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Do you enjoy soccer, but think Major League Soccer is too high-falutin' for your taste? Then support your local side! They may play in front of about 5000 people, but one of these teams may get promoted (not really) unless Las Vegas gets their way, which would be stupid. Things have gotten complicated, as the United States Soccer Federation and the North American Soccer League are on bad terms. USSF moves the goalposts for NASL to be Tier 2, and the NASL wants to compete directly with MLS. Add in the USL looking to get reclassified as Tier 2 and you've got a big mess of soccer leagues. Who knows what will happen in 2017? Tier 2: North American Soccer League  The de facto second division in the United States and Canada does not have a seat at the table in USSF, and neither side like each other very much. Has a Spring/Fall split schedule, which we all agree is a terrible idea. There's also talk of the Canadian teams making their own leage affiliated with the Canadian Football League, which would, at current max, feature six teams. TEAMS Atlanta Silverbacks - no one cares anymore Carolina RailHawks FC - I still can't believe the rights were bought on eBay FC Edmonton - almost made the playoffs despite being terrible in the Spring Fort Lauderdale Strikers - RONALDO Indy Eleven - hugely successful first year, and looking to parlay high attendance to new stadium Jacksonville Armada FC - a new team Minnesota United FC - once played in front of 34,047 people, more than Edmonton or Atlanta's entire Fall season New York Cosmos - six-time NASL Champions! Ottawa Fury FC - held NASL attendance record for about a week (see Minnesota) San Antonio Scorpions FC - defending NASL Champions Tampa Bay Rowdies - least penalized team 3 out of 4 years Tier 3: United Soccer League  a.k.a. MLS D-League. What once was a 12-team league now has more teams than MLS. In good graces with USSF. Contains two teams with fleur-de-lis logos. TEAMS (affiliations) Eastern Conference Charleston Battery - one of two clubs founded in 1993 (Houston) Charlotte Independence - replaced Charlotte Eagles (Colorado) Harrisburg City Islanders - I don't think Harrisburg is actually an island, but whatever (Philadelphia) Louisville City FC - gently caress these guys by proxy (Orlando) FC Montreal - cool logo (Montreal) New York Red Bulls II - overnight team owned by Red Bull (RBNY) Pittsburgh Riverhounds - terrible logo Richmond Kickers - the other club founded in 1993, the first pro team to win the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (D.C. United) Rochester Rhinos - the only non-MLS side to win the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup since 1996 (New England) Saint Louis FC - the cradle of American soccer gets another shot at a minor league team (Chicago) Toronto FC II - probably better than the MLS club (Toronto) Wilmington Hammerheads FC - As old as MLS, yet has always been in the third tier (NYCFC) Western Conference Arizona United SC - rebuilding (Dallas) Austin Aztex - the best team (Columbus) Colorado Spring Switchbacks FC - why aren't they affiliated with the Rapids? LA Galaxy II - the team that started the terrible, terrible trend (Los Angeles) Oklahoma City Energy - in a turf war with Oklahoma City FC of NASL (Sporting Kansas City) Orange County Blues - the Chivas in southern California USL Pro Portland Timbers 2 - no comment (Portland) Real Monarchs SLC - bring out your butterfly tifos! (Real Salt Lake) Sacramento Republic FC - defending USL Pro champions (San Jose) Seattle Sounders FC 2 - no comment (Seattle) Tusla Roughnecks FC - you'd think a team with an NASL name would play in the NASL, but no Whitecaps FC 2 - no comment (Vancouver) Other leagues Canada's third tier has settled into two leagues: League1 Ontario and the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. Both leagues play exclusivly in their provinces, and the winners play in the Inter-Provincial Cup Championship. Tiers 4 and 5 are a bit complicated. The United States Soccer Federation and the Canadian Soccer Association do not give specific levels of play for semi-pro and amateur clubs, which leads to some confusion. The generally accepted tier system is: Tier 4: National Premier Soccer League (USA)/Pacific Coast Soccer League (Canada)/USL Premier Development League (USA & Canada) Tier 5: everyone else If it's in the United States or Canada and it's not MLS, post it here! 
Edward Mass fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Feb 11, 2015 |
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Feb 4, 2015 01:16
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Good thread. Go to Richmond games. They allow flares.
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Feb 4, 2015 05:01
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Great thread. Let's Go Scorps The Scorpions are the only professional team in the world that exist to support a charity. All proceeds from the team go to Morgan's Wonderland; the worlds first theme park designed for children with disabilities. Reason enough to support them if you're looking for a team. San Antonio has brought back a decent core from last years championship squad, keeping the rights to main playmaker Colombian Rafael Castillo who scored a bicycle kick in the final game to help the Scorps win it all this year. The other goal was scored by young Billy Forbes who will also come back. Defenders Stephen Deroux and Julius James as well as defensive midfielder Richard Menjivar are back. Texan Josue Soto is back. Original keeper Darryl Sattler returns to the team. Forwards Frenchman Eric Hassli, Pole Tomas Zahorski and Cesar Elizondo are back as well. Not sure where Walter Restrepo ended up but he was great for us last year. We signed another Colombian, center back Eduar Zea that I know zero about. Should be another great year! Edit: I see Restrepo wen to the Cosmos. Fucker. Suqit fucked around with this message at 06:01 on Feb 4, 2015 |
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Feb 4, 2015 05:57
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I live in Minneapolis now so I should start going to Minnesota United games. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna do it, just you wait and see.
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Feb 4, 2015 06:32
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Cuban Chowder Factory posted:I live in Minneapolis now so I should start going to Minnesota United games. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna do it, just you wait and see. do it, they are fun and cool and good and I should make it to some more games this season.
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Feb 4, 2015 07:47
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Support the Tampa Bay Rowdies, we have history(tm)! Frustrating, frustrating history. Drinking helps.  Rowdies: last seen at this year's Gasparilla parade.  quote:http://www.rowdiessoccer.com/news/d...sa#.VNH3CJwjwvt
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Feb 4, 2015 11:55
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OP, why do you call the US football league system "tiered" if there's no real connection between them, for example the possibility of promotion/relegation?
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Feb 4, 2015 12:03
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ephex posted:OP, why do you call the US football league system "tiered" if there's no real connection between them, for example the possibility of promotion/relegation? There is a connection, they're all governed by USSF. They also all play in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup (which is run by USSF).
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Feb 4, 2015 12:10
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Teams are occasionally promoted by invitation (and a hefty buy-in fee) or even self relegate. The Kickers actually moved themselves from USL-1 to USL-2 a few years back for budgetary limitations. Minor league soccer knows what it is.
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Feb 4, 2015 20:21
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Rowdies just signed Maicon Santos. Probably an impact sub sort of signing. I hear rumors that there are additional signings waiting on NASL paperwork.
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Feb 4, 2015 21:09
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Dayton Dutch Lions relegated themselves from USL-Pro to the PDL, a U23 league. Both DDL fans are super pissed
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Feb 4, 2015 21:23
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Stadium porn (not the good kind; refurbishing old baseball stadium; this will have to suffice Rowdies fans for time being): https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153559568278835&set=vb.109366663834&type=2&theater
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Feb 5, 2015 10:56
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Austin Aztex are BACK ps gently caress orlando
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Feb 5, 2015 22:08
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King of False Promises posted:Rowdies just signed Maicon Santos. Probably an impact sub sort of signing. I hear rumors that there are additional signings waiting on NASL paperwork. I keep forgetting that dude exists. He kinda sucked when he played for Chicago.
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Feb 6, 2015 00:23
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ephex posted:OP, why do you call the US football league system "tiered" if there's no real connection between them, for example the possibility of promotion/relegation? It's more a general reference to talent level and ability than anything else
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Feb 6, 2015 04:03
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Jermaine Dildoe posted:It's more a general reference to talent level and ability than anything else
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Feb 6, 2015 04:15
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Jacksonville are playing their first ever game, a friendly against Philly that they're winning 3-1 at the half. It's streaming here: http://www.nasl.com/article/uuid/1wnlc9fziysh21lwu9p1ecfa3u/watch-armada-fc-first-game#.VNZkcMYurBk
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Feb 8, 2015 00:21
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That was a fun game. The way they play is pretty dangerous when they give up possession midfield, but they handled it pretty well mostly. Set an attendance record for preseason games, too: almost 14,000 people. They're sitting at around 5,000 season ticket holders, too.
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Feb 8, 2015 01:40
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The Jax/Philly game was a lot of fun. They were a little sloppy with possession but looked really dangerous in patches. Can't wait for the season to start now.
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Feb 8, 2015 03:45
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In advance of today's USMNT friendly, here is a cool and good article about Miguel Ibarra. My favorite part is:that article posted:If he had moved from the worst MLS team ever, there would be 30 articles written about him. In reference to Fafa Picault's move to Sparta Prague. The "Americans Abroad" part of MLS reporting (and in general the hoopla around Americans who go overseas) is so over the top, and just reeks of desperation. It's sad and hilarious at the same time.
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Feb 8, 2015 19:34
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camoseven posted:In advance of today's USMNT friendly, here is a cool and good article about Miguel Ibarra. My favorite part is: Ibarra started against Panama today, which owns. Yeah, Yanks Abroad reporting is awful. IIRC BigSoccer was the Patient Zero for that poo poo.
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Feb 8, 2015 23:48
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Ibarra looked pretty decent yesterday, and his success gives me hope that we'll see more NASL stars on the national level. Especially with so many of the current USMNT starters being completely uninspiring (Jozy, Bradley when he's not scoring ridiculous Olimpicos, Mix "where am I how did I get here" Diskerud) or will be old and broken by the next World Cup (Dempsey, Jones, Wondo). Here's a pretty bizarre article in favor of the stadium, and an equally bad article against it. The IndyStar is such a lovely newspaper. At least the comments are entertaining! Personally, I am working off the assumption that cities and states have and will continue to hand out massive amounts of money to sports teams to build stadiums, and through that lens this is a much better deal for the state than any of the other sports venues in Indy even in a worst case scenario. Let's get it built!!!
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Feb 9, 2015 20:36
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Bill Edwards continues to impress as Rowdies majority owner. quote:http://tbo.com/news/business/bill-edwards-buys-garage-restaurant-to-please-rowdies-fans-20150209/
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Feb 10, 2015 01:43
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Feb 10, 2015 04:27
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Why did Austin have to go with that name again 
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Feb 10, 2015 05:11
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Pretty excited for the first Rowdies preseason game tonight.
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Feb 10, 2015 16:34
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CaptainYesterday posted:Hill Country Derby
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Feb 10, 2015 16:58
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The USL is rebranding and reapplying for D2 Status
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Feb 10, 2015 17:49
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quote:The new USL mark is the central pillar in a new design philosophy for our league. Inspired by the geometry of the field, its design cues are more akin to a 21st century startup than those of a monolithic sports league. yes clearly the best way to reflect long-term stability is to compare yourself to a startup
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Feb 10, 2015 18:11
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"As the principles of marketing change, our design is agile and iterative. Our new logo is not a corporate logo but a tribal mark to be worn with passion."
awyeahz fucked around with this message at 18:17 on Feb 10, 2015 |
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Feb 10, 2015 18:13
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Looks awful
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Feb 10, 2015 18:17
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Uggggh this is so dumb. Divisions don't really mean poo poo in a pyramid without pro/rel, but I'd much rather have a league that is actually independent than a league that is full of reserve teams. It just feels like step in the direction of an MLB style farm systems, which would loving suck.awyeahz posted:"As the principles of marketing change, our design is agile and iterative. Our new logo is not a corporate logo but a tribal mark to be worn with passion." And this makes me want to blow my loving brains out
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Feb 10, 2015 18:30
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camoseven posted:Uggggh this is so dumb. Divisions don't really mean poo poo in a pyramid without pro/rel, but I'd much rather have a league that is actually independent than a league that is full of reserve teams. It just feels like step in the direction of an MLB style farm systems, which would loving suck.
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Feb 11, 2015 01:28
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Rowdies won 1-0 (a PK) against the Union!
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Feb 11, 2015 01:53
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More like Awful Asstex #banter #builtnotbought #kaka
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Feb 11, 2015 02:02
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I'm volunteering for Nashville FC this year. Gonna count stats and write game reports. Gonna be a fun time.
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Feb 11, 2015 05:23
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Feb 14, 2015 01:06
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Nice
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Feb 14, 2015 03:23
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CaptainYesterday posted:Harrisburg City Islanders - I don't think Harrisburg is actually an island, but whatever (Philadelphia) Harrisburg's stadiums for their minor league baseball affiliate and the soccer team play on City Island, which is a spit of land in the middle of the Susquehenna River.
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Feb 14, 2015 19:40
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quote:Harrisburg City Islanders - I don't think Harrisburg is actually an island, but whatever (Philadelphia) looks like they want to come to Nashville Nashville FC posted:Nashville FC family, this is a critical time for us. We need your help and support. This could be something. I wonder if they could actually coexist. they aren't in the same league, and aren't playing in the same stadium. But anyway, go Nashville FC [fake fake edit] I guess they can't if NashvilleFC's goal is promotion, I need to read emails more thoroughly. Duh.
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Feb 14, 2015 22:46
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