The Cleveland Plain Dealer has finally brought up the possibility of a Cleveland expansion team. If you did not catch it, it was in the Brown's Town section. It was ONE whole sentence, saying that if the city gets an expansion team don't expect them to play in Cleveland Browns Stadium. Yeah, no one thought that anyways. Did anyone else catch something in the Cleveland PD(or News-Herald etc) that I missed talking about a possible expansion? I've been trying to keep an eye out in the Metro section hoping to see an article about the possible(man I'm using that word a lot) re-development of the Randall Mall, turning the land into a SSS. Again I have not seen one. There was some speculation that Bart Wolstein a Cleveland real estate developer was going to buy/had bought the Mall and become the owner/operator, but I'm not sure that he is involved with the Mall. I was able to find an article on cleveland.com that stated that the Mall had recently been purchased by the Farbman Group of Southfield, IL. So I'm not sure what's going on.
I heard that Wolstein bought Randall Park and was going to turn it into a SSS....and that he wanted an MLS team...If your from Ctown I know you have heard the name Ali Kazemani....I know he is planning to start a PDL team in Cleveland next season....they might play there....I dunno, we'll see.... -PB20
How would you feel about an expansion team in Cleveland anyways??? Just a thought, just wondering, since your from Ctown.... -PB20
how many of your 1200+ posts are correcting minor spelling errors? if you keep correcting ppls spelling the terrorists win.
I was born and raised in Cleveland, and just came out to LA about 4 years ago. I will always be a Galaxy fan, but I would root for Cleveland if they ever got a team as my second choice. However, I don;t think Cleveland will support an MLS team for the long haul. Too much love for the Browns and Indians.
My thoughts as well.... I remember when Sweeney brought in the Caps and they failed miserably.....I dunno we'll see....A lot of people from Cleveland bleed the Crew's black and gold however.....The Cleveland Force only draw maybe 4,000 est. per game....not a huge fan base.... -PB20 .....Mie bad aboot the splling mistaces, shuld hav gotan hukd on Phonix......
One other thing about my beloved Cleveland. There would be a lot of the 'eurosnobs" and "I will only follow the teams if a guy from my country plays" people. Won't support the club over all.
Yeah I know all about Ali Kazemani. A lot of people in Cleveland don't like him because since he's involved in a ton of different soccer programs he never will get back to you. Some people don't like him cause he an ass. That's what they say, not me. I have never personally talked to him, but I know a lot of people who have and they are mixed on their reactions. He seems like he has the best intentions in mind but he just does too much. He has indoor soccer venues, coaches a college team, coaches a traveling team, and now possibly a PDL team. That's crazy. I would like to have a team in Cleveland but like a lot of other people I am already a Crew fan. I try to make as many games as possible, about 6 a season. It would be nice to drive 20 minutes to a game instead of 2 hours though. I too question the support for the team. I cannot see 20,000 people turning out for every game, but I don't think that Force attendance is a good measure of the fan base. A lot of outdoor fans just don't like indoor, me included. I have not been to a Force/Crunch game in a couple years. There may be a exhibition match featuring the Crew vs. somebody(I think the Wizards were mentioned) in a undisclosed location in Cleveland in March to determine the possible fan base. But that is not a sure thing because appearently they don't want it to be at Browns Stadium and there are not many really good soccer venues, without playing at a high school field(yes I know that the Burn are playing at a high school field next year). I think that they should have it a Krenzler Field at Cleveland State. It is right in the middle of downtown and it would seat about 5,000. I mean how many people do you really think are gonna show up for a Crew exhibition game?? I'm not sure that people would only go an watch if their nationality, aka german/italian, was on the team, but a couple good Croatians couldn't hurt the attendance figures. Plus no one can rely on a "traditional" soccer fans, meaning someone from Europe or of Hispanic descent to support the team solely. I think that Miami taught us that. We need to attract soccer mom and soccer dad to bring along soccer kids. I know that they don't create the best atmosphere, aka crying babies, cotton candy everywhere, but they buy tickets and spend money. All this could be trumped by a motivated rich owner/operator, Bart Wolstein, and the promise of a SSS, maybe... Bart's thinking about it.... hopefully. What does anyone else think?
That's an unrealistic standard anyway. Maybe with the Gals' new stadium, they'll meet that standard, but no team in MLS has yet.
I've met Ali a few times and he alwasy seemed pretty friendly. I first met him when I had a internship with the origianl Force and he was a player. He was a heck of alot friendlier the Kia or Craig Allen. I don't think that the Caps are a good example to gauge intrest in pro soccer. Their first season the drew well because they were at one location. The second year they playd at 4 -5 different sites. If they could add more stands, I think that Cleveland State would be a good location for a PDL team. It's a nice pitch, centrall located and there is a parking garage just across the street.
It appears now that Cleveland needs to beat out Minneapolis and Seattle as the two sites for future expansion, according to the smallest of blurbs in the Plain D. I think I read that MLS is naming expansion cities soon? I was suprised by that, so don't quote me. Anyway, all expansion conjecture lies with a group, possibly led by Big Bart Wolstein, king of the convention center, and a pro stadium in Strongsville. and If Cleveland got a team, that would be my team. Does Ali K. sleep? Holding my breath for a Cleveland MLS team in perpetuity. DB
Again I have not personally talked to him, and if you have had good expiriences then maybe I'm wrong. And no I doubt that he would ever have any time to sleep. Can't image what his wife says. He has and is a great influence on soccer in the Cleveland area so he should get some props. So big ups to him. I don't know if a PDL team would get much support. No "minor league" franchises ever seem to do well here, meaning: Cleveland Caps(folded, heard the owner was being screwed by USISL somehow), Lumberjacks(folded, I think... but they might have re-located), Barons(attendance worst in the league). With that said a ton of people seem very interested in the new Indians minor league team in Eastlake, so maybe there's hope. I am really hoping that Roger Brown drops us some more late breaking news about the possible expansion team in his next Brown's Town column. I mean another single sentance about it would really continue to clear up all the rumors. Seriously, why didn't he just make those two blurbs into one short paragraph. Plus, BS posters knew all that info he gave about 3 months ago. We gotta get him a BS premium membership.
Don't know where they'd put it. I've not yet been to Stongsville, though I will be catching some games at a bar there. Brown has been quiet since his two sentence foray into the world of soccer last week. How bout the Cleveland Plain Dealers?
Yeah I looked every day that he's published to see if he's got another tidbit of information. And of course he doesn't. I was gonna try an e-mail him but I've tried e-mailing newpaper columnists before and they never seem to reply. Bastards. Plus I really doubt that he knows anything more than us. I kinda like the Cleveland Black Cats. So nicknamed cause were Clevelanders so our sports teams are perpetually unlucky.
i played for and with Ali and can tell you that he is a hell of a guy... but he isn't alone in his enthusiasm for the game in this area... the Nanchoff Brothers (George & Louie) were members of the National Team at one point, and starred in the old MISL with the Force... they currently run Internationals Soccer Club (one of the best premier clubs in the country)... Mike Sweeny, Joe Raduka, and Marcelo Carrera are still very actively involved in the game on the youth levels... there are 5 or 6 extremely good premier clubs in the area (Ohio Premier, Cleveland United, Cleveland F.C., Whitecaps, Cobras, Internationals, etc.) which have achieved national recognition at different times throughout their history... back to the topic at hand... the new Stadium will be located in Warrensville Heights as part of renovation of that city... Warrensville Heights is just south of Cleveland with extremely easy access from Akron, Cleveland, and many other Cleveland suburbs... a location much like the old Coliseum in Richfield... one of the reasons the new Force and the Cavs have a hard time attracting crowds (besides the horrific level of play) is that the arena is in downtown Cleveland... in the winter time, people don't want to go into downtown, they want to get out... Richfield provided great access from many different points and was easy to get to and get home from... consequently the old Force was known to sell-out (20K) the Coliseum very frequently... a team in Cleveland (which by the way is 1st or 2nd on the list right now) is an excellent idea if it is located in one of the suburbs like Warrensville Heights... soccer in the U.S. is a suburban sport... there are many communities like Hudson and Strongsville in this area who have tremendously large community soccer programs and whose families have very deep pockets... all of these communities would support a Cleveland team very well...
DaniCrew- I was not trying to make it seem as if Ali was alone in promoting soccer in the Cleveland area. There have been alot of people that have helped the sport. I remember an article in the PD, I think, about all the Cleveland soccer "pioneers" which mentioned Ali, Nanchoff, etc. Do you have you seen architectural drawings or an article that verifies that a sss is being built in Warrensville Heights? Where specifically in Warrensville Heights? North Randall is right next to Warrenville, so could this still be the location? Do you know who the owner/operator will be? Bart Wolstein?
Haven't seen any designs for the new stadium yet... but i know that Randall Park Mall was purchased with the intention of building a stadium at that location (right between Northfield Park and Thistledown)... this stadium would be one of the centerpieces of the revitalization efforts in that area... The investment group is headed by Wolstein and includes Paul Garofolo who is currently running the show with the Force... these guys were running around with Garber at MLS Cup last year and are extremely serious about making this happen... And, i apologize... i did not mean to come across as if you were only touting Ali... i just wanted to add a little bit to what you had already stated... Garber has been adamant about one thing for potential expansion cities: thou must have thy own stadium... no stadium, no team... that's why cities such as Philly, Seattle, and Houston, which are attractive due to their market size and their geographic location, are starting to fade as contenders for an expansion team... MLS needs to have the ability to control the schedule... they need to be able to keep revenues from the gate, concessions, and parking... they need to be able to have the game played (and viewed) the way it was intended... if Cleveland is willing to do this, then we should all embrace their efforts... and we should all support MLS if they decide to go in that direction... it is a much better alternative than giving Houston or Philly a team in a NEW, yet cavernous football stadium, where the MLS team would play second fiddle...