would not be surprised to see them fold. the rest of the league is in the eastern time zone and none of them are in a market with two MLS teams... the Blues were not a good business decision. Unless there's a real Western division added next season with other teams in California, Vegas and Arizona, I don't see how a USL team can survive here.
Wasn't the plan for them to spearhead the Western expansion? Hold out for a year until the Western teams came into fruition? Even if this was the case, their attendance isn't enough to justify them having a pro team in even a regional division. Seems the revolving door of USL will continue.
You know what's even worse? They are playing at different venues. Corona Centennial High. Norco College. Even Pacific Palisades High School, the home of Pali Blues. They are not fixated on one home venue, and I think that is also a problem.
looking at that Norco home field, it doesn't even look like it seats more then 2 or 3 hundred, not that the Blues need all that many seats, but thats just embarrassing to the USL.
Any news on the Blues? Rumors are swirling but the facebook page just looks like someones personal page.
In an interview Izzy Sesay stated he cannot wait for the 2012 season, so it looks pretty sure the Blues will be back for next season
Players are often the last to know. They get told things and never the real story. All Mr. Sesay had to do was look at the 200-300 in attendance during his home games and realize this organization has major problems. Unless the ownership likes burning money for no reason, they'll drop back down.
The LA Blues are alive and well, and we're excited for 2012! Would like to remind everyone that we were faced with a very challenging task last season, with so little time left between the announcement of the team and the first game. We are currently working extremely hard to change the culture of the club, and moving all of our operations to Fullerton is just the starting point. A lot of things are changing within the organization that we think will ultimately lead to a much stronger bond with the community and increased fan support. We appreciate everyone who came out to our games this year and want to reward our fans by giving them reason to be proud of both the team's performance on the field and the atmosphere in the stands.
Not trying to be smart but I always wanted to ask what the word "challenging" means in terms of soccer? The reason I ask is because Commissioner Gerber says it all the time....
I would say the universal meaning of the word applies. In this particular case, it meant that we didn't have much of a chance to promote the team and create a buzz, as there are many strictly operational aspects involved with running a team that plays in USL PRO, a league that is very adamant about those operational obligations being met (as it should be). Given the time constraints, we simply had to prioritize some aspects over others.
Our open tryouts for the 2012 season will be held on January 21-22 at Fullerton College. All the relevant information can be found here.