I never went. I did go to Paetec Park once for a USL match, when the ground was called by that name, and it was a nice evening. And I saw Pele and Beckenbauer vs. the Lancers at that dump, Holleder Stadium, in the mid to late 70s. I hope they get soccer back. The demographics there have changed a lot over the decades in ways that probably reduce fan support for the support, but hopefully the young people there will show up.
I hope that NISA works. Trave will not be too bad. Teams in suburban DC, Detroit, suburban NYC. Plus Charlotte and Chattanooga will not be too bad. The trip to California will be a challenge. I hope something gets done.
I can see NISA having 2 conferences within 5 years, a lot of clubs intersted. Now how many can survive till 2 conferences is another question.
Interesting information about the new team here. They will play in the downtown stadium. Local talent, name the team contest. Could play fall 2021, but most likely Spring 2022.
I looked up some stats, as I'm prone too. In 1998 546,000 people were employed in the Rochester MSA. Pre-Covid that had dropped to 497,000 a 10% drop, despite a 10% increase in population. (In April it dropped to 430k). The city of Rochester is in the bottom 10% of US cities in terms of economic growth since 2000. I assume a lot of jobs that disappeared were white collar jobs at Kodak, to be replaced by blue collar jobs. Overall Kodak's workforce decreased from 120,000 to less than 20,000 nationally in two decades and Rochester was the most affected. Maybe MLS made the right decision from a league standpoint in the early 00s.
So the Rochester application has been accepted by NISA. "The Rochester NISA club will hold a zoom chat Friday at 6 p.m. ET to share the club name – decided by the Rochester community – with fans first. Fans can register at passion@nisarochesterny.com or visit nisarochesterny.com to register online." And the name will be Flower City Union. Rochester is known as the Flour City due to all of the grain that would be shipped on the Erie Canal. This is focusing on the annual Lilac Festival held in Highland Park.
Rochester Rhinos @RochesterRhinos 58m The Rochester Rhinos are delighted to announce that Premier League star @vardy7 has become a co-owner of the club.
So this was unexpected to say the least. Most of the articles say that the team will play in Sahlen Stadium or whatever it is now called. My understanding was that Flour City United was playing there and the Rhinos were going to play in a stadium down near RIT. This could be very interesting to see how this plays out.
Flower City United purchases the Rochester Lancers men's team. No more NPSL in Rochester next season. It looks like the NISA Flower City and the USL One (?) Rhinos. https://www.frontrowsoccer.com/2021...-fantauzzos-final-games-as-owner-next-sunday/