2019 Not Rapids Related Stuff

Jealous

I like going to matches at Dick's but this looks really cool.

 

It does look cool. But the Dick is good.

 

Not sure I care what NYCFC does. Trying to think of the stadiums opened, went to Wikipedia, according to them, MLS has 10 stadiums that opened this decade.

They might be counting teams that started MLS play in existing stadiums this decade, like Cincinnati and Vancouver. I still like Dicks, the location is not great but the stadium is nice enough and simple. When it rains I wish it had better cover though.

 

That's the tears of the soccer gods crying at the level of play. It's not meant to be avoided.

 

Oh, so when I seek those seats under cover I'm not washing myself of the sins my eyes are seeing? Maybe the stadium needs a baptismal bath.

 

Time to host a Mexico National Team game? Oh you said baptismal...

 

MLS to expand to 30 teams:

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019/04/18/mls-announces-plans-expand-30-teams

 

I have mixed emotions about this. I'm thrilled that the league is thriving to the point where there are more cities that want teams and more prospective owners willing to put up significant cash to get in. But it's too much to keep track of. I know next to nothing about many of the teams - who plays for Montreal or Vancouver or Chicago?

 

Contrast those thought about (healthy) expansion with the not all that distant in the past news that MLS was "Contracting From 12 Teams to 10".

 

The early days were something. In contrast to stuff like the AAF or XFL (1st version at least), it shows how much of a long view one needs for something like a sports league. I wonder what Anschutz's and the Hunts' ROI ended up being? Was there something beyond just what they got when they eventually sold the teams they "owned"?

Plus: single entity. I was surprised more sports leagues (like the women's pro leagues) haven't tried that. I think one of the arena football leagues uses it.

 

Maybe Denver can snag that 30th franchise?

 

Maybe the Switchbacks or FC Denver?

 

While in London last week I took in two games. QPR - Blackburn in the Championship and Wealdstone FC - Dulwich Hamlet in the National League South (Level 6 of the pyramid). It occurred to me that Wealdstone is a natural team for Colorado natives to follow. Their nickname is The Stones, which would presumably make fans of the team Stoners....

 

I like that a lot.

 

So what was the Stones match like as a neutral viewer? Was it decent football? Was it fun to watch? What was the stadium like?

 

It reminded me of high-school football (outside of places like Texas where its as big as college). The level of play was what you'd expect from semi-pros making a couple of hundred pounds a week to practice a couple of times a week and show up for games. The stadium was small with a mix of a couple of 5-6 row seating areas and a number of terraces. Parts of the stadium (the club shop/snack bar and the PA announcer on top of it) were clearly made from converted shipping containers but the clubhouse, dressing rooms, etc. were full , older, buildings. They list the capacity of Grovesnor Vale as 3600 with about 700 seated. Its at the end of a cul-de-sac in a suburb of London (Ruislip) and you wouldn't notice its there if you weren't down at the end of that street.

Their opponents were from another part of London (Brixton/Peckham) so they brought a decent amount of away support up on the tube. Because the whole ground is general admission there's apparently an understanding between home and away support (and I'm guessing this is common int he lower leagues) that supporters take the terraces behind the goal their team is attacking and then the supporters switch sides at half just like the teams do. I stayed in the area behind one goal the whole game (after walking around the ground in pre-game) so int he first half I had Wealdstone supporters near me and in the second half it was Dulwich Hamlet supporters. Dulwich won 3-1 (with Wealdstone getting their goal late) so they were in quite the voice during most of the second half.

 

Some great pictures and stadium writeup here:
http://groundhoppingwithryan.blogspot.com/2017/07/wealdstone-fc-grosvenor-vale.html



I watched the first half from right about where the guy with his back to the camera is standing, with all the Wealdstone FC supporters on the terrace in the foreground. At half as people moved around and a space on the fence opened up I moved up to lean on it. The pictures don't show it but the goal is literally right off to the right of the photo with the net at the back touching the fence. Dulwich Hamlet had a PK in the second half and I was closer to the ball on the spot than some of the players lined up on the edge of the box I think.

 

Also I was at the Stones match at 4:20 on 4/20, but nobody there seemed to care.

 

Great stuff, @JasonMa !! Thanks

 

Is this the end of the Rapids' presence in North Carolina?

Charlotte Announces Formation of Independence SC
https://www.uslchampionship.com/new...pxRMJ2nUhQ6MOIBTLh4WJnXsG1X_8X75gevwClP1dHvm8

 

After a couple of requests I wrote up my experiences last week checking out soccer in England. I thought some people here might be interested (warning, lots of pics):
http://view-from-the-couch.blogspot.com/2019/04/up-and-down-english-pyramid.html

 

Nice writeup, Jason - thanks for doing that.