Crystal Palace Baltimore announced today that they will not be fielding a team in the North American Soccer League (NASL) during the 2011 season in order to restructure with an intended re-launch for the 2012 NASL season. The re-launch will include a complete re-branding of the club to coincide with opening a soccer facility in downtown Baltimore. in addition, the club announced that it is ending its four year relationship with Crystal Palace FC of England’s Championship Division. Crystal Palace Baltimore was the first trans-Atlantic partnership of its kind in North America but the relationship between the clubs could not survive the financial struggles that resulted in Crystal Palace FC entering administration in England. The club is currently working with the City of Baltimore to secure a venue for 2012 and beyond. “We want to be downtown and believe doing so will allow us to better connect to our fans and the City” said Pete Medd, part-owner and President of Crystal Palace Baltimore. “We would like to thank our loyal fans who have stuck with us despite not having a place to call home and we are committed to giving them what they deserve and what all of our future fans in Baltimore deserve; a venue that honors their loyalty and commitment to the club.” http://www.nasl.com/article/crystal-palace-baltimore-to-sit-out-2011-season
Any word on what some of the players like Bush, Veeder, etc (some of the younger ones with more potential) are going to do this upcoming season?
Talk is cheap. I've heard this type of stuff from these guys before. Remember, they were going to build their own ground along I-95 in Harford County about 5 years ago when they were kicking off the club. I'd rather not hear anything until something is concrete.
I think that for a team to do well they need to pretty start with a clean slate and that includes new management. They just haven't done a good job at either the USL 2 or D2 level.
My New Year's wish - the Medd family pay up all their debts so that anyone coming after them in soccer in Baltimore doesn't get the door slammed on them and that they take off a lot more then 1 year form the game. One of the players (or former players i guess) says that PM won't even return his calls and he played for them for 3 years. He also confirmed that the players still never got paid the last checks nor did the academy and other staff. Possible legal action from the players and staff as well. Here is to a few more trips down to RFK for DC United in 2011...
!) Thats quite a list of coaches suing them! Good for them. 2) Just went online to see if they have anything new on their web site and it is no longer there. do they have one under another name now? Have they officially closed business? anyone know.
It should also be known that several players who coached in the academy also were not paid nor did they receive their final pay. They could/should have enjoined the suit but as a group elected not so as to sever their relations with CP without repercussions that could occur as a result of suing their former coaches/team. Sad because these players were screwed. Some were out several thousand dollars. Also, the web site is down for now as Medds and Cherneski lay low.
anyone know whats going on with this law suit? I did hear that the players were "threatened" that if they did something like that then they wouldn't get good recommendations for other teams! Sounds plausible from what we know about PM and JC.
Im pretty sure every team in the league knows what scumbag losers those two are. No one listens to them, respects them or likes them. A bad recommendation from these two would actually probably go a long way towards helping these guys out with a new team.
Don't think many people read this anymore but I have to agree that any recommendation they give doesn't mean a thing to anyone else. Its too bad when think back on what they tried to do - and even some pretty good things like having the Palace London team over for a game and beating Red Bull in a cup game. Its too bad they won't just leave in a way that repairs some of their bad reputation instead of just make it worse (such as not paying players and staff). The law suit seems to be going to go to a trial for what I hear. They should not risk making all their stupidities public in a trial - haha. If anyone else knows anything about what is happening with that then let us know.
Don't place any bets on that. The CP owners have muddied the waters here. This has happened before in Baltimore but I'm thinking possibly a USL-pro team no sooner then 2013. That's the optimist in me.
Why build another facility when there are plenty college stadiums they could share, as well as tapping link with potential players from college.
Rent, and being able to sell alcohol I would imagine. You usually can't sell beer at college stadiums.