A key date for Thorns fans is that the Stadium is scheduled to reopen on the June 1 weekend with the first Timbers Home match. The Thorns could play with the reserve team because the starters will be at the World Cup until July 7. Oh well....
Maybe, but if they were just looking at filling dates, they'd just be trying to get the Spirit into having more games there on game-by-game renting - actually buying a share of the team is a much bigger commitment (and probably a money-losing prospect as opposed to a money-gaining prospect). Besides, it's not an otherwise-empty stadium. The 2018 Taste of DC event was held at Audi Field, (I went to Taste for the first time, it was great,) and I believe it's had various other events going on as well. I don't think DCU is hurting for filling dates.
According to Wikipedia, there are five ranks of the Order of the British Empire, only the top two ranks get to put "Sir" or "Dame" in front of their names and Member of the Order of the British Empire is the fifth rank. She does get to put the initials MBE after her name, although I doubt that she will on team sheets. Still, it's too bad. I was looking forward to hearing fans sing "There is Nothing Like a Dame."
The Sky Blue Situation is infuriating, still. Per Equalizersoccer.com, Hailie Mace told Sky Blue she would not report if draftted and: "(Sky Blue GM Tony) Novo said he promises to have good news about the state of Sky Blue in the next 30 days." 30 DAYS!!! WTF have they been doing since September? Anyone with half a brain would have seen that major changes were needed immediately at the end of the season if there was to be any hope that players would want to be there in 2019.
That team needs a big cash injection to solve all the problems they have encountered. And where will they find any players if many refuse to turn up.
Unless the Red Bulls or NYCFC buying the team is the good news, I don't see the team having anything good to announce. The league needs to step up and do something to bring SkyBlue up to the standards that other teams provide.
I kinda doubt a cash injection alone would help at this point, just two or three months out from the season. Maybe in the longer run, but a lot of the problems Sky Blue has are organizational in nature - they just need different people running the show - and the things that cash could really help with might take time to renegotiate (i.e. training facilities available, housing situations, etc.)
Yeah in the past I often sided with teams and give them the benefit of the doubt but in this SBFC situation I fully side with the players not turning up. I mean this is not the Boston situation were you can tell the front office was realy trying to make things better and they had no good options. SBFC on the other hand have an owner who is the freaking governor of NJ and won't have any issues selling the team. Yet and still they are content threating the team like its 2006. I hope no one turns up in March.
Quotations from Duffy here on expansion and commissioner role as well as Sky Blue status: https://www.prosoccerusa.com/nwsl/nwsl-amanda-duffy/
RE: Cash Influx - What would it cost? Sky Blue’s Obvious Problems- Which should have been corrected starting last September: a) Housing b) Outdoor Training field and locker room c) Indoor Training facility d) Stadium I figured that all but the Stadium could have been taken care of IF action was taken beginning in September last year. a) Housing: the league cap on housing is $92,000 per year. 1. A much, much better housing plan must be created for 2019. 2. The housing environment: A dog-friendly, 2 bed, 2 bath apartment in Piscataway is $1600-$1800/month. b) Outdoor Training: Cost would be about $100,000, assuming an outdoor field can be located and permission obtained to build a stand-alone locker room. New utilities, permits,etc. are excluded. 1. 1000 sf modular building $50-$70/sf 2. Very basic locker room interior $40-$60/sf c) Indoor Training Facility. The cost would be about One Million dollars, as follows. Permits and approvals, real estate agent, and architect are not included. I found a warehouse to lease about 15 minutes from Yurcak. SkyBlue would need to do the “Build-outs” to turn it into a Training Facility – so here is my cost estimate: Existing 20,000 sf Warehouse Lease$150,000 /yr3 yr min$450,000 turf indoor field25 yd x 60 yd= 13500 sf$5 - $10 /sf$110,000 Locker Room2000 sf$70-$150 /sf$220000 Weight Room2500 sf$40-$65 /sf $140,000 Other Build-outs$75,000 Total$995,000 Duffy said "we’ve been working on very specific requests and action items that we’ve asked of the club. They’ve been cooperative and we continue to work toward ensuring that Sky Blue is operating in a strong environment." WHAT Specific Requests? The only thing we have heard from Tony Novo is something to the effect: "Reports of our mistreatment of players are grossly exaggerated."
I don't understand why this ******* team isn't fined $25,000 or relegated or removed from the draft by the league. This is why this league still has a long ways to go. Why was Sky Blue able to participate in the draft when they have not presented their improvements to the NWSL committee or whomever oversees the leagues operations?? Why place these hard working female athletes in such an awkward and precarious position where they actually have to refuse the team they were drafted into? All those athletes already on the team and the ones selected(Mace, Ashley) where do they go? What do they do now? What other teams will take them in? When I watched the draft 2019, the first thing I thought when I saw Sky Blue had like 5 zillion picks in round one was the white elephant in the room.... like... hello? Who in the World is going to be excited being drafted to this disgusting club? Why weren't commentators Lightning, Jordyn Angeli and Co. not even mentioning the issues surrounding Sky Blue? Were they not ordered to? Or do they think there's nothing wrong? I don't get it, everyone on that broadcast except the players themselves pretended that nothing was wrong. This league needs to start acting like a professional league and shut down clubs that aren't up to snuff. They need to fine Sky Blue and BAN that team from participating in NWSL until they get their act together. They need to take a stand, it's pathetic that they sit there and let the players put their reputations out on the line and complain about the club.
In another direction. This is an awesome game promo commercial. We need stuff like this in NWSL. It does show how being with the big clubs with a long history benefits the women's game and it supports my theory that the LIga MX Feminil, which has all its women's teams in the big clubs, will power the Mexican WNT into the top 5 in the world. League leaders v championsNorth London v West London 🔴 v 🔵Kicking off a stellar day of #FAWSL action... pic.twitter.com/uLvH5AlQXY— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) January 13, 2019
not on the evidence of their recent performances in wcq. they seem to have retrogressed. Having all the women’s teams with big clubs could be a palliative.
I think both of these are kinda missing the point in different ways... @CoachJon - it's a slick commercial for a league game, but the fact that the women's teams are banking on the men's reputation is limiting in its own way - they don't get to write their own stories. Also, worth pointing out that the best men's league in the world (also in England) really hasn't done much to keep the Three Lions at the top of the NT scene (usually top 10 but almost never top 5). So even if LMXF grows significantly - which, despite large interest in the playoffs, struggles to get people to show for the regular season, which is a sign of a big cultural obstacle that may or may not get overcome - there's no guarantee that league success translates to the WNT. Not to mention that big support within the country won't necessarily make LMXF a great league - it's one of the newest leagues, and will likely always be stuck in the shadow of NWSL or other leagues (e.g. the Chinese Super League, for all its money, isn't catching any real traction on either the men's or women's side). @luvdagame - you've got cause and effect greatly misaligned in this case. LMXF was founded around the same time that the struggles on the WNT were surfacing, and the coach replaced. It was founded as a mostly-youth league to get the next generation of players the development they would need. If you look at the current MexWNT roster, it's an awkward mix of veterans that have been scattered across the world (some back in Mexico) and youth that have maybe two years of "pro" experience (I use quotation marks since playing against mostly peers, as happens in NCAA, isn't a pro experience like UEFA leagues or NWSL). MexWNT is a team in transition, so while they have the natural talent to do well, the fact that the team is a mess right now isn't entirely surprising and certainly not an effect of their new league.
Also worth pointing out that of the "big 5" leagues in Europe, the Premier League has the largest proportion of foreign players (the latest article I read about the topic had the England manager moaning that only around 30% of minutes this season have been from players eligible for the England team, which includes players that have "retired" from the NT, and that he's going to have to start looking at players in the Championship). Whereas Spain and France have the 2 lowest proportions of foreign players of the 5.
Nice piece, but it's no different than what the Thorns put out after their games. Maybe the MLS Timbers count as one of the "big clubs with a long history"? I've assumed that all the NWSL clubs put out post-game videos like that one. Am I wrong? If they don't, it's a shame.
does this deal help nwsl any (not just as an aside to ussf, but in specific terms)? and will we see the vw logo on nwsl gear as well? https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...ce-landmark-multi-year-presenting-partnership
No and no. I'm sure NWSL would have said something about it if so. Heck, MLS hasn't even said anything about the deal, even though SUM is technically an MLS entity and not a USSF entity.
amanda duffy named president. what’s different? https://equalizersoccer.com/2019/01/15/amanda-duffy-named-nwsl-president/
I think I read elsewhere that this title gives her a bit more clout in terms of operations, among which is included more power in making hires. The article by John T. in Philly Mag said a bit more than the EQZ article did, but the comments about hiring power were on Twitter I think?
I think "president" is it when it comes to who's leading the league, i.e. NWSL has a president instead of a commissioner. It's not the first time a WoSo league here has had a non-commissioner leader - WPS had two CEOs.