My memory of the start is slightly different. Nike decided to divest itself of its share of USL. A group of USL1 owners put in a bid to buy the organization, but Nike picked a relatively unknown group. At that point 8 or 9 of the USL1 owners decided to breakaway to protect their own interests. Neither group was able to manage enough teams for a true second division and USSF ran the shotgun marriage 2010 USSF-D2 season to give the two organizations time. After the failure of the USA Bid 2010 for the 2018/22 World Cups, the nascent TOA/NASL hired David Downs as its first Commissioner. Downs is an insider and part of the establishment. This was a very sensible pick. During the Downs era the NASL was very collaborative with MLS and trying to carve out its niche. Then the Cosmos happened. The MLS/NASL had been deep into discussions for MLS teams to move their reserve teams into the NASL. That immediately disappeared and they went into the USL instead. The split season and championship was made a bit of a joke as the Cosmos were allowed to play only half a year and be eligible for the league title. Downs was pushed out and the Cosmos picked Bill Peterson installed as league Commissioner and mouthpiece.
Of course, the TOA split was, despite being so messy, the best thing to happen to lower level soccer perhaps ever. The resulting split forced all parties (USSF, USL, TOA/NASL) to evaluate and choose a more viable path for the long haul. The standards came in, USL reformed for the long haul and improved the entire structure of their business, and after a couple of years the NASL went into a downhill spiral by making all of the mistakes that had been made before. Ultimately, the NASL's biggest contribution to soccer was attracting all of the fly by night operators and segregating the contagion from the USL long enough for it to get it's footing without being derailed.
There were sighs of relief in these parts when we made the jump from NASL to MLS, because it was getting obvious where the NASL was heading. Sitting in Allianz Field earlier this year, I thought, "Man, we've come a long way from Blaine..."
"Who's that goalkeeper?!!??" (See, I go way back, too. ) It was touch and go with you guys for a bit there, good to see it all worked out. As for the split, yeah, tough way to learn valuable lessons. Now we see the resurgence of "No, really, we know how to do this better, hold my beer." Unfortunately.
Whose ready for the LA Force? https://www.nisasoccer.com/news/2019/08/02/nisa-announces-los-angeles-club
Member when smart money was on TOA/NASL being the stronger league out of the split in the long run? Those were a magical couple years out of the gate for them. Then things went to pot after they refused to partner with MLS, and USL smartly used the partnership to get a bunch of independent teams bootstrapped with (more) local competition to reduce costs.
It could have been the dominant league but after a few years most of the players behind the TOA split were either in MLS, USL or broke. Most of the TOA folks got what they wanted. The NASL we came to know was not the TOA.
One of the main guys behind the split, Selby Wellmann of the then-Carolina Railhawks, didn't even stick around to see the team play in its first NASL season. And I don't know if there was ever really "smart money" in this scenario. Lower-level soccer was largely ignored, the TOA folks broke away out of spite without a real plan (kind of like running away from home when you are seven without a plan to feed, clothe or house yourself) and the increased interest from fanboys seems to have largely been fueled by an anti-establishment bent. "I don't know anything about these people, but they're against the status quo and MLS is becoming successful and I have to be against that (because reasons) and so I pledge my heart to the NASL! And, by extension, all independent lower-division soccer (as long as they use college players and play seven home games at a local high school)." So the split gave us those people. Thanks.
Well the four ringleaders were Jeff Cooper - no cash, all of his assets were large court verdicts he was likely never to see any real payment on. He was more of a figurehead, the original owner/commissioner before they hired Downs. Manny Lagos - headed to MLS Aaron Davidson - His sentencing for his part in the FIFA scandal is currently set for October 3rd. Selby Wellmann - Bailed in the dead of the night after the USSF-D2 season with Traffic (Davidson) stepping in to save the franchise to keep the nascent NASL at a minimum 8 teams for sanctioning. --- Rochester was originally part of the TOA, but flipped back to the USL during the USSF-D2 year. I'm looking at a January, 2010 NASL scarf from the NSCAA convention and the original teams were Carolina (moved to USL when NASL died), Montreal (MLS), Vancouver (MLS), St. Louis (dead), Rochester (USL), Miami (NISL?), Atlanta (dead), Tampa Bay (eventually jumped to USL), Real Maryland (dead), and expansion teams in Edmonton (moved to CPL after NASL died), and a "new" Minnesota team (now in MLS) Still exiting organizations from the TOA: Carolina - USL, changed ownership twice Rochester - USL, never played in NASL, I think they've changed owners Tampa Bay - USL, changed ownership and jumped ship to USL as the shit was hitting the fan Vancouver - MLS, never played in NASL Montreal - MLS, was already moving to MLS before their season in the NASL Minnesota - MLS Miami - NPSL/NISL?, changed ownership Edmonton - CPL, took a year off between end of NASL and launch of CPL. Rare club to survive a fallow year I'm not sure: Atlanta - There was a Silverbacks team in the NPSL, but I think it's finally dead Regardless, a separate MLS team is now in the market. Dead: Real Maryland - never played in the NASL, died after the USSF-D2 season AC St. Louis - there is new organization in Saint Louis with a team in the USL
The Miami TOA team eventually became the third Fort Lauderdale Strikers and are not connected to Silva's erstwhile NASL team that plays for the NPSL title tonight (?) and is, apparently, NISA-bound.
So the two professional NPSL teams played their final in front of just over 5,000 on Long Island last night, while Flint City (formerly Michigan) Bucks beat Reading to take the USL 2 title in front of more than 7,000.