MLS released the dates for the opening home matches to the 2021 season, which will begin the weekend of April 16-18. Three teams will be moving into new stadiums: Columbus, FC Cincinnati and Austin FC. The three Canadian teams will open at U.S. venues: CF Montreal (Inter Miami CF Stadium), Vancouver Whitecaps (Real Salt Lake’s […]
expansion
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS expansion team owner pulls out in Sacramento
MLS has had relatively good success with expansion through the years. If it had not, it would not have grown from 10 teams in 2004 to 27 in 2021 and a planned 30 in 2023, tripling its size in less than two decades. It took more than six years from when David Beckham exercised his […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
Tuesday morning: What we're reading (and listening to)
1. Chelsea turn from Lampard to Tuchel: Why Blues changed managers, where Lampard failed, new coach’s to-do list By James Olley, Mark Ogden and Tom Hamilton (ESPN) 2. Real Salt Lake’s new handbook sets foundation for a changing club By Christopher Kamrani (The Athletic) 3. Austin’s MLS stadium now officially has a name: Q2 Stadium […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS State of the League: Not time to worry about the past, no time to wait on the future
Don Garber has been the MLS commissioner since 1999, and one lesson he says he’s learned is to not look back. “You can’t be in the soccer business and spend your time worrying about the past,” he said during Tuesday’s State of the League address in response to a question from Soccer America. “You’ve got […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
Expansion: 2021 USL League Two
1. Morris Elite SC (one of four teams in New Jersey) 2. IowaRaptors (GM is pro soccer veteran Chris Economides) 3. Real Central New Jersey Soccer (based in Mercer County) 4. Little Rock Rangers (played four seasons in NPSL) 5. Project51O (operated by Oakland Roots) 6. *Ft. Wayne FC (DaMarcus Beasley is a co-owner) *Will […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Two more Europeans hired to steer 2023 MLS entry St. Louis City SC
German Lutz Pfannenstiel, recently hired St. Louis City SC sporting director, is bringing on board German Bernhard Peters and Englishman Mike Fordeas the club heads toward its 2023 entry into MLS. Peters, who worked with Pfannenstiel at TSG Hoffenheim, will be asenior consultant working with Pfannenstiel on setting up St. Louis City’s youth academy. Forde, […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
Sunday morning: What we're reading (and listening to)
1. Massachusetts soccer coaches say modifications not ideal, but happy to get on fields By James Albert (Lowell Sun) 2.Amid COVID-19 and MLS expansion, USL’s Saint Louis FC faces an abrupt end By Jeff Rueter (The Athletic) 3. What it’s like to be an R.A. now By Ezra Marcus (New York Times)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
Friday morning: What we're reading (and listening to)
1. St. Louis soccer fans, meet your MLS team: It’s St. Louis City SC By Ben Frederickson (St.Louis Post-Dispatch) 2. I had COVID-19, and these are the things nobody tells you By Bill Plaschke (Los Angeles Times) 3. After losing a coach to coronavirus, Texas football team braces for aseason of unknowns By Roman Stubbs […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
Monday morning: What we're reading (and listening to)
1. Charlotte FC: David Tepper’s ‘own’ goal By Bret McCormick (SportsBusiness Journal) 2. The women’s transfer window: goodwill, missing medicals and not much money By AdamCrafton and Oliver Kay (The Athletic) 3. Covid tests and quarantines: Collegesbrace for an uncertain fall By Anemona Hartocollis and Shawn Hubler (New York Times)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They're Saying: Tom Glick
“By far, the number one, the favorite name, has been Charlotte Football Club. Amongst the entire sample, as well as especially amongst soccer fans within that group.” –Tepper Sports & Entertainment president Tom Glick on the MLS expansion team’s name, Charlotte FC, giving the league seven “FC” teams out of the last 10 expansion teams. […]