Archive for USL
Let This Dispute End
Ben Knight
Ben Knight writes and publishes
Onward!
USL-done
2009 draws rapidly to a close, and the Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps are missing something really basic and essential as they make their plans for 2010.
A league to play in.
It has already long-since been noted that the vast majority of USL-1 sides refuse to recognize Nu-Rock Holdings as the league’s new owner, and are attempting to split off and start NASL2 on their own.
Nu-Rock’s attempts at “diplomacy” have so far consisted of expelling franchises, cancelling player contracts en masse and filing lawsuits against teams like Tampa Bay, Rochester and Baltimore who caught the stink from the kitchen and are now trying to tip-toe out the back door.
All the while, the United States Soccer Federation – whose approval is needed for any league to operate – are doing everything they can to hold off making a decision, clearly hoping a solution is found that doesn’t involve their having to rule against one side or the other.
Meanwhile, Canada’s only two division-two pro sides – Vancouver MLS-bound in a year, Montreal most likely a year after – don’t actually know for certain if they will be playing soccer at all this summer.
It’s gone on long enough.
USL AGM Update
TAMPA, FL – United Soccer Leagues strategic partner Beswicks Sports, a leading European sports management and law firm, is leading a diversified group of foreign organizations that will be visiting the USL Annual General Meeting at the 2009 USL Soccer Fest November 19-24.
“As the level of sophistication has grown for USL, so too has the quality of organizations outside of our borders that we are working with,” said USL CEO Alec Papadakis. “Forging partnerships with exceptional individuals and organizations abroad will further enhance the opportunities for USL, the clubs and the players. This is an important element to the business as the soccer world no longer consists of isolated regions. We are moving forward by breaking new ground and reaching new heights, and we are proud to have Beswicks by our side leading the way.”
For Beswicks, it will be the firm’s second consecutive trip to the United States for the USL AGM with executives Tim Bailey, Gary Mellor and Simon Woodings having attended last year. Joining Mellor and Woodings this year are Mark Cartwright, Darren Long and Clive Clarke. In addition to nearly the entire firm travelling to Tampa for the 2009 meeting, Beswicks has invited several clubs to join them such as Burnley.
“Sheffield Wednesday, Bolton Wanderers and Fulham all indicated an interest in the exciting changes in USL,” said Mellor, who said the three clubs are keen on attending. “We were overwhelmed last year by the interest from the clubs at all levels looking to expand their horizons and linking up with teams around the world. As a result, we are bringing more people. Personally, I had what seemed a hundred meetings last year and I felt we couldn’t do everybody justice. We want to make sure we have enough people there from our firm on hand to meet the demand for personal meetings in addition to the seminars and panels we will be involved with.”
Burnley, which is already working with the PDL and W-League Cary Clarets teams and has taken tours of the United States, playing games against the Portland Timbers and Ventura County Fusion in 2009, will be represented by Brendan Flood, the club’s operating director. Flood recently published a book, ‘Big Club, Small Town and Me,’ chronicling the story of Burnley FCs meteoric rise to the Premiership from an inside perspective, opening the door to the boardroom and telling the story of the most exhilarating, turbulent and breathtaking years of his life.
One individual among Beswicks’ invited guests has first-hand knowledge of USL as former Portland Timber player Sean McAuley is the current Academy Manager for Sheffield Wednesday. He played 16 games with the club in 2002.
The diverse group of attendees will also include Nuno Esteves, the manager of GD Estoril Praia in Portugal’s second flight as well as Portuguese agent Tony Araujo, who also represents a number of African players.
Heading north to the AGM will be a number of groups from Mexico and South America.
Mexican entrepreneurs Rodrigo Suarez and Eduardo Salamonovitz, affiliated with the Johan Cruyff Institute for Sport Studies, will be attending as representatives of a group of Mexican investors interested in launching a club with United Soccer Leagues.
Also expected are groups from Brazil and Argentina.
Statement Regarding USL First Division
United Soccer Leagues, founded in 1986, continues to be the only organization with Division II and III Men’s Outdoor Professional Leagues sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, providing over 20 years of professional league management experience to its member clubs at all levels of the game.
The new ownership of NuRock Soccer Holdings has made a significant investment in United Soccer Leagues through its acquisition of the business and the retaining of strategic business partners such as Nike, Inc. and Premier Partnerships, which is led by the highly-respected duo of Alan Rothenberg and Randy Bernstein.
While USL does not oppose the right of an entity to affiliate with USSF per the governing organization’s bylaws, it does oppose the current application before the Federation on the grounds that there is misrepresentation, interference with USL business operations and substantial debt amongst the membership of the parties applying for certification.
Although USL is currently working with USL-1 member teams on reforming the structure of league management, USL’s ownership structure and franchise system has been, and will continue to be, in compliance with all USSF and FIFA statutes since its membership as a professional league with the USSF began in 1993.
There is no FIFA regulation stipulating that member leagues be owned by their respective clubs, and in many cases around the world, leagues consist of individual clubs that play in league competitions managed by the respective Federation such as the English leagues (excluding the Premiership), Bundesliga (Germany), La Liga (Spain) and Mexican Primera Division. While some management systems are similar, the models of ownership structure vary greatly throughout FIFA based on each country’s business regulations as well as respective regional confederation and federation guidelines and principles. While there are universal principles woven throughout FIFA, league ownership models are among concepts such as promotion/relegation and the prohibition of two equal-tiered leagues that are not mandated and not necessarily applicable for every federation, such as is the case in the United States. Every league in every federation has its own nuances that make it unique.
The ownership structure of United Soccer Leagues has played a crucial role in maintaining a stable foundation while advancing the sport over decades of growth through both prosperous and difficult financial times. This structure has allowed USL to support and maintain the operation of member clubs such as Montreal and Vancouver during times when the then ownership of the clubs were unable to continue operating, which would have had detrimental affects on both the competition and on all respective markets across the league. With continued financial difficulties being experienced by clubs all around the world as well franchises and leagues in various United States sports entities, USL believes its model, with upcoming reforms to better serve its teams, is an important aspect to a successful future in the USL First Division.
USL Poker Play
Are the days in the USL-1 over for both the Montreal Impact and the Whitecaps?
Yes, negotiations with the several existing USL First Division clubs considering forming a breakaway circuit are over says USL CEO Alec Papadakis.
“The negotiations are finished. We decided to continue our preparations for the season 2010 with the teams which wished to remain with us. I would like to thank the two Canadian teams, the Whitecaps and the Impact, for all that contribution to the USL for the past few years,” said Papadakis in a Montreal radio interview.
“While the statements made in the earlier interview were accurate in that we have ceased negotiations with the (breakaway) Team Owner’s Association as a group, we remain in dialogue with certain individual TOA teams about their possible participation in USL-1 for 2010. We are open to the return of the Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps to USL-1 for 2010; however, we continue to move forward with our preparations for next season.”
The Whitecaps have one more year to go before joining Major League Soccer in 2011. Yes, the Whitecaps are in limbo.
“While it’s true we haven’t been in dialogue with the USL we have never been told we wouldn’t be welcome back nor have we made a decision that we will be back. We’re still in limbo. One way or another the Whitecaps will be playing soccer next season,” president Bob Lenarduzzi said.
Yes, the Montreal Impact are in negotiations.
“Following the press release issued earlier by the USL, I would also like to confirm that there are still ongoing talks between the Montreal Impact and the USL,” declared Montreal Impact President Joey Saputo.
“The negotiations are not over. We continue to work on various options, including the possibility of seeing the Impact in the USL-1 in 2010.”
Team Ownership Association Update
The Carolina RailHawks, Miami FC and the Minnesota Thunder — are also unhappy with the ownership structure of the USL-1.
USL Rivals Looking For #3
TAMPA, FL – When the Canadian rivals Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps meet Saturday evening in British Columbia for the first leg of the USL First Division Championship Series, the two will be going toe-to-toe to become the third team in league history to capture three league championships.
Both legs will air live on Fox Soccer Channel with Saturday’s contest beginning at 9:30 pm ET and the second leg at 2:30 pm ET on October 17.
The pair currently trail the Rochester Rhinos, who won in 1998, 2000 and 2001, and the Seattle Sounders, who captured the league title a record four times in 1995, 1996, 2005 and 2007. The Impact and Whitecaps are joined only by the Colorado Foxes of 1992-93 as two-time champions. Vancouver will be looking to be the first to repeat as champions since the 2000-01 Rhinos.
But while the desire to record history may be there on paper, emotion certainly is bubbling under the surface this year, particularly in Vancouver’s case. The Whitecaps were poised to advance to the CONCACAF Champions League earlier this year via the Nutrilite Canadian Championship tournament, but a stunning 6-1 collapse by the previously-eliminated Impact in a game against Toronto FC in which they rested numerous players cost their league brethren in the tiebreakers. A fact that did not go over well then, and appears to still be an issue heading into the next two weeks.
“We owe Montreal some payback from the Nutrilite [Canadian Championship], so we’ll see if we can go and do a job on them,” captain Martin Nash told Marc Weber of The Province following their series victory over Portland Sunday.
In a strange quirk of numbers, among several trends between the two sides over the years, the two clubs have split series victories the past two years in their two competitions. Vancouver won both meetings against Montreal in the NCC with Montreal following up the two shutouts with three victories over Vancouver in league play – the exact opposite of a year ago.
In 2008, Montreal won the two NCC fixtures while the Whitecaps took the regular season series with a 2-0-1 record. The difference in 2008 was decided in the USL-1 postseason, where Vancouver advanced 2-1 on aggregate with both clubs registering shutouts at home in the Semifinal series en route to claiming their second league championship.
The 2008 postseason was not the first time the two have met in the playoffs. In fact, the other Whitecaps championship also saw their road to the title go through Montreal as they knocked the Impact off 2-0 on aggregate with a 2-0 win in overtime on the road after a scoreless draw in the first leg of the 2006 Semifinals.
Eduardo Sebrango and Tony Donatelli scored the critical goals in that 2006 overtime session. Both now play for the Impact. They are two of seven players currently on the club rosters who have played for the other side.
Sebrango, in fact, is the all-time leader in scoring in the all-time series between the two clubs with three goals to his credit for both. His total of six is two more than any other. David Testo has scored twice, both against Vancouver since the switch, and Charles Gbeke twice, both against Montreal since his move. Along with Donatelli, Montreal’s Joey Gjertsen has one goal, scoring against his former side. Nash and Montreal goalkeeper Srdjan Djekanovic, who could win a second straight title as the back-up keeper, round out the seven.
Regardless of who the players have been since the two clubs played for the first time on May 30, 1993, one trend has remained constant – close contests. In the 45 meetings between the two clubs, 30 have been decided by a goal or finished level, and 32 games have featured a shutout with four of the six draws having finished scoreless. Only once has the losing team scored twice in a game, and the biggest margin of victory has been three (four times by Montreal). Neither club has scored three goals in a game since Montreal posted a 3-0 victory at home June 11, 2004 – a span of 21 games that has also seen 18 shutouts. The one clear difference between the two is the series records. Montreal all-time is 26-13-6 with a 13-5-5 advantage at home and 13-8-1 record in Vancouver.
Four of the five meetings this year have been decided by one goal.
The lone big win, by the series standards, came in the opener when Vancouver posted a 2-0 NCC victory on the road over Montreal on May 20. Rookie phenom Marcus Haber scored in the first minute of action and 2008 USL-1 Championship MVP Gbeke doubled the advantage in the 17th minute. Jay Nolly held on for the shutout.
A week later at home, Gbeke had a penalty stopped by Matt Jordan, but another young standout made a key play as residency PDL player Ethan Gage provided the winner in the 67th minute, eliminating Montreal from NCC championship contention.
The season series in league play kicked off in Vancouver on June 7 with Montreal dishing out a little payback. Former Whitecaps Sebrango and Testo scored in the 2-1 victory. Sebrango opened the scoring 20 minutes in and Haber leveled the match three minutes before the break, but Testo answered right back two minutes later for Montreal.
Two first half goals in Montreal on June 20 propelled the Impact to a second straight win in the series, 2-1. Rocco Placentino connected in the 34th and Roberto Brown added the second five minutes later. Marlon James cut into the deficit in the 63rd, but the Whitecaps were unable to find the equalizer.
The regular season series came to a close just a month ago in a narrow 1-0 affair decided in the final moments in Montreal an September 9. Peter Byers provided the lone strike in stoppage time to give Montreal the sweep.
