As we approach the beginning of the 22nd season of MLS and fifth of NWSL, now’s as good a time as any to reflect on how far soccer has come in North America. Another gorgeous soccer-specific stadium in being opened in Orlando with additional stadia planned for Washington, D.C.
Rest in peace Carolina RailHawks. Rest in peace NASL (yet again). At a press conference on Tuesday, December 6th, RailHawks owner Steve Malik announced his vision for the club that has been building for nearly a year.
The Carolina RailHawks have been a staple in the North Carolina region for the past decade — they’ve provided the closest thing to top level soccer in the area along with a unique brand. The Raleigh-Durham region is a hotbed for youth development and collegiate soccer, continuously feeding the RailHawks roster and academies.
A new study from Deloitte, one of the “Big Four” accounting firms in the world by revenue, has offered up some pretty obvious conclusions with regards to implementing a system of promotion and relegation in the American soccer pyramid, but it’s also provided one of the more realistic takes on the possible benefits and risks involved.
Miami FC’s Jaime Chavez earned Friday’s ESPN SportsCenter top play after sweetly connecting with a volley from 16 yards out. With the scores level at 0-0 in the 16th minute, Chavez timed his ridiculous strike perfectly off of a Blake Smith cross-field pass.
Chavez is a 29-year-old native of California who has spent most of his career in the NASL with the Atlanta Silverbacks and Miami.
The North American Soccer League, founded in 2009 as the second tier of the American soccer league system, is in dire straits. The 12 team league is facing a significant change as it heads towards its 7th season.
Who knew the likes of Minnesota United could pull off a goal like this? All 11 players touched the ball, with 29 passes total.
The goal itself was like a slow-building novel, all back story and tedious history that totally switches gears and heats up at the climax to the point where it's like you're reading a completely different book, or seeing a completely different soccer team, or whatever.
This is the "Frankenstein" of team goals.
The title of "World's Saltiest Soccer Team" 2016 has already been decided. There will be no more entries. The Tampa Bay Rowdies have won.
The Rowdies made a compilation video of times the referees have wronged them this season and it is seven minutes long. The video is titled "2016 Rowdies Officiating Deficiencies," which is just another way of saying "they're out to get us".
You can keep your Dele Allis, your Ross Barkleys, your Raheem Sterlings and Adam Lallanas and James Milners and Jack Wilsheres. I want Joe Cole.
Cole, formerly of Chelsea, Aston Villa, Liverpool and West Ham, is one of the few English footballers having a summer you wouldn't describe as "underwhelming." Look at this goal he scored for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the NASL (the USA's second division for those of you reading this somewhere besides the good ol' USA).
Freddy Adu is coming home.
Ther former savior of American soccer, Adu was capped by the USMNT at 16-years-old and was the number one pick in the MLS Superdraft at age 14.
Carmelo Anthony is now the proud owner of NASL team Puerto Rico FC, which will be the 13th team in the NASL starting in 2016.
Anthony and his wife both have ties to the island, and he has expressed interest in doing business on the island for some time.
In an interview with ESPN FC, Anthony admitted to being a soccer fan.
"My passion for soccer has always been there," Anthony said.