FC New York Gains PDL Affiliate

Lancaster Rattlers becomes feeder club for FC New York

FC New York Press Release - http://www.fcnewyorksoccer.com

Thursday, June 3, 2010

NEW YORK, NY - FC New York recently announced its first USL Premier Development League affiliate will be the Lancaster Rattlers, based in Lancaster, California. The two clubs will exchange best practices, while Lancaster will act as a feeder club for F.C. New York.

“Gerry Brunner and the Rattlers have been great," FC New York President Doug Petersen said. "They truly understand what we can achieve. We believe in the partnership and their area of geographic influence.”

For players in the Southern California region, being with the Rattlers potentially brings them only a step away from the professional ranks of F.C. New York.

F.C NY’s O’Riordan Speaks Out
Q&A with FC New York Technical Director Don O’Riordan

http://usl1.uslsoccer.com/home/439048.html

Balls kicked in anger in Alberta



Canada's fourth fully pro team, with a salary budget of a million dollars apparently, got things started last night with a 3-0 win over the Montreal Impact reserves.

http://www.24thminute.com/2010/06/balls-kicked-in-anger-in-alberta.html

Late Goal Decisive for Whitecaps FC in Montreal


In the first game of five matches on the road, Vancouver Whitecaps FC (8W-3L-9D) defeated Canadian arch-rivals Montreal Impact (6W-8L-5D) 1-0 in the USSF D-2 Pro League on Wednesday evening.

Greg Janicki's late header gave the Whitecaps their second straight league victory at Montreal's Stade Saputo in less than a month. In a match that seemed destined to end in a goalless draw, Teitur Thordarson's side found a way in the dying stages to claim three valuable away points against their fellow NASL Conference foes.

http://www.nasl.com/article/late-goal-d ... treal_2391

USSF D2 Update; New Standards Set for League, Current and Future Owners



The much anticipated USSF D2 meeting on Monday took place in New York without much fanfare or negotiations according to sources involved with teams that participated. The meeting was in general amicable and US Soccer did allow discourse.

Those attending the meeting from the federation were Sunil Gulati, Dan Flynn, and Brian Remedi. Team owners attending were: Austin Aztex owner Phil Rawlins, Carolina Railhawks owner’s Bob Young and Selby Wellman and his son Brian, Crystal Palace Baltimore’s Pete Med, FC Edmonton owner Tom Faph, Miami FC/Traffic US president Aaron Davidson, Montreal Impact owner Joey Saputo, NSC Stars GM Kris Bjerkness, Rochester Rhinos owner Rob Clark, FC Tampa Bay majority owner Andrew Nestor and Vancouver Whitecaps president Greg Kerfoot and USL owner Rob Hoskins. Those not present were Jeff Cooper of AC St. Louis, representatives from Puerto Rico who were said to be frustrated and felt that they most likely will not meet the new USSF standards and the Portland Timbers who will be moving on to MLS next season. Vancouver and Montreal have been actively involved with these discussion because the Whitecaps and the Impact would like to discuss the possibility of keeping a team in the D2 league for developmental purposes. Atlanta’s Silverbacks Boris Jerkunica was not in attendance either which may be telling with his involvement with the league in the near future.

http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/

FC Edmonton Dominates the Highlanders on the Prairies

When the two teams met on August 8 in Victoria, the home team Highlanders came from behind to squeak out a draw against an FC Edmonton team travelling for the first time as a squad.

On Wednesday night, FC Edmonton decided to dominate on their home pitch from start to finish.


http://www.fcedmonton.com/content/fc-ed ... s-prairies

The USSF D-2 Pro League playoff schedule is as follows:

No. 1 Rochester vs. No. 8 Puerto Rico
Leg 1: @ Puerto Rico 2:0 Rochester
Leg 2: @ Rochester, Saturday

No. 4 Portland vs. No. 5 Vancouver
Leg 1: @ Vancouver 2:0 Portland
Leg 2: @ Portland, Sunday

No. 2 Carolina vs. No. 7 Minnesota
Leg 1 Minnesota 0:0 Carolina
Leg 2: @ Carolina, Saturday

No. 3 Austin vs. No. 6 Montreal
Leg 1: Montreal 2:0 Austin
Leg 2: @ Austin, Saturday

The first legs of the semfinals will be played Oct. 13 or 14 and the return legs Oct. 16 or 17.


The first leg of the finals will be played on Oct. 23 or 24, and the return leg will be on Oct. 30 or 31.

SEMIFINALS 1st LEG
Thu, October 14, 2010
7:30 pm Montreal Impact vs Carolina RailHawks Stade Saputo
8:05 pm Puerto Rico Islanders vs Vancouver Whitecaps FC Estadio Juan Ramon Loubriel

SEMIFINALS 2nd LEG
Sun, October 17, 2010
4:00 pm Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs Puerto Rico Islanders Swangard Stadium
6:00 pm Carolina RailHawks vs Montreal Impact WakeMed Soccer Park

D2 PRO SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
V.

1st leg: Carolina 0:2 Puerto Rico


2nd leg: Puerto Rico at Carolina
October 30 - 07:00 PM ET

PUERTO RICO ISLANDERS F.C. - D2 PRO SOCCER CHAMPIONS
1:3

1st leg: Carolina 0:2 Puerto Rico
2nd leg: Puerto Rico 1:1 Carolina

NASL Concludes Successful AGM and Finalizes USSF Application

The North American Soccer League (“NASL”) recently concluded its 2010 Annual General Meeting held in Miami, Florida on November 7th and 8th. The meeting was highlighted by the approval of two additional teams for the 2011 season - the NSC Minnesota Stars and the Atlanta Silverbacks - and their inclusion in the application to the United States Soccer Federation for sanctioning as a Division II league. The completed application, which was originally submitted with six teams on September 28, 2010, was submitted to the Federation immediately following the conclusion of the meeting.


The application also includes San Antonio (which will commence play in 2012) and an additional team to be announced (which will commence play in 2013). The NASL is looking forward to favorable consideration of the application by the Board of Directors of the USSF at its meeting on November 21 in Toronto, Canada.

“This is an exciting time for the NASL as it nears the finish line in its two year quest for second division sanctioning from the USSF. We were encouraged by fans to return second division soccer to Atlanta after a two season hiatus and are thrilled that over twenty years of continuous professional play in Minnesota will continue in 2011 and beyond ” said Aaron Davidson CEO of the NASL.

Club owners and general managers will continue working on developing the schedule for the 2011 season over the coming weeks. The NASL plans to release the opening weekend schedule of games later this month.

http://www.nasl.com/article/nasl-conclu ... pplication

"It's Called Football" has learned this afternoon from sources within NASL that heading into the USSF meeting this weekend ownership is expecting to receive only a temporary sanction from the governing body.

The NASL announced last week that the eight team league - which is to include: Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina RailHawks, FC Edmonton, FC Tampa Bay, Montreal Impact, Miami FC Blues, NSC Minnesota Stars and the Puerto Rico Islanders - would be applying for sanctioning as the Division 2 league in North America.

Since then, Canadian Soccer News has broken the news on a pair of items (here and here) that could affect the success of the sanctioning bid but the temporary sanction is now said to be, "the most likely scenario to play out.'

NASL sources say that a full sanctioning for the league wouldn't come until the USSF AGM in February.


http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/conte ... anctioning

ATLANTA (December 1, 2010) The Atlanta Silverbacks, in a press conference at Atlanta Silverbacks Park formally announced today a long term joint venture with Traffic Sports that will see the Atlanta Silverbacks Men's professional team join the North American Soccer League ("NASL") for the 2011 season and beyond. The press conference was attended by local media, and area sports leaders.

"After working five years to create a league that is team-owner controlled and managed we are thrilled that USSF has sanctioned the NASL and we are excited to get back to playing soccer again," said Boris Jerkunica, Chairman of the Atlanta Silverbacks. Michael Oki, President of the Atlanta Silverbacks stated “This is a historic day for soccer in Atlanta. We look forward to working with Traffic Sports as a key strategic partner in bringing their soccer expertise from around the globe to our organization.”

"Atlanta is a first class sports market with a rich history of supporting the highest level of professional soccer," said Aaron Davidson, Chief Executive Officer of the NASL and Vice President of Traffic Sports. "Returning professional soccer to Atlanta at a high level reinforces the vision and ambition of the NASL and our member teams share with the supporters in this market with whom we had extensive meetings the past several days and will continue to engage meaningfully in the re-establishment of men’s professional soccer in this region."

Fernando Clavijo, Director of Player Affairs for the NASL and Director of Soccer for Traffic Sports USA stated “The Atlanta market has a great history of developing top talent for the professional game including US Youth International, Brian Dominguez of Miami FC, who has joined us today. We are excited to be here and will work diligently to create a positive environment for local talen

http://www.nasl.com/article/atlanta-silverbacks-to-play-in-nasl

Fort Lauderdale, Florida (December 9, 2010) - Miami FC announced today that is has come to terms with Playbook Management International (PMI) for the 2011 season. With this agreement, PMI and Miami FC plan to use all their resources to create a tradition, culture and fan-fare worthy of the Strikers’ name.

“We are focused on bringing back the Strikers in a meaningful way which connects with the original Strikers fans - Striker Likers - and the soon-to-be Striker Likers,” said Aaron Davidson, President of the team. “ Our partnership with PMI which is led by Michael Hitchcock who has been so successful in building fan bases for several MLS clubs and other sports is one of the first critical steps in working towards a successful launch of the Strikers in the NASL on April 9, 2011.”

http://www.nasl.com/article/club-partners-with-pmi

FCTB Declines Options On Players


FC Tampa Bay today announced that the club has declined its options on midfielder Stanley Nyazamba and defender Graham Tatters. Nyazamba and Tatters are now free agents.


Nyazamba, a native of Zimbabwe, played in 25 matches with 15 starts and recorded two assists during the 2010 season.


Tatters, a Scotland native, played in 16 contests during the inaugural season, including 10 starts, and had one assist.

http://www.nasl.com/article/fctb-declin ... on-players