interesting interview with former Rowdie, Derek Smethurst, regarding his goal scoring record being broken by Georgi Hristov. Georgi Hristov closing in on Derek Smethurst’s Rowdies record http://www.tampabay.com/Georgi-Hristov-closing-in-on-Derek-Smethurst-s-Rowdies-record_166960239
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (May 17, 2018) — Tampa Bay Rowdies Chairman & CEO Bill Edwards and Head Coach Stuart Campbell announced today that they have mutually decided to part ways, with Campbell stepping down immediately. “It has been wonderful working with Stuart these last few years, and we will miss him,” said Edwards. “He has been a great example for our players and coaching staff. We part ways with the utmost respect for one another and I look forward to seeing him at future matches.” “First and foremost I’d like to thank Bill for the opportunities he has given me and the loyalty he has shown toward me,” said Campbell. “This opportunity has been life changing for my family and I, and for that we will be forever grateful to the Rowdies.” At this time, the club has no further coaching announcement. The Rowdies take the pitch at Al Lang Stadium this Saturday against Pittsburgh Riverhounds. Kickoff is at 7:30 pm.
Bill Edwards, owner of the Tampa Bay Rowdies, is now considering going forward with the $80 million expansion of Al Lang Stadium REGARDLESS of the Rowdies' MLS bid success. Capacity would go from 7,000 to 18,000.
I saw that. I wonder if the idea then is to do really cheap tickets and juice the attendance numbers up the way recent MLS expansions *cough* Cincinnati *cough* have done.
https://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/929916 Rowdies Make Splash with Poku’s Addition 6/26/18, 12:03PM EDT FORMER NEW YORK CITY FC STANDOUT SET FOR ACTION UPON OPENING OF TRANSFER WINDOW ON JULY 10
Tampa Bay RowdiesVerified account @TampaBayRowdies 6h6 hours ago BREAKING: We've signed forward Stefano Bonomo (@bonomo_93)! Bonomo has scored 24 goals in 64 @USL matches for @NYRBII since 2015.
http://www.theunsubs.com/wp/2018/07...rged-with-aggravated-battery-in-pinellas/3969 The complaint filed in Pinellas County court regarding Magalhães’ arrest alleges the defender struck teammate and Rowdies keeper Matias Reynares at their apartment in St. Petersburg early Sunday morning. According to the complaint, Magalhães punched Reynares repeatedly, causing “multiple lacerations and swelling on multiple areas of his face, left ear, and right arm.” Reynares, 19, was taken to the hospital for treatment and evaluation.
https://www.frontrowsoccer.com/2018...wdies-flemmings-named-usl-player-of-the-week/ TAMPA, Fla. – Rowdies midfielder Junior Flemmings was voted the USL player of the week, it was announced Tuesday. A former member of Red Bull II, Flemmings recorded a goal and two assists to lead the Rowdies to a 3-1 victory over Indy Eleven Saturday night, a result that provided a major boost to Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes.
Well well welly... The Rays just bought the Rowdies, and their controlling interest in Al Lang Field. BREAKING: #10Investigates confirms @RaysBaseball purchasing @TampaBayRowdies. This gives #Rays control of not just the soccer team, but also Al Lang Stadium on #StPete's waterfront, which owner Stu Sternberg has always been a fan of: https://t.co/yT8wnBx5XR#SportsBiz #StPete pic.twitter.com/jjntzzDurh— Noah Pransky (@noahpransky) October 1, 2018 WTSP is speculating that Pinellas County may be competing with Hillsborough to keep the Rays in St. Pete with a new stadium, and may be able to provide more public funding for the project. But nobody was expecting this to happen. Last week, the Rowdies scheduled a presser for Tuesday morning. This may be the subject.
I don't see the Al Lang site as being the play here though. They already tried and failed there. The plot is too small for the stadium they want and would require filling in the bay a bit, which I doubt would ever get approved by voters. They really would rather be in Tampa if all the studies done are anything to go by, since St. Pete just doesn't appear to be viable. We'll see though.
The rays are certainly leaving but to make this dialogue technically accurate the voters have no say at this point. In 2008 they did. But last year a referendum passed which allowed city council to negotiate directly with the rowdies regarding the al Lang lease and any building improvements on it. Not that the rays own the rowdies technically that roadblock which existed in 2008 has been removed and only an agreement with city council would stand in the Rays way. But again this is not going to happen
They are apparently all in on Ybor City (right up until the point where they are not), so I don't believe they want the site for their stadium (unless it's as a backup if Ybor does not come to pass, and even that doesn't seem reasonable). But interesting. The Rays have shown they can't sell baseball tickets, I wonder how they'll do with soccer tickets.
The Rays are really good at keeping things a secret. So maybe there is more progress on their Ybor City financing negotiations than we realize
Could they be angling to make the Ybor City stadium dual purpose in order to make it more palatable to fund?
Press conference is tomorrow so we’ll know more details after that. I doubt local press will ask that question though.
The referendum passed last year wasn't a blanket agreement to the Rowdies owners to do whatever they wanted with the Al Lang site. The referendum was very specific: it only applies to the Rowdies, and only becomes active if the Rowdies are accepted as an MLS expansion team. The roadblock is not removed for the Rays. If the Rays want to use Al Lang for a MLB stadium, they would still need to get their own voter referendum passed, that was applicable to the Rays and MLB.
I believe Bill Edwards was very close to selling the rights to the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers IP to Mario Noriega in October of last year; however I don't know if the deal actually went through or not. I can't seem to find anything about it from a very brief Google search. I imagine if Bill Edwards still owns the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers IP he might as well sell it along with the Tampa Bay Rowdies, but who knows. No one seems interested in reviving the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers at the moment.
Boy I hope not. Baseball stadiums are not good for soccer, and the one they are proposing to build in Ybor City has artificial turf as well. So, no thanks. The cost of designing a more complex multi-use stadium seems like a false savings since it wouldn't cost that much more to build a small SSS at Al Lang, especially since they don't have to purchase the land.
There's a very large financing gap (or was at last report) and Hillsborough is not exactly flush with cash. The history of this club and its quest for a stadium would make "reason to be more optimistic than we currently are" a "take the under" situation.
Gosh, it's been almost a year since that was "imminent." Remember when Rowdies-Strikers was going to be the rivalry that saved the NASL? Good times.