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Future teams in the USL


DoyleG

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quote:Originally posted by hamiltonfan

Hamilton- A-League

Hamilton- W- League

Ottawa- PDL/PSL

Winnepeg- PDL

London- PDL

London - W-League(ready for 2005)

Maybe a few more teams in the west??

Winnipeg had an application to join the PDL turned down already with the USL citing that they consider it an A-League market.

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quote:Originally posted by Sigma

If they get the right ownership group in place.....

Yeah. Once again it comes down to finding an owner. The question of which cities should get teams in which leagues is discussed here over and over, but over and over what's ignored is that the biggest factor is not a city's size, location, support for soccer, etc. but whether or not there is an appropriate owner. I mean, who would have thought that Puerto Rico would be in the A-League, and Sudbury was never mentioned as a candidate for any league but here they are in the W-League; obviously in both cases appropriate owners came forward.

quote:Originally posted by WildboutCdnScr

Winnipeg had an application to join the PDL turned down already with the USL citing that they consider it an A-League market.

The other part of the USL's explanation was that Winnipeg is too geographically isolated for the PDL. But I wonder if these were only official excuses. On the other forum on February 27 Winnipeg Fury wrote:

quote:it [Winnipeg Sundogs] was basically a project by Lucania to to see if a prospective owner could be found. They simply did not have what it takes to get it off the ground.
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Good point on the ownership issue. It sort of goes without saying, but true enough is often ignored.

I'd add, as much as I hate to admit it, the importance of corporate advertising and sponsorship dollars. If an A-League club needs an operating budget of a couple of millions (or there abouts guessing) I don't think we've seen crowd support anywhere in Canada where a club could be completely gate dependent for survival.

So, any potential owner who's willing to carry a money loosing football operation is going to look hard and long at the sort of moneys his/her corporate community can be expected to bring to the show. It's one thing to annualy pay a couple of hundred gees for the title of owner and president. It's quite another paying a half mil. plus.

I'll bet non-gate revenue at the most successful and professionaly run A-League clubs is very significant when compared to the Torontos and Calgarys of the world.

(On that thought, as a Not For Profit organisation, clubs have a potential for sponsorship/advert. dollars from countless business' which would otherwise be unavailable).

And I've written it before and I'll write it again. If the A-League is interested in a Winnipeg entry they should maybe encourage a little market test run with some regular season fixtures. Quite sure most every Canadian club would be willing to give up one home date each to groom a potential expansion market if the A-League were willing to underwrite an agreeable business proposal. You never know what might happen. You might find an owner.

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Ottawa - Definitely an issue of stable ownership - to get tossed from the CPSL (or walk away from them) and hold your players for a summer when you don't have a league to play in, leaves any prospective league with reservations about letting you in.

Hamilton - I would love to see them in the A-League. I would think they would have to join after Rochester leaves. Just concerned about saturation.

Just my two cents...

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Ottawa - Definitely an issue of stable ownership - to get tossed from the CPSL (or walk away from them) and hold your players for a summer when you don't have a league to play in, leaves any prospective league with reservations about letting you in.

Hamilton - I would love to see them in the A-League. I would think they would have to join after Rochester leaves. Just concerned about saturation.

Just my two cents...

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quote:Originally posted by Sigma

I don't know if this is the case. Four or five players are trying out for Edmonton, so I don't think Ottawa is 'holding' their players for the summer.

I do know that the Eizards are having soccer camps throughout the summer. Simon Eaddy is running the camps if I am not mistaken.

Thanks for the update! I was going on the most recent news I had heard about 3 weeks ago.

Cheers!:D

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quote:Originally posted by DoyleG

The only other city I could think of in Alberta that could support a team would be Lethbridge. It can easily fit into the PDL's Northwest Division.

I don't disagree, but I'd rather see Lethbridge have a well-supported club in the Alberta Major Soccer League. I'd also like to see one or more of the following in that league: Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Red Deer. The crux is that clubs in these locations have to get strong enough to challenge for a spot in the AMSL first.

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quote:Originally posted by hamiltonfan

Chilliwack would be a perfect fit or the PDL or PSL. Are there many PSL teams around there in the states thought?

No PSL that I can think of, but then again I don't follow those lower leagues. I was thinking that with the western conference of the A-League being 2 teams shorter than the eastern conference, it wouldn't be a bad thing to put a team in Chilliwack. Theres no running track and the stadium is no worse than what they have in Toronto. They'd average the same as the Lynx thats for sure. Time for people to stop thinking about putting teams in major areas and put the mwhere they'll be appreciated and draw reasonably well. The location is close enough so that fans in Vancouver, Seattle, even Portland could travel with no problem to away matches there.

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quote:

Originally posted by martin lechelt:

I don't disagree, but I'd rather see Lethbridge have a well-supported club in the Alberta Major Soccer League. I'd also like to see one or more of the following in that league: Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Red Deer. The crux is that clubs in these locations have to get strong enough to challenge for a spot in the AMSL first.

There is going to be a team in Red Deer, with the nickname of Renagades, in the AMSL this year. According to the Alberta Soccer Association website under the Competitions - AMSL section. www.albertasoccer.com

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quote:Originally posted by martin lechelt

I don't disagree, but I'd rather see Lethbridge have a well-supported club in the Alberta Major Soccer League. I'd also like to see one or more of the following in that league: Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Red Deer. The crux is that clubs in these locations have to get strong enough to challenge for a spot in the AMSL first.

I don't see Lethbridge giving much support to existing Senior men's sides. It's becoming no different than Calgary or Edmonton in relation to their teams.

Having a PDL team would give the apex that soccer in Lethbridge is lookng for.

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quote:I don't see Lethbridge giving much support to existing Senior men's sides. It's becoming no different than Calgary or Edmonton in relation to their teams.

Having a PDL team would give the apex that soccer in Lethbridge is lookng for.

I agree that AMSL teams are woefully devoid of any serious fan base. I just think it is too bad that we have to import a league to get people to watch, instead of organically grow the AMSL into something people can care about.

AMSL is a better league, relative to it's sport, than say Junior A hockey in Alberta, yet Junior A teams routinely pull in crowds of a couple thousand while AMSL draws dozens or hundreds. Why not aspire to something bigger for the AMSL? Lots of small communities identify with their Junior hockey teams in the winter, why not the AMSL in the summer?

There are lots of ways to increase the AMSL's visibility, but none better than Cup play. I don't see the Aviators and Mustangs gaining too much from participating in an Alberta open cup, but perhaps a Canadian Champions League with regional powerhouses (AMSL champ, other regional senior circuit champs and the A-League teams) could draw some interest and help cultivate interest in the AMSL. Ultimately, a Canadian Open Cup would do wonders for all the senior circuits in Canada and the A-League teams also.

Martin

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  • 2 weeks later...
quote:Originally posted by martin lechelt

I agree that AMSL teams are woefully devoid of any serious fan base. I just think it is too bad that we have to import a league to get people to watch, instead of organically grow the AMSL into something people can care about.

AMSL is a better league, relative to it's sport, than say Junior A hockey in Alberta, yet Junior A teams routinely pull in crowds of a couple thousand while AMSL draws dozens or hundreds. Why not aspire to something bigger for the AMSL? Lots of small communities identify with their Junior hockey teams in the winter, why not the AMSL in the summer?

Yet the AJHL is too often a hotbed of instability. A number of teams are in financial problems. The owner of the St. Albert Saints got sick and tied of lsoing so much money along with the stupidity in the civic government.

The team is going to play in Spruce Grove starting this upcoming season.

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quote:Originally posted by Daniel

Québec City doesn't have lights in its only workable stadium (the PEPS at Laval U). It's a reported 250k to install some.

The PEPS at Laval U. could be the Wrigley Field of the A-League! All the games (only 14) could be played during the day. They have all the Saturdays and Sundays of May, June, July & August + June 24th & July 1st. So many people in Quebec are on vacation the last 2 weeks of July that they could play a few games during weekdays at that time.

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