With the Talk of San Antonio joining the NASL, I decide to put the news in one thread so if you find any news or rumors this is the thread to put it in.
For those who may not know, a soccer supporters group exists in SA. We started in March of 2009. Check out our site: www.Crocketteers.com We have a paid membership kick off program called the Travis 250. We already have over 80 paid members in addition to 120 basic members. We look forward to any news on SA getting a team.
Might want to throw a SA thread in the USL section too. Based on the fact that SA and Phoenix are in talks with both leagues.
Before I get too excited, I want to hear how they meet the USSF D2 standards. I know that the plan is to build a stadium on the land that's available around the STAR complex. And it'll probably be relatively easy to get that done by 2012. The only question is who the owner is that is worth $20M, and that can afford to put down a $750k bond every year.
S.A. gets professional soccer team - Express-News DAO Sports and Enterainment ...has a direct link to Cruz Azul. Looks a little like the NASL is letting in a Traffic competitor.
Great news. Welcome aboard San Antonio! Good news for the league too, because I doubt San Antonio would join up, and apparently pay to get in, if there was any real chance the USSF denies sanctioning.
Gordan Hartman meets those requirements. He started the Gordon Hartman foundation and has built Morgan's Wonderland. A theme park for special needs children. His donation alone to the foundation... 10 million. He also built the STAR soccer complex in San Antonio.
Well, the $750k bond isn't an annual payment. You get the money back at the end of the season, it's basically a surety fund. Now, you might not get it all back. With the additional payments to keep CPB going this season, my guess is that the rest of the teams took a bit of hit to keep them afloat, but in general, the bond is returned.
I see this as a hedge in the NASL sanctioning effort against the fact that they're currently seeking a couple of exemptions for 2011 to get to eight teams, then the fact that they'll be losing Montreal in 2012.
The Crocketteers, San Antonio's Soccer Supporters Group the largest supporters group with out a team with over 400 members, looks forward to working with the new group to make this a reality.
yup. another instance of some fans insisting the new regulations are too strict when they really aren't at all. We'll all obviously be interested in seeing how the ownership group meets the USSF requirements, but at this point I'm going to assume they will be able to or they'd have waited to get the ball rolling on a San Antonio franchise. So, good news!
Congrats Crocketeers! I know you guys wanted an MLS team but this is realistically your best chance of making it there, ala Portland, Vancouver, Seattle and Montreal. In any case, I'm happy to see the NASL stepping up and looking for opportunities where MLS is not present. For far too long our D2 in this country has been lackluster, to put it nicely. I'm hoping that beginning in 2011 (so long as the USL is relegated to D3, and NASL gets sanctioned as D2) our D2 can really become a force of its own.
UTSA = Roadrunners. Armadillos? ehhh.... I kind of like Alamo FC. Or Alamo City FC maybe.... Great stuff, I'm excited. UTSA (my alma mater) with football in 2011 and a NASL expansion franchise in 2012!
Should there be a Preseason Tourney between Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Call it the Lone Star Cup.