Showing posts tagged “TOA”
David Fellerath ·
7 Jan 2010, 5:20 PM ·
Comment
There will be soccer in Cary this season after all.
After months of uncertainty surrounding the status of second-division soccer in the United States, officials with the United States Soccer Federation and representatives of two contending organizations announced today that the United Soccer Leagues and the nascent North American Soccer League would soldier through a provisional season under an unusual compromise arrangement. As part of this temporary resolution, all pending claims between the leagues and its parties will be dropped.
The two leagues will play a season divided into two conferences, the USL Conference and the NASL Conference. Each conference will have six teams, with the Carolina RailHawks falling into the NASL Conference.
| USL CONFERENCE |
NASL CONFERENCE |
| Rochester |
Montreal |
| Portland |
Vancouver |
| Puerto Rico |
Crystal Palace (Baltimore) |
| Minnesota |
St. Louis |
| Austin |
Carolina |
| Tampa Bay |
Miami |
A few things to notice about this provisional arrangement: Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Alek Papadakis, Carolina RailHawks, D2, Division 2, MLS, NASL, New England Revolution, Sunil Gulati, TOA, US Soccer, USL
Joe Schwartz ·
24 Nov 2009, 11:12 AM ·
1 Comment
Pelé, seen in the film Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos (Miramax Films)
Carolina RailHawks majority owner Selby Wellman expects at least 10 teams to be in the newly named North American Soccer League, though he declined to name the possible additions to the nine confirmed ownership groups.
Wellman and fellow owners announced Monday that they will bring back the NASL name, conjuring up memories of the first American professional soccer league, which included the likes of Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff before it folded in 1984.
“We talked about it a long time. There’s pros and cons because the league didn’t make it, that would be the con. The pro is it really did launch professional soccer in
America and had a good brand,” he said. “There’s a lot of us around here with some gray hair that’ll say, ‘I remember that brand.’”
The league now has a name, but the owners have a lot of questions to answer before the first ball is kicked in April. Along with the RailHawks, former USL teams Atlanta Silverbacks, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps FC are part of NASL. St. Louis Soccer United, Tampa Bay Rowdies and Crystal Palace Baltimore also are slated for inclusion in the breakaway league.
Others have speculated that Rochester Rhinos may be included, but Wellman, also the spokesman for the new league, isn’t saying as of yet.
“I can’t name them,” he said. “We already have plans underway, and we’re getting all kinds of requests coming in from different groups.” Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina RailHawks, Crystal Palace Baltimore, Don Garber, Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, MLS, Montreal Impact, NASL, Pele, Rochester Rhinos, Selby Wellman, St. Louis Soccer United, Tampa Bay Rowdies, TOA, USL, Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Neil Morris ·
20 Nov 2009, 11:16 PM ·
Comment
Today was a flurry of activity in the ongoing dispute between USL Soccer and the breakaway Team Owners Association (TOA), which includes the Carolina Railhawks. First came a potentially game-changing press release from the TOA announcing the addition of two franchises to their nascent, still-unsanctioned league. USL-1 newcomer Tampa Bay Rowdies, a charter TOA member who remained slated to make their USL-1 debut next season, and USL-2’s Baltimore side Crystal Palace FC both declared their membership in the still unnamed league. This increases declared TOA membership to nine teams. It was less than a month ago that USL trumpeted the attendance of both clubs’ ownership groups at a USL organizational soiree in Beaverton, Oregon as part of the future of USL. “There is a change in the air,” USL CEO Alec Papadakis declared at the time. Indeed.
Later, the website USL News (not affiliated with the USL soccer league) broke the news that last Monday, Miami FC, a TOA breakaway team, filed claims with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on behalf of North American Soccer League, LLC. Of course, NASL is an iconic name in the annals of American soccer as the professional league that operated from 1968-1984 and featured such aging superstars as Pele and Franz Beckenbauer. This could very well forecast the name of the breakaway league, which the TOA says they will formally announce next week.
Then, late today, USL released their own foreboding statement regarding the Tampa and Baltimore defections. USL asserted the two teams’ contractual obligation to participate in the 2010 USL-1 season, and it not only promised to pursue breach of contract claims against the two squads, but, more ominously, accused the TOA of participating in “tortuous interference” with USL’s contractual relationship with its member teams. It bears mentioning that Papadakis is a franchise attorney, and with USL-1 rapidly losing the public relations and recruiting battle with a still-nonexistent league, legal haranguing remains one of the few (and perhaps effective) arrows they have left in their quiver.
With that in mind, soccer journalist Kartik Krishnaiyer posits that Tampa - who has already paid a $750,000 franchise fee to play in USL-1 next season - may be pledging support for the TOA in order to raise their member squads above an 8-team minimum required for approval by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF), who is said to be meeting this weekend to consider the TOA’s application for sanction as Division II Men’s Outdoor Professional League. As with everything in this ongoing saga, stay tuned.
Below is today’s TOA press release:
TAMPA, BALTIMORE TO JOIN NEW PROFESSIONAL SOCCER LEAGUE
Expansion brings new league to nine teams
Nov. 20, 2009 - The Tampa Bay Rowdies<http://www.tbrowdies.com/> and Crystal Palace Baltimore<http://www.crystalpalaceusa.com/> have joined the new professional soccer league announced last week, beginning play in the United States and Canada in April 2010.
The addition of Tampa Bay and Baltimore brings the new league to nine teams, as they join the owners of the Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina RailHawks, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, St. Louis Soccer United and Vancouver Whitecaps.
A name for the new league will be announced next week. The new league is also active in its search for a full-time commissioner and will introduce an extensive marketing campaign in the coming months.
“Tampa and Baltimore joining our efforts is a testament to our game plan, our current ownership strength and our promise for the future. The ownership groups of both teams share our vision for soccer in North America and we are thrilled to welcome them to our new league,” said Joey Saputo, Chairman of the Board of Governors and President of the Montreal Impact.
“As we start a new team and build a strong franchise in Tampa, it’s important that our group of team owners learn from past mistakes in North American soccer and focus on building a strong league, as well,” said Andrew Nestor, owner and president of the Tampa Bay Rowdies. “With this new team-owned and controlled league which consists of some of the most established teams in North American soccer, we are excited about our team and collective future.”
“Crystal Palace Baltimore is pleased and honored to join and be a part of what we see as the future of North American soccer. We are particularly excited about the structure of a team-controlled and owned league, especially when you look at the quality of owners that we have in this league and the impressive history of the clubs,” said Pete Medd, co-owner of Crystal Palace Baltimore. “We are proud to be one of the founding members and believe it’s the right league at the right time for us and for soccer in North America.”
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer NASL, TOA, USL
David Fellerath ·
10 Nov 2009, 10:17 AM ·
1 Comment
UPDATE 6:39 p.m.: The intrigue thickens with this statement from the USL. Key points: The USL opposes the new league application “on the grounds that there is misrepresentation, interference with USL business operations and substantial debt amongst the membership of the parties applying for certification.” Furthermore, in what seems to be a tart point directed at the owners of Vancouver and Montreal, the statement notes that the USL’s structure “has allowed USL to support and maintain the operation of member clubs such as Montreal and Vancouver during times when the then ownership of the clubs were unable to continue operating….”
UPDATE 3:22 p.m.: In a more-or-less simultaneous announcement, Montreal owner (and TOA member) Joey Saputo says the Impact are still in negotiations with the USL, and suggests that his club went along with the application for a new league to help the rest of the TOA make a deadline.
Here we go. The dissident Team Owners Association announced this morning that they have applied for an as-yet unnamed new second-division soccer league that would begin play in April 2010.
Things are busy here at the Independent, so we’ll just make a couple of quick observations and then leave you with the press release.
- First, the Tampa Bay Rowdies seem to be gone from the TOA. Last week, the USL indicated in a vaguely worded announcement about its composition for the 2010 season that the Rowdies would remain in place for next season.
- Second, there’s no mention here of reports out of Minnesota that the Thunder are in serious financial disarray and have, in fact, released their players from their contracts.
- Third, there are only seven teams listed, including Minnesota. Given that eight teams seems to be the minimum for official sanctioning, we’re wondering if more clubs are poised to enter.
The press release follows.
OWNERS OF PROFESSIONAL SOCCER TEAMS IN ATLANTA, CAROLINA, MIAMI, MINNESOTA, MONTREAL, ST. LOUIS AND VANCOUVER FORM NEW PRO SOCCER LEAGUE TO BEGIN PLAY IN 2010
Nov. 10, 2009 - The owners of the Atlanta Silverbacks, Carolina Railhawks, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps, formerly of USL-1, together with St. Louis Soccer United today announced that they have formed a new professional soccer league to play in the United States and Canada beginning in April 2010.
The team owners yesterday submitted an application for sanctioning of the new league as a Division II Men’s Outdoor Professional League by the United States Soccer Federation. An application for sanctioning as a Division I League will be submitted to the Canadian Soccer Association shortly and applications to other sanctioning bodies in the region will be submitted as needed.
Joey Saputo, President of the 2009 USL-1 champion Montreal Impact, was recently elected Chairman of the Board of Governors of the new league.
“This is not your typical new league,” Saputo said. “Most of our teams have existed for years. We have united some of the best owners, teams and markets around a new vision for a professional soccer league in North America.
“We look forward to elevating our teams and league in order to give more opportunities to players, coaches, media and sponsors, entertain our fans and play our role in helping soccer truly recognize its potential in the United States and Canada.” Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer new league, TOA, USL-1
David Fellerath ·
29 Oct 2009, 7:22 PM ·
4 Comments
Can Gregory Richardson, shown here scooting past USL-1 player of the year Cristian Arrieta of the Puerto Rico Islanders, lead the RailHawks into a successful new league? (Photo by Jeremy M. Lange)
In an interview Thursday afternoon, Carolina RailHawks president Brian Wellman confirmed that the dissident group of USL-1 club owners known as the Team Owners Association (TOA) would be submitting an application to the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) to form a new league.
“We’ll be submitting an application to USSF for a new league as soon as tomorrow,” Wellman said in a phone interview from Charleston, S.C., where he was meeting with Andrew Bell, president of the USL-1 Charleston Battery, to coordinate the scheduling of friendlies next season.
“Nothing’s changed as far as the teams go,” Wellman said of the composition of the proposed new league. The TOA consists of five former USL-1 clubs (Minnesota , Miami FC, Montreal, Vancouver and Carolina) and three ownership groups (in Atlanta, Tampa Bay and St. Louis).
Wellman suggested that the TOA has heard from other member prospects, as well.* “We have at least one conversation a day with people representing new markets. Even without media coverage [of the dispute], there’s a lot of interest in the league.”
Furthermore, Wellman left open the possibility that the new league might follow the FIFA calendar, playing during the winter months.
If the TOA settles on a winter schedule, Wellman said, “It wouldn’t be this winter. It would start sometime in the summer, and prorate as our fiscal year went along.” Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Alec Papadakis, Atlanta, Christian Arrieta, CONCACAF, Daniel Paladini, EPL, FIFA, Gregory Richardson, Mexican first division, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, New England Revolution, NuRock, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, TOA, USL, USSF, Vancouver Whitecaps, Wilmington Hammerheads, Winter schedule
David Fellerath ·
7 Oct 2009, 4:25 PM ·
1 Comment
The United States Soccer Federation has not issued a ruling on the validity of the contracts that the USL tried to nullify last Friday, according to an agent with a stake in the situation. The agent also predicted that if six or seven teams leave the USL-1 under the Teams Owners Association banner, the rest of the USL-1 will follow.
This agent, who represents soccer players at all levels in the United States including the USL-1, requested anonymity but otherwise offered a candid and non-alarmist take on the dispute between the United Soccer Leagues and the dissident TOA.
On the issue of the validity of contracts, the agent said that US Soccer told him, “‘There’s been no ruling. Right now, the players are still under contract.’” (For more on the USL standard contracts, including a copy of same, see Brian Quarstad’s post at Inside Minnesota Soccer.)
The agent said that he thinks the issue of the player contracts is a relatively minor one. By the time there’s arbitration or mediation, he said, the dispute over the fate of the USL-1 as we now know it will be resolved.
“It’s a moot issue,” he said. “One way or another, the Carolina RailHawks will be playing next year.”
The agent said that the clubs will argue, in his view “compellingly,” that they had used standard contracts for the sake of efficiency, but that their contracts were significantly modified with bonus clauses and other addenda. They’ll also argue that, as the ones paying the players, they are the owners of the contracts.
(As an editorial aside, it’s worth pointing out that any reconciliation between the TOA and the USL would involve the latter recognizing the former’s contracts, but if the TOA goes its own way, the USL has effectively renounced its interest in those contracts.)
The agent did suggest that one important effect of Holt’s letter was to galvanize support for the TOA. “Tim Holt’s letter went a little too far,” he said. “I could sense sympathy shift toward the TOA.”
He also suggested that for players at a club like Carolina, “If the contracts are ripped up, the players [at Carolina] aren’t likely to get a better deal anywhere else.”
He added, however, that there are players at other clubs that might like to take the opportunity to leave.
He also raised the possibility that, should the TOA proceed with a new league, there may be a couple of USL-2 teams poised to go along with them. Under that scenario, the USL would rebuild with the teams it has left and add a couple of stronger PDL teams, as well.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Contracts, Tim Holt, TOA, USL-1, USL-2, USSF
David Fellerath ·
7 Oct 2009, 9:08 AM ·
Comment
Quick update on the meeting at the New York office of the United States Soccer Federation that was called by its president, Sunil Gulati:
The meeting ended yesterday, inconclusively, and will continue today, RailHawks president Brian Wellman said in a brief phone interview last night. Wellman, who was calling from Raleigh, had no details to divulge, but he said that approximately half of the TOA membership was represented in person, and that others may have teleconferenced it in.
He confirmed that Gulati is personally engaged in the discussions. “He wants to get everyone on the same page,” Wellman said.
Gulati won’t be there for much longer, however. He’s due to appear at a “Leaders in Football” conference in London, along with MLS head Don Garber.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Brian Wellman, Don Garber, Sunil Gulati, TOA, USL, USSF
David Fellerath ·
6 Oct 2009, 7:28 PM ·
Comment
Wow. It’s starting to look like we could be seeing a profound moment in the history of American club soccer—even if Jack Bell of The New York Times‘ Goal blog hasn’t noticed anything yet, busy as he is. Fortunately, there’s a platoon of bloggers and full-time reporters at work on these stories.
I was buried with my normal editorial responsibilities today, but this is what came over the Twitter wire:
- J. Mike Blake of the Cary News seems to have been first out of the gate with the news that the USSF had stepped in to order a meeting today between representatives of the Team Owners Association and the United Soccer Leagues. We haven’t heard anything about how that meeting went down.
- In USL-2 news, WECT television in Wilmington, N.C. reported that the Wilmington Hammerheads had been kicked out of the second flight due to the alleged failure of its owner, Chuck Sullivan, to meet his obligations to the league.
- And finally, the biggest fish of the day was hauled in, wet and flopping, just in the last hour or two by Inside Minnesota Soccer’s Brian Quarstad. The thing to which I refer would be a copy, an actual replica, of the notorious email sent by the USL last Friday to Carolina, Miami and Minnesota. It’s a sharp-toothed thing that bears further scrutiny. Here are the money grafs:
Section 5 of the USL Standard Contract for Professional Players requires that the Club “shall operate a professional soccer team in USL” and further states that “Should Club fail to operate a professional soccer team within USL, this contract shall be terminated.”
Consequently, all Players under Contract with the (Team Name) have been released by USL. The U.S. Soccer Federation has been advised of the same and has also released all Players from their USL Contracts and USSF Registrations.
We’re going to show this to our lawyers (leave your assessment in the comments, please). But non-lawyers following this case have noticed three things. First, we’d like to see a copy of the USL Standard Contract for Professional Players. Second, there seems to be a disagreement about whether the USSF has released the affected players. This letter says yes, the RailHawks’ Brian Wellman says no. And third, the same RailHawks official characterized this communication as being a “middle-management” (same link, scroll down) kind of thing. The signer of this letter identifies himself as Tim Holt, president of USL.
There will be more, surely much more, to come.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Brian Wellman, Chuck Sullivan, Jack Bell, the holt letter, Tim Holt, TOA, USL Standard Contract for Professional Players, USSF, Wilmington Hammerheads
David Fellerath ·
5 Oct 2009, 7:15 AM ·
13 Comments
Fans from the 204 Depot after the RailHawks' 2-1 victory over Puerto Rico on Sept. 12. (Photo by Jeremy M. Lange)
Last night the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Montreal Impact advanced to the USL-1 finals with victories in the two-leg semifinal round. Not only will there be an all-Canadian final, but this represents the victory of the No. 5 and No. 7 seeds over the league’s “big four” of Portland, Carolina, Puerto Rico and Charleston that had dominated regular season play.
And there’s an irony at work, too, for the two remaining teams are also members of the dissident USL-1 owners’ group known as the Team Owners Association. Last week, the USL took steps to sever ties with Carolina, Miami FC and Minnesota, by sending emails purporting to release those teams’ players from their contracts, and by removing links to those clubs on the USL Web site.
We spoke with RailHawks president Brian Wellman over the weekend and he clarified a number of issues, including the fact that Vancouver and Montreal have not renewed their franchise agreements with the USL, but were not included in the league’s actions last week simply because they are still playing.
“The day [Montreal and Vancouver] stop playing,” Wellman said, “they’re going to receive everything we received because they’ve not renewed.” That day will be Oct. 18, the day after the second leg of the USL finals.
Wellman also said that the Carolina players are under contract to the RailHawks, rejecting the USL’s position that the players are now free agents. He noted that the players have not been released by the United States Soccer Federation, the sanctioning body for American soccer.
We also discussed the options facing the TOA—including possibly partnering with the MLS—along with the status of the RailHawks player contracts and the surprising fact that, despite the decline in reported attendance, the RailHawks actually experienced a rise in paid attendance this year.
TRIANGLE OFFENSE: It sounds like the USL sent out a note to the three teams (Carolina, Miami, Minnesota) that the players are not under contract anymore. Is that right?
BRIAN WELLMAN: Contractually speaking, while it is true the RailHawks have not renewed their franchise agreement with the USL-1 for the 2010 season, there’s still a chance that could happen-and several other teams haven’t either. There was a specific date when the franchise agreement ran out which meant our contract expired with the USL, but our players are under contract with the RailHawks and they’re still under registration with the federation—the USSF [United States Soccer Federation]. It’s a little misleading because under normal circumstances when you let a player go out of contract he goes onto the list and anyone can talk to him. Under this situation its very unusual that all the TOA teams are getting the same information but at the same time the federation is not releasing any of our players from their registration with our club. It’s a little unfortunate, it may have been a bit of a posturing, scare tactic technique on the part of the league due to the nature of the negotiation. It was unnecessary and unfortunate. We met with our players today [Saturday, Oct. 3] for about an hour and a half to explain the entire situation. Our players are under contract with us, and they’re under registration to the federation whether we play in the USL, in a new league or partnering with the MLS, wherever we play next year, our players are under contract with us. That’s the bottom line. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Alec Papadakis, Brian Wellman, Chris Economides, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, NuRock Soccer Holdings, Team Owners Association, TOA, USL-1, Vancouver Whitecaps
David Fellerath ·
3 Oct 2009, 12:57 PM ·
5 Comments
The confrontation between the new ownership of the United Soccer Leagues and a dissident group of first division owners led by the Carolina RailHawks has escalated a notch.
Three dissident clubs, including the RailHawks, haven’t paid their fees to participate next season. On the USL’s Web site, work has begun to remove links to the RailHawks, as well as to the Miami FC and Minnesota Thunder clubs. On one page, the soccer-ball icons for those three cities has been removed. On others, the club crest and mascot names have been removed.
In a just-published post on Inside Minnesota Soccer, blogger Brian Quarstad writes that Minnesota Thunder management confirmed that USL President Tim Holt has sent out an email informing players for Carolina, Miami and MInnesota that they are released from their contracts.
However, it’s not clear that the USL has the authority to do so (unlike the MLS, which owns all player contracts under its single-entity structure). According to Quarstad, Minnesota is taking the position that the league does not have that authority. Quarstad promises to post a copy of Holt’s email later today.
We haven’t been able to get a comment from RailHawks management yet. We’ll keep working on it.
The other bit of news—which Quarstad doesn’t support with a source—is that the other two main dissident owners groups in the Team Owners Association (TOA)—Montreal and Vancouver—have both signed on with the USL-1 for the 2010 season. Vancouver, of course, is headed to the MLS in 2011.
The TOA consists of Carolina, Minnesota, Miami, Vancouver Whitecaps, Montreal Impact, the 2010 expansion club Tampa Bay Rowdies and ownership groups without active teams in Atlanta and St. Louis.
There are now eight current USL-1 clubs that have active links on the USL site. The two expansion clubs, the Tampa Bay Rowdies and FC New York (which is not a TOA member), also have active links.
One club, the Cleveland City Stars, is for sale—sketchy Internet reports of a buyer that will keep them in Cleveland have not been confirmed—but appears to be a USL-1 member in good standing.
The current brinksmanship was not unexpected: After the late August sale of the league to NuRock Soccer Holdings, the TOA, which had seen nearly two years of negotiations to buy the league themselves come to naught, announced a “chill” in relations with the league. In a subsequent interview with Triangle Offense, RailHawks majority owner Selby Wellman laid out the likely scenario in the near future.
But I would expect somewhere in the next 30 days or so they’ll start coming out to us, wanting us to recommit to play in 2010 in USL. If they don’t come to the table with us having the ability to control our league, we won’t play with them.
Finally, Miami-based blogger Kartik Krishnaiyer adds this intriguing tidbit of analysis to the Quarstad post:
The breakaway league that now is likely to be pursued by Minnesota, Miami and Carolina would need to be approved by the USSF and FIFA. These approval processes could take anywhere from a month to several months, leaving the three clubs affected and its potential allies in other markets in the limbo for the start of the 2010 American calender season.
However, if the new league seeks to adhere to the international calender, and begin play after the 2010 World Cup, the three affected clubs, in fact have plenty of time to try and put this new organization together and receive the requisite approvals.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer FC New York, Miami FC, Minnesota Thunder, Montreal Impact, Tampa Bay Rowdies, TOA, USL, Vancouver Whitecaps
