Since 2018 is out of the question for a Cleveland team in the USL, what do you expect from "A USL ownership group"? Is it a USL D3 team or the already formed USL? Being in USL D3 would be better than the NPSL/PDL but wouldn't be that much higher that that, I would think. Salary wise, players could be at $1,000 a month in USL D3. I'd rather be in NASL/NISA (or hopefully a joint league is formed) in Fall 2018 than USL D3 in Spring 2019.
Last night “Buffalo News Soccer” reported that a Cleveland team, not AFC Cleveland, will be playing in the 2018 NPSL season. - This is what we were all expecting, now to get the official word from the league and new club. - As for USL… even D3, until that stadium is a thing I’d suspect it’s dead in the water. Same rumors about a USL team for almost a decade… we’re going to support Cleveland soccer by supporting the teams that play. If one day that’s a USL club, we’ll cheer them on as well. The more interest shown, the better the chances for someone to risk the time and expense of a higher tiered club.
gosh, it's been 4 hours, we need more news on action for USL in Cleveland. Can't we go door to door and find an owner?
If only we had a multi-millionaire in the area who already owns part of a Premier League team. Perhaps one who could get in touch with Carmelo Anthony (who owns Puerto Rico's NASL team).....
Oh my....attendance was still non existent everywhere. My point and i will reiterate again since no one can grasp is that playing in a HS football stadium makes you feel like a HS team and people will not take it seriously. When i lived there i would try to get people to go and believe me it was quite a few and they all said things like "i am not paying for that" or they would ask where they play and immediately say "nah i am good". That ones i did get to go did enjoy the level of play but laughed at the fake ultras in the stands (if thats you i apologize but i am telling you what people thought). Marketing i am sure had something to do with it but Cleveland is a rough soccer market as it is and trying to be viewed as professional but playing in a HS football stadium does not help and thats all i am saying. I agree that if you get them to a game there is a good chance of them coming back and after the crew eventually move i myself will be at more if there is a team in the future.
What could a supporters' group for a small team do differently than what 6th City Syndicate does to be better/more "authentic"? Or do you oppose SGs at the amateur level entirely?
Lol my the people in this thread are either dumb or just easily offended.....that wasn’t my opinion actually. I am telling you what people said and while I disagree for the most part there is some truth when you see grown men with bandannas over their faces. If you can’t see that you need to move out of moms basement.
What I'm trying to understand is is there's anything that could be done better or is Cleveland better off sans SG?
Playing at a high school stadium didn’t stop DCFC from getting better crowds than a pro team. Again, unless you have millions to build something new, you are going to be at a high school stadium. That’s up to the team to market it better, something AFCCLE never did well. Constantly changing stadiums didn’t help either.
Oh boy.....I don’t have those answers or never claimed to know. I was never bothered bu what they did or how they support. I was just telling what multiple people have said when I brought them to games and saw the supporter section and that I u derstand their point of view as well. I’ll make an attempt to answer for sake of fun....what could be done better (if I am going off the comments made to me at one time) is being authentic and not covering your faces like faux hooligans. I feel the same way about the ones that do it in Columbus. You literally can’t sit here and tell me that you don’t see that too. I’ll reiterate since no one here seems to understand....i don’t think the cleveland supporters groups are a bad thing or doing things wrong however if you try to understand another’s point of view you can see the logic.
Nope i agree with you there but DCFC is the exception to the rules IMO. My only point from the beginning was I get an amateur team playing in a HS stadium and I would still support that but s professional team playing in a HS stadium will not work and people in the city will treat it as another NPSL team. I stand by that.
I'm not a Cleveland expert since I dont live in the metro but it seems like Lakewood would be a better choice than some of the other suburban high schools AFC played at. Looks like there's a good amount of restaurants, bars, etc within walking distance. Might make gamedays more fun pre and post game.
NEO Sports Insider reporting that JCU could also be a possible home. Article. WKYC also had a short story on Cleveland SC. Article. (Nothing new here)
I really hope it’s not John Carroll. Not much around there to do pre/post match. If not Lakewood, id love Case Western, Krenzler or St Ignatius
Looks like there is a place reeeeally close called Mcginties Pub that seems almost perfect among others in the area fpr pre/post game fun.
I would agree. I am not sure how much this will really move the needle, but it certainly may push a couple of people who are on the fence into checking out a game. Myself included. JCU would be a bad decision, IMO, but it's obviously not my money and they have to go where it works financially. Fields/venues are the biggest expense for most NPSL teams, I gather, and I am not sure that an extra hundred people in the crowd would offset that either way depending on the stadium agreement.
As you’ve seen, the team announced that they will play at John Carroll. To look on the bright side of not being in Lakewood: the parking situation is better, plenty of room to tailgate and Pizzazz has great pizza… All of that said, I really hope to see more people come out for this team. Also, really wish instead of scoffing at everything or assuming the “fake ultras” mantra that people would at least attempt to join in on the fun a bit… if they had they’d have realized that we have a great time at each and every game. Football lines and all. Hell, we sing songs from The Holy Grail… how “ultra” could we possibly take ourselves?
What will they get for a NPSL game in Cleveland? 100 people a game? Friends and family for amateur team?