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London Gets PDL Team

L.T.

By L.T.
in Canadian Teams & Leagues

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VPjr Newbie

VPjr

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I'm not a huge fan of the PDL but this is good for London-area soccer, assuming that this where they plan to draw the talent from. There are alot of good players in the area and PDL can give them a good challenge and a bit more exposure.

Good luck to the owners. I wonder if they plan to have a youth development feeder system below the PDL team. That's what I would be doing (like what the Lynx are doing)

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VPjr Newbie

VPjr

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quote:Originally posted by michaeltfc91

What about London City their CSL team? Will they still keep that? If they don't, they pretty much demoted themselves to amateur footy...

I'm no London City fan but how do you figure that they have demoted themselves to amateur footy...the CSL and PDL cater to very different players. PDL is pure amateur and the short season caters to summering College and High School players. CSL is a long season (may to October) and most teams pay their players and can register their players as professionals.

LC are not going anywhere. They like their title of oldest pro club in North America and aren't going to give it up because of a PDL club. Even if only out of spite, they will remain a going entity. What type of team they will field is anyone's guess but they'll field a team. I can't imagine the team being much worse than they were this season (only 2 ties from 18 or 19 games) and its likely they'll have less talent to choose from next season.

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Richard Newbie

Richard

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PDL is not 100% amateur, the Whitecaps Residency team plays in the PDL and they are all on professional contracts with the club. NCAA does not prevent their players from playing against professional teams in the same league, they just may not play on the same team with professional players.

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BringBackTheBlizzard Newbie

BringBackTheBlizzard

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quote:LC are not going anywhere. They like their title of oldest pro club in North America and aren't going to give it up because of a PDL club...

It's a bogus claim as they were in an amateur league for a significant portion of the 80s when Marconi were London's NSL team so the 86ers/Whitecaps eclipse them that way and if it goes on when they were actually founded rather than continuous operation of a team in a pro league Toronto Croatia have a longer history. Beyond that there is the small matter of actually having to pay your players to be pro. :)

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VPjr Newbie

VPjr

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quote:Originally posted by Richard

PDL is not 100% amateur, the Whitecaps Residency team plays in the PDL and they are all on professional contracts with the club. NCAA does not prevent their players from playing against professional teams in the same league, they just may not play on the same team with professional players.

I stand corrected...thank you for the reminder.

so, now I'm left to wonder wether the London PDL owners plan to run the team as a professional team or cater to the college and high school player that wants to remain amateur. My guess is that this will be an amateur team, which is fine.

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Richard Newbie

Richard

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I suspect the Whitecaps situation is rather unique in the PDL (apart from the fact they are schoolboys playing in a college level league) but I found it interesting in that it clarified some confusion/ignorance about NCAA player eligibility and professionalism. Also, the USL states: "Players have the ability to compete in the PDL throughout the summer months in a professionalized setting while maintaining their collegiate eligibility." From this plus the under 23 age limit suggests the league exisist in large part as a place for top level college players to play during the summer school break.

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Richard Newbie

Richard

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Here is what the USL says in its Rules section on the website about rosters:

USL rosters may consist of a maximum of 26 players, with 18 designated for each game. In the PDL and W-League, at least three(3)players in a full 26-player roster must be under 19, in accordance with guidelines set by the USASA and USSF. In the PDL, a maximum of eight (8) players may be over the age of 23. In USL-1 and USL-2, each team is permitted a maximum of five (5) foreign players on its active game-day roster and a maximum of seven (7) foreign players on its master roster. The PDL is permitted a maximum of six (6) on both rosters and the W-League is permitted a maximum of seven (7) on both rosters.

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BringBackTheBlizzard Newbie

BringBackTheBlizzard

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Latest from the Free Press:-

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Sports/Soccer/2008/12/02/7602746-sun.html

... "The reaction has been really, really positive from the youth clubs to the ethnic organizations," said Campbell, majority owner of the team. "'Finally we're not going to be wasting some of the opportunities some of these kids could have had had something like this been in place a long time ago. I got a lot of 'it's about time,' a lot of 'London's soccer community has been very fragmented. This will bring together so many different aspects of the soccer community.' "

The biggest question Campbell has heard is about where the team will play its home games. London will play at North London Stadium.

"It's going to be good," he said. "It's on a bus route. There's lot's of parking. The soccer community knows where it is. The city has been great through all of this."...

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Tyson M Enthusiast

Tyson M

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the latest and greatest out of London...

http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Sports/Soccer/2008/12/04/7627496-sun.html

FC London kickoff event shows great promise

Thu, December 4, 2008

By MORRIS DALLA COSTA, FREE PRESS SPORTS COLUMNIST

If FC London gets as many paying fans as it got people at its press conference yesterday, the embryonic United Soccer League Premier Development League team will be well on its way to financial success.

A big turnout jammed a room at Joe Kool's in London to find out what the latest local soccer venture was all about.

They had to be pleased with what they saw. Not only was the support evident by the attendance, but the event was slick and well prepared.

The main man at the mike was Appin's Jason deVos, longtime captain of Canada's men's team, a former professional player in Canada, England and Scotland and now a television commentator for the CBC.

"We're tremendously pleased," said FC chief executive officer and major shareholder Ian Campbell.

When he addressed the packed house, Campbell hit on some key points involving affiliation and finances, two key elements any beginning club faces.

"We wanted to be well-funded," he said. "We wanted to field a competitive team that's unaffiliated with any clubs or youth organizations."

Forest City London is the official name of the elite amateur under-23 league team, but it will be known as FC London. It will play in the Great Lakes Conference with a 16-game schedule against teams from Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Fort Wayne, Kalamazoo, Toronto, Michigan and Indiana. There are 68 teams in the PDL, with last year's overall winner being the Thunder Bay Chill.

FC will play its first game June 5 at its home field, North London stadium.

Its first head coach is Martin Painter, who coached AEK London in the Western Ontario Soccer League, most recently taking AEK to fifth place in the men's Canadian championship. He's won numerous championships in men's and women's soccer in all age categories. As a player and coach Painter has won seven national championships and 12 Ontario titles.

Dominic Mescia, longtime player and coach, will be the club's director of soccer.

"This is much needed," Painter said. "Young players over the last 10 or 15 years have had nowhere to play when they got to a certain level and prove themselves at a higher level. This will give them that opportunity."

The PDL has sent more than 100 players to higher leagues, including the MLS, USL1 and 2. London is one of seven new PDL franchises this year.

"The No. 1 objective is to develop and provide an outlet for local soccer talent and give them something to aspire to," Painter said. "We want to play quality soccer and we want to build on London's level of soccer success."

Painter went on to praise several youth clubs, Western and Fanshawe, along with soccer organizations like AEK, London Portuguese and London Marconi as having brought soccer success and exposure to London.

There may be a fine line to walk as well. FC London will take away some of those team's best young players.

"It's a decision you have to make," said Jovan Ivanovich, who played with AEK last year and has played with Canada's youth teams. "But this is a good opportunity. Playing men's soccer was good but you can really get scouted on a team like this."

"The majority of young players in this league will be from university and colleges and most of those players won't be around the entire year anyway (to finish playing the men's schedule," Painter said. "This is a high level of soccer, very quick and very skilled. There are some great teams in our conference."

Campbell said the idea of owning this team began when he had dinner with Phil Keoghan, creator of the hit television show The Amazing Race. To prepare for that, he read Koeghan's book No Opportunity Wasted. In the book, Keoghan suggested making a life list. "No. 4 on my list was owning a soccer team," Campbell said.

He and his co-investors will sink about $120,000 into it the first year, including a $60,000 franchise fee.

DeVos knows how hard it is to make it in the game. He began playing professionally at 16 and calls this type of team "essential" in developing soccer players. He did it when he broke in with the short-lived London Lasers.

"I might not have had a career without the opportunity to play with the London Lasers," he said. "An elite amateur team like this is exactly the sort of opportunity for young players to play at a competitive level."

---

FC LONDON FACTS

Tryouts will be Dec. 17-20 at the Soccer Dome and Agriplex.

FC London will also be running a feeder under-21 team that will play in the Ontario Soccer League.

The team's full schedule will be released later but more information can be obtained on the team's website, fclondon.ca.

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VPjr Newbie

VPjr

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I like the fact they have decided to field an OSL U21 side to act as a feeder for this team. That's a good sign in my books that these guys are serious about offering a development path for the better young players in the area.

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107lucky13 Newbie

107lucky13

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Ryan Avola and Todd Rutledge just signed for FC LONDON.

2 more signings this week, http://www.fclondon.ca/staging/content/PR-180209.htm

and confirmation that FC LONDON is going to play in the Ontario PDL Cup in Ottawa. Their first game is against North American PDL Champions - Thunder Bay Chill. I guess we'll see early just how good the London team is going to be.

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