My Writings. My Thoughts.
About that Phoenix Rising expansion bid …
// February 3rd, 2017 // No Comments » // Pro Soccer in Phoenix
With all the chatter about the next round of expansion in MLS, Phoenix Rising FC and eleven other cities have thrown their hat into the ring. Below are some links to articles I found interesing. Hope you enjoy.
Phoenix Rising FC to MLS?
// January 27th, 2017 // No Comments » // Major League Soccer
I would be remiss if I didn’t post what you already know.
The boys from Phoenix Rising FC have thrown that hat into the ring to be one of the next 2 MLS expansion teams, to be announced later in 2017.
Soccer in Arizona
// January 18th, 2017 // No Comments » // Local Teams, Phoenix Clubs, Pro Soccer in Phoenix
Here is a list of soccer clubs in Arizona, excluding youth teams.
United Soccer Leagues in Arizona
National Premier Soccer League in Arizona
United Premier Soccer Leagues in Arizona
- Arizona Scorpions(Phoenix)
- El Salto United FC(Phoenix)
- Frontera United(Yuma)
- Phoenix Monsoon(Phoenix)
- Sporting AZ(Phoenix)
- Super Inter AZ(Phoenix)
Premier Development League in Arizona
USL and D2
// December 5th, 2016 // No Comments » // Pro Soccer in Phoenix, USL
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With all the chatter going on about the fate of NASL and USL’s petition to become the 2nd division, here are some thiings that need to be known. Below are some of the most important guidelines set by USSF in 2010 for a league to attain and maintain D2 status.
- Must start with a minimum of eight teams and have 12 by its sixth season.
- Three-quarters of its teams must play in metro areas of at least 750,000 people
- They all have to be in stadiums seating at least 5,000 fans
- Each club’s principal owner must have a net worth of $20 million.
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Phoenix Rising FC certainly meets #2 and #3(with the announcement of their new facility’s plans). As to #4, that’s something I don’t know. Here is a link to the page with Phoenix Rising FC’s ownership. Phoenix Rising FC Staff and Ownership Page
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As for the rest of the teams in USL, Brian Straus’ article has this report…“U.S. Soccer has been auditing USL clubs this year to ensure they comply, and sources tell SI.com that the league is confident that meeting a sufficient number of D2 standards isn’t an issue.”. The article is worth a read about the current drama playing out over D2.
Ooops not Phoenix Rising FC
// December 2nd, 2016 // No Comments » // La Furia Roja, Local Teams, Pro Soccer in Phoenix, USL
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Well I guess all of you who landed here are looking for the website of the newly rebranded Phoenix Rising FC. Sorry, for that site go to Phoenix Rising FC.
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MLS Phoenix Rising began as a supporters group in 2007 with the goal of creating a sufficient soccer culture in Phoenix to attract investors that would bring professional(MLS) soccer to the area. The group grew to having a mail list of over 500 local soccer fans. We lived through several attempts to bring pro footie to the Valley, including the efforts of Dana Gagnon, AZ Tuzos(never made it to the pitch), Phoenix Monsoon(played indoor), and finally Phoenix FC(USL) who was severely underfunded and after one season lost its franchise rights. Those rights were picked up by Kyle Eng and Arizona UTD carried the Phoenix torch in USL. And now with new ownship Arizona UTD has been rebranded as Phoenix Rising FC.
NO, this is not the shirt for the newly branded USL team. We had these made back in ’07.
This pic is when we took a road trip to a ChivasUSA match.
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The roller coaster for Valley fans has had ups and downs and MLS Phoenix Rising is no exception. After several years of good times and disappointments MLSPR faded somewhat during the period of no meaningful activity towards a viable team. As such, the energy waned but fortunately a new supporters group rose up. La Furia Roja 1881 has brought a new fervor to the soccer scene and continues to support soccer in the Phoenix area.
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In addition to the USL club, the Valley has a new team, FC Arizona, that has joined NPSL and will play at Mesa Community College this coming spring.
AZ Youth
// April 7th, 2016 // No Comments » // Academy Teams, Youth Soccer
- Grand Canyon signings for 2016
- Grand Canyon finished the 2015 Western Athletic Conference with a 3-7 record, 7-10 overall.
AZ Hot Notes
// February 10th, 2016 // No Comments » // La Furia Roja, Local Teams
It’s been a while, so here is a litte catch up post.
Belated congratulations to Kris Lantz on becoming President of La Furia Roja.
Arizona United is preparing for the new season under new manager Frank Yallop.
It will be interesting to see how the team fares at the gate now that they have returned to Peoria. ASUTD finished 10th in attendance with 3,304.
Real Salt Lake preparing to build new soccer facility, possibly move academy to Utah
It seems inevitable that RSL’s academy will abandon Grande Sports World for a location closer to home base.
Last spring I heard from Petar Draksin talking about reviving the Arizona Sahuaros. Nothing further on that and his voicemail is full.
NASL Spring Attendance
// July 4th, 2015 // No Comments » // NASL
As the NASL prepares for the start of their fall schedule, here are the attendance numbers for the spring season. The spring schedule showed a 21.8% increase over 2014.
| Atlanta | 23,799 | 5 | 4,760 |
| Carolina | 25,801 | 5 | 5,160 |
| Edmonton | 13,821 | 5 | 2,764 |
| Ft Lauderdale | 31,753 | 5 | 6,351 |
| Indianapolis | 52,000 | 5 | 10,400 |
| Jacksonville | 48,788 | 5 | 9,758 |
| Minnesota | 45,962 | 5 | 9,192 |
| New York | 33,597 | 5 | 6,719 |
| Ottawa | 21,886 | 5 | 4,377 |
| San Antonio | 32,388 | 5 | 6,478 |
| Tampa Bay | 28,499 | 5 | 5,700 |
RSL-AZ Notes
// June 27th, 2015 // No Comments » // Local Teams
