WFC2 was shut down this off-season. Vancouver has affiliated with Fresno for 2018. It is not known what they will do in the future. Dunno about TFC II. I think the CPL said they didn't want MLS2 teams but I could be mis-remembering that.
I wonder if MLS would amend the affiliation/reserve team requirement to allow affiliations with CPL teams. Seems to me that the same general purpose of development could be accomplished, without diminishing the image of the CPL.
MLS would probably allow it but I don't think the CSA wants reserve teams in the CPL. They want the CPL to be the top division in Canada. Top divisions almost never allow reserve teams. Even affiliations would suggest a level of subordination.
I doubt TFC II will be in CPL, but I would not be surprised if Toronto metropolitan clubs will be in the league.
So we have three hybrids this year, RGV, Reno and Fresno. I think at this point Slope Park is the only MLS2 team that may have issues meeting the D2 standard even if you take issue with some of them essentially listing the MLS stadium as ther home field. I know here in Toronto, TFC2 has moved from the Ontario Soccer Centre which had about a 1,500 seat grandstand to splitting there home games between BMO Field and Lamport Stadium, which is a 9,600 seat stadium.
So why is Orlando sitting out this year? That kinda sucks for the Rowdies. I guess we have ATL 2 to look forward to now.
Paying the expenses of running a D2 team when you have few academy prospects doesn't make too much sense.
It may be connected to the extra costs of meeting the D2 requirements. If they don't have any local stadium option then they would have use the big MLS stadium. That would increase costs a lot. It looks like they are going to wait until 2019 and relaunch OCB as a D3 team. The requirements for that are much lower.
Yeah they used their main stadium last year and it was cavernous. Hosting them was pretty fun though. Oh well.
Wow, schedule came out very shortly after INDY 11 joined. Probably too late for anyone else to join this year? I say that as there is another thread talking about MIA joining USL ?????
An interview with Jake Edwards on USL and USL D3 from FFT. https://www.fourfourtwo.com/us/feat...rce=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_m_medium=t
I figured they would look into it once they got enough teams into D3. It's nice to actually hear some confirmation.
USL is doing it the right way. Get depth and stability and have a strong, well thought out game plan. They are executing their game plan to a "T", also. Our hurry up and get there attitude is why teams and leagues fail in this country. No thought of setting up a stable platform just go for the gusto and then blame someone else for your failure.
They did not say they would look into it when they got enough teams into D3. Edwards said "There’s a lot more discussion that needs to take place, but for us, we’ve got to build the structure first. We’ve got to get the right teams, right owners, the right stadiums. We’ve got to build an infrastructure with substantial stability and quality. Any sort of movement between leagues that’s potentially possible needs to have the foundation in place." Nothing there about the size of D3.
Data on USL clubs Twitter interactions for a few months. I think this is skewed a bit due to MLS and stadium issues in Cincinnati, but interesting bit of data.
Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear enough. "I figured", meaning that what I though they would do not what they said. I mean "confirmation" as in they actually said they have discussed it.
I disagree. Teams fail because undercapitalized investors without a viable/rational business plan are allowed to purchase teams.
I'd say that's a result of the attitude that kept trying to throw teams together as quickly as possible without properly vetting owners. The hurry was the underlying cause of the visible problem of owners who couldn't foot the bill.