new four-year commitment for Al Lang, the Rowdies have re-configured the location of the pitch and added field-side seating and a new club area.
What’s Ahead for 2013: The reigning Soccer Bowl champions have a handful of key not returning with goalkeeper Jeff Attinella signing with Real Salt Lake and the club not retaining JP Rodrigues and losing Dan Antoniuk to free agency – though neither has signed with anyone as of yet. The club, however, brought in some quality players in their place. Former youth international goalkeeper Diego Restrepo, a product of Tampa Bay-based IMG Academy, is returning to the States, Puerto Rico Islanders defender Jay Needham signed on and the club added the Minnesota duo of Devin Del Do and Amani Walker, who led the side in scoring. The Rowdies have had a significant preseason campaign playing in the Disney Classic where they were outscored by MLS trio of DC, Montreal and KC 9-1. They have also played USL Pro Orlando City three times without a win.
FUTURE / RETURNING CLUBS
Fall Season Entry
Season & Home Opener: August 3 v Fort Lauderdale
Big Picture: The much-anticipated return of the New York Cosmos has been one of many delays. Originally planning to join MLS, the initial resurrection of the Cosmos came in the form of a U23 PDL side in 2011 only to end up playing a handful of exhibitions before folding up shop as the ownership group underwent a complete change late in the year. The new group named in charge in November of that year was also intent on the top flight before making the surprise announcement in mid-2012 that they were joining the NASL. Excited for a 2013 start hopes were again put on pause when the league and team announced in December that the team would not start until the Fall portion of the new split-season schedule format, creating a stir around the league.
With the launch now firmly in sight, the bigger picture is now MLS and / or a stadium, preferably both. In January, the club, with Saudi Arabian investors, announced plans to hopefully build a stadium adjacent to Belmont Park Race Track outside of New York City, not far from their temporary home at Hofstra on Long Island. The stadium, which has commuter issues for those from the city, would be part of a larger $400 million privately financed project, but the Cosmos’ proposal is competing with other bids to be included as part of the development project. Many considered the stadium plan as a message to MLS that the Cosmos were serious about their intentions for the top flight, though MLS is still intent on building its own facility in Queens and Commissioner Don Garber added later in the lead-up to the MLS season that there were not even in active discussions with the Cosmos anymore or keeping up with what they were doing.
What’s Ahead for 2013: The immediate future on the field is largely unknown, though the club has signed a number of players thus far under the coaching staff of Giovanni Savarese, Carlos Llamosa and Alecko Eskandarian, including fellow former MLS players Carlos Mendes, Korey Veeder, Hunter Freeman, Peri Marosevic, Kyle Reynish, Joseph Nane and Stefan Dimitrov.
2012 Record: 11-9-8
Once a proud club for USL and then the NASL, things have spiraled terribly out of control for the club that regularly made headlines for its unexpected Champions League success. Relying largely on funding from the Puerto Rican government to supplement the lack of high-value ownership, the team ran into significant issues in 2012, a season in which they already were forced to play in a much smaller venue during renovations to their facility, when the representatives in control – who were aligned with Islanders ownership - were voted out of office and have since cut off funding for the team. The initial uncertainty led to the team suspending operations in hopes of returning to the fall, but the financial disarray among the owners made it clear that they would need to sit out the entire campaign instead. In late March, the club’s coach Adrian Whitbread left the team, saying he could not go a year without work while also visibly and vocally expressing doubt that the team would return in 2014.
Somewhat of a byproduct of developers trying to develop Lansdowne Park and significantly renovate it’s Frank Clair Stadium for a Canadian Football League team, the inclusion of a soccer team led to the Ottawa Fury, longtime USL W-League and PDL members, becoming a part of the larger Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group featuring developers and sports businessmen and the recently-appointed CEO Bernie Ashe, a former Ottawa Senators executive.
To that end, the group acquired NASL expansion rights back in 2011 with expectations to play upon the completion of the renovations, which are now set to finish late this year – though the larger Lansdowne project will not be done until 2015 - for a 2014 team launch. Once the club kicks off in 2014, however, the other issue will be the club likely having to share the venue with a new CFL franchise, something that has been a difficult enough problem for MLS clubs that have had to share venues with the NFL in the final month of the season. The Fury, though, will have to contend with schedule issues and football lining for much of the season as the CFL season runs from June to late November.
Virtually on the eve of the 2013 season, the 2014 expansion side received the biggest news thus far of its existence with the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors approving construction of the new baseball-soccer stadium as part of a larger development project. The small-sized stadium will only seat 5,500 for baseball, meaning the quality soccer seating will likely be a fraction smaller. The team is expecting to begin play in the new ballpark in 2014, but sports facilities notoriously run into legal roadblocks from disgruntled communities making a one-year construction timeline a tight turnaround.
The franchise was announced last November with the ownership group being Virginia Investment Partnership, which also owned the Hounds minor league baseball team that will also use the facility.
Indianapolis
Set to kick off in 2014, the yet-to-be named franchise is already surpassing ticket sales expectations in the community for their launch at IUPUI's Carroll Stadium for track and soccer. Owned by developer Ersal Ozdemir, the club was announced by the league in January and is being managed and launched by Peter Wilt, the famed former Chicago Fire general manager that has an abundance of experience. The Fire are still, arguably, the league's best expansion team in MLS history and Wilt, who has since worked with several other professional soccer teams and organizations over the years, helped begin the process for the soccer-specific stadium Toyota Park.
The club is already building a dedicated supporters group in the form of the Brickyard Battalion and conducted a Name the Team contest that has concluded with the name to be announced some time in April.
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