It's contrary to how soccer clubs emerged in the Netherlands/Europe. These clubs were established for the fun of the founders (often players themselves) and the community as a whole. That it grew into pro clubs for many was the result of soccer exploding in popularity. Soccer in the USA went pro before it was popular.
I suggest you take it up with the moderator of the thread. Geographically speaking, you would typically say that Hereford is in the border country. Western England is used to refer to counties such as Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset etc.
If it is for the Dutch numbers, all have a major team within 35 -60 miles. Dutch population size of most D2 clubs is less than 100k. But what is misleading is the fact that some stadiums arenot that big to begin with.
I’m usually the first one to defend the moderators of this thread even in the face of having been the subjected to having my posts moderated. I commend the work you do. That being said, where some lower-level English club sits in the standings of a country that’s 3,000 miles away from the USA has as much bearing on Pro/Rel in the USA as what happens in my Wednesday softball league. If we’re going to allow it...fine.
Well, it was presented as an example of what's possible in a pro/rel system. My personal opinion is that's damn near irrelevant because the situation is so different here. But while I think "what's possible in England" is terrible evidence in favor of pro/rel in the USA, it's not off-topic. If that makes sense.
I like this idea. However, I would like to propose a performance bond for the legacy teams. Either performance based, so if they are in the relegation zone three years in a row, or over an average of 5 years they go down. Alternatively, make it investment-based. Perhaps a salary floor to dissaude Kroenkying and Krafting.
But none of them came anywhere near stadium capacity last season. To be fair I should have removed the reserve teams. How do you get away with calling a team "the Jews"?
I guess technically Burnley are the only current Premier League club in Lancashire, but that's only because Manchester is it's own admininstrative area but in reality Manchester is very much a Lancastrian city. Oh yeh and Lancaster County Cricket plays at Old Trafford (no not that one it's next door though). Plus you have Blackburn, Wigan, and Bolton who have all been in the prem in the last 10 years, and Preston which is a well supported club in the Championship. Honestly if you wanted to look for a Burnley equivalent it would be in College Sports, maybe one of the Texas teams in Football. That's a trend I see a lot, because English soccer grew so organically and was dominated by the teams rather than the leagues it looks more like college football to me than US pro sports.
Don't forget Morecambe, Fleetwood, Blackpool, Bury, Oldham and Rochdale. Most people who have been there wish they could forget Morecambe, Fleetwood, Blackpool, Bury, Oldham and Rochdale.
Plus Fylde who could conceivably get promoted to the Football League this season. Fleetwood is ok,. The rest, not so much.
Fine, Paul. Compare those attendances to those of minor league baseball farm clubs on a per capita basis, then. Compare the closed AA Texas League 5-game championship series (I went to gms 4 & 5 last fall) in baseball's third division to what I saw on the youtube machine last year after Portsmouth won League Two title to gain promotion to League One while Sheffield United won promotion from the English equivalent of third division into The Championship... I'm trying to think back to when minor league baseball reflected anything resembling the support and passion I see on those two youtube clips. If there were that kind of passion in double-A Drillers baseball games and a promotion into triple-A at stake, I'd actually follow the team rather than only show up for Thirsty Thurdays and the occasional Bark-in-the-Park night.... Also, while you're at it, please take a moment to ponder the proximity most European clubs have to rival clubs and clubs in the top leagues in each country as compared to their American D2 counterparts. Please don't act as if USSF D2 and (the currently non-existent) D3 bear any resemblance to what we see in the bigger European countries.
Two posters he reps on a very regular basis no matter what and oftentimes the very posts that are most insulting and offensive. I only changed my mind on Pro/Rel in this country three and a half years ago. I changed based on MLS moving from 24 teams to at least 28. I changed based on several years of dealing with lower division officials (USL first, then several years with the NASL) in which I found the harsh reality of lower division soccer in general to more resemble a pyramid scheme than a pyramid. A closed system with MLS sucking on teets of SUM will only make that gap bigger and bigger. So were MLS's for most of its history. If Atlanta and Seattle want to spend more, they can. And if MLS really had a parity based system, Columbus woulda got Ibrahimovich. USMNT 23 for Paraguay game: An all foreign-based option by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Mar 10, 2018 According to Kartik Krishnaiyer, the offer was made, several NASL teams showed interest, but the Cosmos vetoed the idea. I have a problem with reserve teams (and to a lesser degree, hybrid teams) but do not have a problem with voluntary affiliations. That's not the only story, though. More fans are following the Prem closer than ever before, and that includes relegation battles and annual promotion from the Championship. I don't argue in favor of Pro/Rel at my fav soccer bar(s)... I don't have to. It's not just based on seeing Neymar and Messi shirts. I live in a proud old soccer city that didn't have pro soccer at all between 2000 and 2015. I've talked with many fans who've made the trip to either Frisco, KC, or Commerce City.... some all three. But it is a distinct rarity to see MLS merch anywhere... anywhere at all. You'd think in a city where arguably the two closest "major league" cities are KC and Dallas... yet no sight of any MLS merch, even among soccer people......... why is that? And don't try to tell me we're just a buncha eurosnobs. "Redneck eurosnob" is an oxymoron. #OurSoccer is clearly NOT our soccer. At least not here.... or likely in Columbus either, especially after they lose the Crew.
England's okay as long as we're clear that system has no place here in America. And Twitter is evidently okay as long as we're only talking about Bigsoccer non-posters Ted Westervelt or Ben Fast.
Better than the ballpark where KC played and bigger than Buck Shaw Stadium. And who knows? With a promotion to MLS, maybe U of L relents to allow MLS at their football stadium.
Well, without pro/rel, they’re getting a spiffy new soccer stadium of their own. Without pro/rel (and the hope of MLS for that matter)
In the US, it might never have become popular at all without first going pro, because the sports landscape was already crowded. Even now, most American sports fans don't really give a second thought to soccer, whether domestic clubs, foreign clubs, or national teams. I still occasionally encounter people who don't realize professional soccer even exists in the US.
?? The only ones doing that are hard core Ajax fans. Much to the shagrin of Jewish people and the Ajax board. They also dislike the use of Israeli flags.
You've got your anecdotes, I've got mine. Based on mine, I've never heard anyone in person say they don't watch MLS because it lacks pro/rel. It's always the standard. I am COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY CONVINCED that if we had pro/rel and MLS was of the same standard, most people who reject it would continue to do so. Likewise, if MLS somehow got the squads of the G14 into its teams, those that reject it due to quality would come into the fold, regardless the league being closed.
That cannot be true, as NAC Breda and the other club in promo battles with capacity of more than 10 000 sold their battles against each other out. One of the matches of NAC away in the 2nd tier was over 21 000.