sstackho Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 The following release is on Palace's website today. I am a little confused by the bolded sentence (my emphasis) below. At first I thought it meant there would only be U-18 teams, but I suppose it sounds like they want to have a USL (Div. 1? Div. 2?) side as well: --- USA ACADEMY LAUNCHED Ingram Field - United States Naval Academy, where Crystal Palace UK will play Crystal Palace US Crystal Palace Football Club are delighted to announce that they have launched an Academy and Developmental Club in the United States of America. The club, which will be called Crystal Palace FC USA, will have a system for identifying and developing the best young talent in the United States. The club will play host to Under 9 through to Under 18 teams, with the top of the pyramid being a United Soccer Leagues (USL) side. The USL serves as the FIFA affiliated second and third divisions in the US, under Major League Soccer. The Baltimore, Maryland based club will train and play at the finest facilities in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Bob Dowie, Palace's Director Of Football, commented: "One of the key briefs Simon Jordan gave me when I came on board was to develop the footprint of Crystal Palace worldwide. More specifically, he wanted us to establish a presense in developing football countries, to give the club access to their best and brightest, up-and-coming young talent, as well as their current star players. "Simon, Dominic Jordan and myself have been working hard over the past eight months or so to define the US based Academy set-up and this culminated in Dominic and myself visiting the Baltimore and Annapolis area in late April, to personally validate the facilities and the people who will run the US venture." Dominic Jordan, Vice Chairman, added: "We see this as a vital extension of our already growing recruitment network. The facilities and people involved in the CPFC USA are first class and just as importantly, represent a true extension of the Palace way of doing things. "We continue to make investments in the Club's future and are excited by the prospect of our investment giving us access to the top US youth talent, in what is without doubt, one of the fastest growing football nations." The venture appears to be bearing early fruit, as after a successful trial period, one of the outstanding USA youth players is likely to be coming to Crystal Palace in the coming season. The training camp at the United States Naval Academy, Maryland Crystal Palace FC will hold their 2006/07 pre-season training in the United States of America. The club will be landing in Washington DC on the 13th of July, 2006 for a three match tour and will be training at the premier facilities of the United States Naval Academy in Annaoplis, MD. The match schedule will be as follows:- July 16th - vs Crystal Palace FC USA (7.00pm kick-off at The United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland) July 19th - vs Los Angeles Galaxy (Current Champions of Major League Soccer) (7.30pm kick-off at The University of Richmond Stadium in Richmond, Virginia) July 22nd - vs Virginia Beach Mariners (7.00pm kick-off at The Virginia Beach Sportsplex in Virginia Beach, Virginia) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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