Showing posts tagged “USSF”
David Fellerath ·
8 Jan 2010, 9:36 AM ·
12 Comments
Selby Wellman (photo courtesy of Carolina RailHawks)
We spoke with Selby Wellman, majority owner of the Carolina RailHawks, after yesterday’s press conference in which Sunil Gulati, president of the United States Soccer Federation, announced a provisional agreement to keep Division 2 soccer going in 2010. Wellman spoke to us from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where the North American Soccer League is holding its annual general meeting.
Among the highlights:
- Wellman said at least 11 teams will play in NASL in 2011, including a franchise to be announced within a couple of weeks.
- He said there are representatives of four prospective franchises also present in Fort Lauderdale.
- He acknowledged being the last holdout from the provisional agreement that was announced yesterday.
- NASL is filling league office positions, interviewing candidates in Fort Lauderdale this week.
- He acknowledged the possibility of playing on the fall-to-spring FIFA schedule, but said it is a low priority for now.
- Suggested some form of promotion/ relegation could occur within four to five years.
Triangle Offense: How do you feel about the news today?
Selby Wellman: Tremendous.
Seems like Gulati made clear this was a short-term arrangement.
Absolutely. This is nothing more than a 2010 transition. After two and a half years of work, we are going to launch North American Soccer League for 2011. And during this transition year we will launch our league. It’s a lot of work to launch a league and that’ll be our focus at the league level, to launch a league this year. The transition is nothing more than a way to compete on the field. There are nine NASL teams and three USL teams. Three of the NASL teams will play in the USL Conference, but they are members of the NASL body and they will be playing in the NASL in 2011.
Are the three NASL teams playing in the USL Conference going to have to, on any practical level, going to have to answer to the USL, or is the division just cosmetic?
No. It’s totally cosmetic. All of us report to the USSF, in terms of administrations, scheduling, disciplinary actions, things like that. That’s on the field. Off the field, the USL will run their business—and they have three teams in that business—and we will run our business-and we have nine teams in that business.
You’re having a general meeting [in Fort Lauderdale] right now. Do you have nine teams meeting there?
We have nine teams and we have four visiting teams that are prospects that would like to consider joining our league.
They are there to consider you or you to consider them?
Both. Meet everybody, chat with them, start talking about 2011 and joining the NASL.
Is Atlanta one of them?
No, Atlanta is already a member of NASL. They’re not part of the nine, though. We have nine team that will play in 2010. Atlanta will rejoin the league in 2011. They’re number 10. We’ll have an announcement of another franchise within the next two weeks that will start in 2011. That will be 11. Then we have four others here who are talking with us and will be meeting with us about 2011.
Can you tell us which markets they represent?
No, I really wouldn’t. But I can tell you they’re major markets. It wouldn’t be right to share that at this time. Continue reading »
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer Atlanta, Baltimore Crystal Palace, FIFA calendar, Harminder Paul Singh, NASL, promotion/ relegation, Rochester, Selby Wellman, Sunil Gulati, Tampa Bay, US Soccer, USL, USSF
David Fellerath ·
9 Dec 2009, 9:48 AM ·
3 Comments
We have to pay tribute to the work of Miami-based Kartik Krishnaiyer and Minnesota’s Brian Quarstad, who’ve done a phenomenal job staying on top of the complex developments concerning the future of lower-division soccer in America. For a fascinating, wide-ranging discussion of how we got here and where we might end up, listen to this podcast in which Quarstad and Krishnaiyer are joined by host Richard Farley and fellow guest Kristian Vazquez, a blogger who follows the Puerto Rico Islanders.
After three months of turmoil, the dispute between the United Soccer Leagues and the upstart North American Soccer League, of which the Carolina RailHawks are a part, is coming to a head. Today is the deadline set by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the two rivals to submit unspecified additional information so that the federation can make a ruling on NASL’s application for official sanction.
Yesterday, the USL filed a lawsuit in Hillsborough County, Florida, against three of its former teams who are now aligned with NASL: Baltimore Crystal Palace, Tampa and Rochester. (Kartik got this one and promises additional reporting today.)
Also yesterday, Jeff Cooper and the St. Louis ownership group announced the name of their proposed new NASL team: AC St. Louis. They also got attention with their two coaching announcements. The manager will be Claude Anelka, brother of Chelsea striker Nicolas, while the director of player development will be Francisco Filho, a 69-year-old Brazilian trainer who is said to have nurtured such superstars as Eric Cantona and Thierry Henry.
It was the former choice, however, that raised eyebrows: As was quickly discovered, Anelka’s limited coaching experience includes an eight-game stint at second-division Scottish side Raith Rovers that led to The Guardian including him on its list of 10 worst soccer managers of all time. One would hope that Anelka nonetheless impressed Cooper with his coaching acumen and that this isn’t merely an attention-getting novelty signing.
However, the more immediate question is if, when and how Anelka and the rest of the NASL will get to take the field and prove themselves. We’ll see what reporting we’re able to do; in the meantime, keep an eye on The Kartik Report and Inside Minnesota Soccer.
Carolina RailHawks, Soccer AC St. Louis, Claude Anelka, court filings, Francisco Filho, Jeff Cooper, NASL, podcast, USL, USSF
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
