Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Some Soccer News for Oct 25, 2016

It's Day 299 of 2016.


In the immortal words of Bob Dylan: "I don't believe you."

dN

Two giant blasts in the world of lower division soccer in North America today:

Tampa Bay Rowdies leave NASL and go to USL:


Ottawa Fury announces they are also leaving NASL for USL just 2 hours later:


And here is the NASL statement on the announcement by two teams who are leaving the league:

As a league in North America, the NASL operates in an environment where owners are free to take their clubs wherever they choose. All we can do is acknowledge that reality and move forward with our business, which is exactly what we're doing right now. We have never had a stronger and more unified group of owners who are committed to the league's model, its structure, and its long-term vision. With a half-dozen serious expansion discussions in progress, the league looks forward to adding new owners who share in the Board's vision.
We have ambitious plans for growth, and we're proud that the flexibility of the NASL model remains an extremely attractive proposition for investors seeking to become part of an authentic, competitive soccer league. While we don't want to take anything away from what is sure to be another exciting postseason, we're focused on ensuring that, in 2017, the NASL is one of the most competitive soccer leagues around.

dN

  • NASL currently has 12 teams and San Francisco is set to join in 2017, giving the league 13 teams. But Minnesota is moving to MLS, and Tampa and Ottawa are headed to USL, leaving just 10.
  • There are very strong rumors that both Fort Lauderdale and Oklahoma City are headed out of NASL too, which could leave them with just 8 teams.

After the 2009 season ten teams departed USL to form a new league. (And added a new club from St Louis) For 1 year it was called USSF Division 2 Professional League.
Austin Aztex
Crystal Palace Baltimore
Carolina RailHawks
Miami FC
NSC Minnesota Stars
Portland Timbers
Puerto Rico Islanders
Rochester Rhinos
AC St Louis
FC Tampa Bay
Vancouver Whitecaps

Then before the 2011 season the league rebranded with 8 teams calling itself NASL:
Atlanta Silverbacks
Carolina RailHawks
FC Edmonton
Fort Lauderdale Strikers
NSC Minnesota Stars
Montreal Impact
Puerto Rico Islanders
FC Tampa Bay

dN

USL president Jake Edwards talked about his leagues present, progress and ideals. (Conducted well before today's inter-league madness.) By Brian Straus of Sports Illustrated.

dN

du Nord Futbol MLS Coaches Hot Seat Season's End Edition:
  • 6 Greg Vanney - if TFC gets bounced in game 1 of the playoffs again then they need to make a change
  • 5 Mauro Biello - no one is safe from owner Joey Saputo
  • 4 Jim Curtin - started well for a change this season but faded baaaaaaadly
  • 3 Dominic Kinnear - 2 years of nothing, and a new GM on the way could spell doom
  • 2 Carl Robinson - a giant flop of a season
  • 1 Jay Heaps - his team should not be this bad, but they really are bad

dN

I ran three polls on Twitter yesterday. Here are the questions and results:

Which MLS coach did the most miraculous job this season?
  • 45% Pablo Mastroeni - Colorado Rapids
  • 32% Brian Schmetzer - Seattle Sounders
  • 17% Patrick Viera - New York City
  • 6% Ben Olsen - DC United

Which MLS East team was the biggest disappointment in 2016?
  • 43% Columbus Crew
  • 26% New England Revolution
  • 18% Orlando City
  • 13% Chicago Fire

Which MLS West team was the biggest disappointment in 2016?
  • 71% Portland Timbers
  • 27% Vancouver Whitecaps
  • 2% San Jose Earthquakes
  • 0% Houston Dynamo

dN

Giles Barnes of Vancouver Whitecaps named MLS Player Of The Week

dN

MLS Playoffs - Knockout Round schedule:
-Wed Oct 26
Toronto v Philadelphia Union – 6:30pm CT on ESPN2 + UniMas
LA Galaxy v Real Salt Lake – 9:30pm CT on UniMas
-Thu Oct 27
DC United v Montreal Impact – 6:30pm CT on UniMas
Seattle Sounders v Sporting Kansas City – 9:30pm CT on FS1 + UniMas

dN

Lets do this!
Join the MLS Playoffs Bracket Challenge.
  • And then enter the du Nord Futbol league (#1056)

dN

Minnesota United holding midfielder Jeb Brovsky blew out his left knee in last Saturday's game at Carolina. He will need surgery and those usually take 9-12 months to make a full recovery.

dN

A couple of Americans in Action in Europe today:
  • Bobby Wood got 2 goals today for Hamburg in the DFB Pokal (their league cup.) They beat Hallescher 0-3 on the road.
  • Fabian Johnson has a goal and an assist for Gladbach in the Pokal tourney, and they beat Stuttgart 2-0.

dN

USMNT player yo-yo - who is up and who is down. By Doug McIntyre of ESPNFC.

dN

Oof: Portland Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson got in a car wreck last night. He called teammate Liam Ridgewell to come get him. The cops showed and both guys were arrested for DUI.



The Bird Is The Word

2 Comments:

Blogger Dave DuJour said...

#EveryoneIsUnited?

7:58 PM  
Blogger Dave DuJour said...

Watching the reply on Jeb(!)'s injury and it was clear that it was a serious knee problem. That knee just collapsed. Almost as horrifying to watch as the old Joe Theisman NFL injury back in the 80s.

8:00 PM  

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