News: 2012-2013 Off-season

Discussion in 'Puerto Rico FC' started by ceezmad, Sep 30, 2012.

  1. crazy al

    crazy al Member

    Dec 11, 2005
    Fort Worth, TX
    Club:
    CA Boca Juniors
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Bad news. By not fielding a team the first half of the year, the Islanders will have to pass on the Caribbean Club Cup and that means no CONCACAF Champions League.

    PRI has qualified for every CCL since the expansion of the tournament. I am sorry to see that streak come to an end. Also, the revenue from the CCL games and the money for qualifying will surely impact their budget for the apetura. Just plain sad.
     
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  2. crazy al

    crazy al Member

    Dec 11, 2005
    Fort Worth, TX
    Club:
    CA Boca Juniors
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Oops! meant to say "impact the budget for the clasuara."
     
  3. Prosoccercdn

    Prosoccercdn Member+

    Aug 6, 2011
    Club:
    FC Edmonton
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    Yeah, bad news, good thing a new owner for Minnesota was found. I hope PRI will come back for the fall season.
     
  4. bullsear

    bullsear Member

    Feb 17, 2009
    Club:
    Newcastle United FC
    I'm just stunned by this. I know that the league wants to ensure the health of its teams, but right now they seem to be dropping like flies.
     
  5. crazy al

    crazy al Member

    Dec 11, 2005
    Fort Worth, TX
    Club:
    CA Boca Juniors
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    In La Primera Hora, the owner of the Islanders said they plan to field a team for the CFU Cup to be played in April and May. The team would be comprised of mostly local players and a few others. I don't see how this will work. Most of the Islanders will seek jobs with other clubs. That will preclude them from playing in the CFU Cup for PRI. How do you field a team for three or four months? It sounds like you have to hire players who have jobs on the island and play as a semi-pro team. Hey, some of these type teams in Europe are really good. I'm just not sure how this will work for la tropa naranja. (???)
     
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  6. brentgoulet

    brentgoulet Member+

    Oct 12, 2005
    PuertoPlata, DomRep
    found this tweet, it looks like Jonathan is going to leave the Islanders


    Balompie Dominicano @balompiedom
    En unos días se anunciará el nuevo equipo del goleador dominicano Jonathan Faña,...
     
  7. brentgoulet

    brentgoulet Member+

    Oct 12, 2005
    PuertoPlata, DomRep
    not sure according to the comish

    “Puerto Rico is making some progress,” said Peterson. “It’s going to come down to timing. It’s a question if they can get everything done in time, before we release the fall schedule. If they don’t get it together, they will be pushed back to next spring.”
    Peterson didn’t say this — but there is a feeling around NASL that not too many tears would be shed if the Islanders didn’t come back. The other teams would be freed of their most expensive, punishing road trip of the season. And, with Indianapolis, Ottawa, New York Cosmos and the D.C. suburbs all coming into the league over the next two seasons, losing one distant market is a tradeoff many would be willing to make.
     
  8. ceezmad

    ceezmad Member+

    Mar 4, 2010
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yes I think the thinking/expectations should be for them coming back for 2014, if they can make it for fall 2013 would be a plus.
     
  9. soccerFrank

    soccerFrank Member

    Dec 11, 2011
    Club:
    Rochester Rhinos
    Yes agreed. Most of their challenges as I understand it come from the PR government funding the club and alot has to be worked out still.
     
  10. bullsear

    bullsear Member

    Feb 17, 2009
    Club:
    Newcastle United FC
    Who's the source for this? I'd like to know whose speculation I'm hearing.

    I'm not saying it's incorrect, I'm just saying I would hope the league owners would have more foresight than to let a pretty well established club with a stadium in place fall into obscurity under their league's banner. The first club to fold in NASL will devalue their brand significantly.

    But bright side? I'm betting that bond money the team's owner had to post is making the adjustment a lot easier this season.

    Edit: Found the source. Steven Sandor is usually pretty good, but I'm gonna stick to my assessment on this one. Losing PR might save you money on travel, but it's one fewer market, one fewer team in the CCL nearly every year, and proof that your league really is just business as usual in lower-division US soccer.
     
  11. speedcake

    speedcake Member

    Dec 2, 1999
    Tampa
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Stop hyperventilating. If the Islanders don't come back it would be a bummer, but it wouldn't be significant for the future of the NASL and isn't proof of any "business as usual" mindset.

    The Islanders always were a special case being government subsidized, both as a USL team and now as an NASL team, not much the NASL can do about it.

    As long as the three expansion sides set to play in 2014 take the field on time, the Islanders (and Cosmos) problems will be mitigated.
     
  12. TerminusFooty

    TerminusFooty Member+

    Feb 4, 2012
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's a shame this club has to depend on the vagaries of government budget decisions. Is there any movement afoot to permanently change that and become 100% privately funded?
     
  13. bullsear

    bullsear Member

    Feb 17, 2009
    Club:
    Newcastle United FC
    Who's hyperventilating?

    The Islanders are a club with history and a sure ticket into the CCL every year. Is there any way in which losing a team like that is good or even not bad for a league?
     
  14. speedcake

    speedcake Member

    Dec 2, 1999
    Tampa
    Club:
    FC Tampa Bay Rowdies
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yes. When it removes a huge financial cost from all the other teams. Also when it removes a big question mark regarding stability due to the club being government financed and, as we are now seeing, susceptible to financial turmoil pretty easily.

    Sure its prestigious that they get into the CCL, I'd trade three stable, privately owned expansion franchises for the Islanders at this point in time in the NASL's history.

    I'd still rather they stick around, they do have alot of history and its never good for any league when a team like that folds. But this is outside the NASL's power to do much about it, for the most part. It isn't indicative of the laegue's stability or future prospects.
     
  15. Alamo City Ultra

    May 15, 2012
    san antonio, tx
    Club:
    San Antonio Scorpions FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Fall 2013 schedule is out...no Puerto Rico:(
     
  16. ceezmad

    ceezmad Member+

    Mar 4, 2010
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Sounds like we should close this and start a "Hopefully 2014 season" thread.

    Good luck to the Islanders.
     
  17. Bluesfan

    Bluesfan Member+

    DC United
    Aug 12, 2000
    Tampa
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Scotland
    No mention of the Islanders' absence on the NASL site. Classy move.

    At least the Islanders had the decency to post a paragraph of lip service on their own site.

    I have a sinking feeling that they will never be back.
     
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  18. CShine

    CShine Member

    Dec 13, 2009
    Huntsville, AL
    Club:
    Rocket City United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The league site has a mention of it buried at the bottom of their announcement of the fall schedule.

    http://www.nasl.com/index.php?id=3&newsid=3717
     
  19. crazy al

    crazy al Member

    Dec 11, 2005
    Fort Worth, TX
    Club:
    CA Boca Juniors
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This is sad for the Islanders' faithful, the City of Bayamon, and all of the Puerto Rican fans who showed up in great numbers at the away games.

    I am afraid the Islanders are gone from NASL competition. They may stick around in some form and play in the pro league on the island, but "big time" competition is now out. Without the budget, PRI can't compete with other top tier Caribbean teams for the CFU Cup. Without CONCACAF Champions League status, the Islanders become just a long, expensive trip for the league. It is ashamed because La Tropa Naranja were something special. Here is hoping and praying for a resurrection.
     
    Skippysasquirrel and markmcf8 repped this.
  20. Bluesfan

    Bluesfan Member+

    DC United
    Aug 12, 2000
    Tampa
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    Scotland
    What? I missed the legions of great numbers of Puerto Ricans who came out to watch the Islanders here in Tampa.
     
  21. ceezmad

    ceezmad Member+

    Mar 4, 2010
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I remember seeing a video of them at San Antonio.

    I bet Islanders @ Cosmos would have had a fair amount of Puerto Ricans at the game.

    We may never know.
     
  22. brentgoulet

    brentgoulet Member+

    Oct 12, 2005
    PuertoPlata, DomRep
    former Islander Jonathan Faña scored a hattrick in El Salvador

    [​IMG]
     
    ceezmad repped this.
  23. brentgoulet

    brentgoulet Member+

    Oct 12, 2005
    PuertoPlata, DomRep
    Will the Islanders be making a comeback ? Are there any rumours ?
     
  24. ceezmad

    ceezmad Member+

    Mar 4, 2010
    Chicago
    Club:
    Chicago Red Stars
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Nothing new on their website or twitter.
     
  25. brentgoulet

    brentgoulet Member+

    Oct 12, 2005
    PuertoPlata, DomRep


    this is what Bill Peterson has to say

    What is the current status between the NASL and the Puerto Rico Islanders?
    There’s no progress to report. We are now reaching territory from a timing perspective that’s become a little more critical. I was extremely confident when we started the process that we would have resolved it by now, and we haven’t. So, I’m starting to have my own doubts about whether we’re going to be there. But over the next six weeks it really has to be resolved one way or the other.
     

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