Soccer FanHouse

What's Chelsea FC Doing in Raleigh, NC?

David J. Warner — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Soccer, Carolina, Premier League, US Soccer

Chelsea might have a reputation among Premier League clubs for buying stars on the transfer market rather than developing them within the club -- they've already opened the silly season by signing Deco from Barcelona for £8 million -- but that doesn't mean the club's academy is lying dormant. In fact, the big London club is using its youth development program to reach out to America. Chelsea has struck up a partnership with Capital Area Soccer League, a large youth soccer club in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is already sending coaches to work with CASL youth players.

Since this is happening in my neck of the woods, I went to Raleigh to chat with some folks about this partnership. Michael Beale, Chelsea's youth development officer, and CASL coach Andy Truex were gracious enough to put up with my lousy interviewing skills.

It appears this will be just the first of many partnerships Chelsea wants to establish with youth soccer clubs in America, which suits Beale just fine. In case it doesn't come through in the video, this man clearly loves his job, and some kids in Raleigh should be better players for it.

(Thanks to Steph Beck at WRAL and Tian Lee at Chelsea for helping make this interview happen.)

What's Chelsea FC Doing in Raleigh, NC? originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FC Dallas, Revolution Need Extra Time to Advance to U.S. Open Cup Final

David J. Warner — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Boston, Dallas, Seattle, Soccer, Carolina, MLS

Remember when Seattle sports fans complained bitterly about the officiating after the Seahawks lost Super Bowl XL? Well, the 10,385 fans who showed up at Qwest Field last night might have had a sense of deja vu as their Seattle Sounders were knocked off in extra time by FC Dallas, 2-1, in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal.

The center referee in this match was shocking. Fouls weren't called very often on Dallas, and yellow cards weren't given for obvious take-downs. It wasn't until late in regular time when the first yellow card was given, and the only red card given was for dissent after Noah Merl may or may not have asked the ref how much money he had on the game. That sure seemed like a valid question.

Credit the Hoops for finishing the job, though, even though their time-wasting tactics deserved the boos they got and bookings that they didn't. Seattle had countless opportunities to score in regular time and couldn't put one in for the home fans until the very last minute. At least two shot attempts that could have changed the game bounced off the woodwork. Carlos Ruiz (pictured) scored a goal in the 94th minute that gave Dallas a lead they would not relinquish.

The high quality of play in that match may have been a stark contrast to the other Open Cup semifinal, in which the New England Revolution topped the Carolina Railhawks, 2-1, also in extra time.

That game feature lots of bookings and at least one fight, for which Shalrie Joseph and Connolly Edozien were ejected in the 40th minute. David Stokes was shown a red card for a hard foul on Adam Cristman in the 80th minute, leaving the Revs with a 10-on-9 advantage. Revs announcers spent most of the evening comparing the Railhawks to a hockey team.

Pat Noonan finally broke the tie in the 4th minute of extra time to secure the win in front of 4,203 fans in New Britain, Connecticut -- a disappointing number, to be sure, compared to crowd (and the atmosphere) in Seattle.

"We felt it all week," said defender Taylor Graham. "There's been a buzz in the city. There's been a buzz in the organization. And when we got tired in the second half tonight, the fans were definitely trying to help us find some energy. The atmosphere was fantastic. It was the type of atmosphere every player wishes to play in front of."

Unfortunately for the Sounders, they won't have the opportunity to build on that atmosphere in an Open Cup final, which will be an all-MLS affair in Frisco, Texas, on Wednesday, October 3. Casual fans will probably start tuning out, now that the upset-minded lower-division clubs are no longer in the picture.

Still, Seattle deserves some dap here. More than 10,000 people showed up to cheer on a second-division club in a tournament that nobody cares about. This doesn't usually happen in America, and it did nothing but help Seattle's chances of landing an MLS franchise. Soccer fans in that city need to make sure that support doesn't disappear when the USL playoffs start in a few weeks.

FC Dallas, Revolution Need Extra Time to Advance to U.S. Open Cup Final originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Wed, 05 Sep 2007 08:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Revolution Will Not Be Televised for Tuesday Night's U.S. Open Cup Match

David J. Warner — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Boston, Dallas, Seattle, Soccer, Carolina, MLS

It is perhaps the worst kept secret in American soccer that Major League Soccer clubs want nothing to do with the U.S. Open Cup. Yes, it may be this country's only domestic cup competition, but MLS clubs view it as a meaningless affair and usually throw reserve squad players out there against lower division opponents. This is why USL Second Division clubs like the Richmond Kickers and Harrisburg City Islanders knock off the L.A. Galaxy and D.C. United. The MLS sides just didn't care enough.

However, it appears MLS is going from not caring to actively discouraging soccer fans from caring. Tuesday's U.S. Open Cup semifinal between the New England Revolution and the Carolina Railhawks will not be televised anywhere -- not on local TV, and not on the Internet. The only way to watch this game is to go to Veteran's Memorial Stadium in New Britain, Connecticut -- which holds only 8,500 people and is being used here because Gillette Stadium is not available -- and buy a ticket.

The other semifinal match between the Seattle Sounders and F.C. Dallas? The USL's online video service, USL Live, will show that game for free over the web. It appears, however, that USL will not be allowed to webcast the Revolution-Railhawks match, because it's a home game for the MLS side. Thus, it won't be webcast anywhere.

Now, it's entirely possible that I only care about this because the Railhawks are my local team. I've already seen them upset the Chicago Fire in this U.S. Open Cup and would like to see them try to pull off another upset and try to reach the Final, even though a road win against the Revs seems far more unlikely.

Still, this really is an insult to American soccer fans everywhere, and that would be true no matter what club was playing the Revs on Tuesday night. To deny the visiting side's fans an opportunity to see their boys play -- even through the Internet -- shows just how much contempt MLS has for U.S. Soccer and its efforts. This competition is supposed to be the equivalent of the FA Cup in England and the Copa Del Rey in Spain, and while it could use some better promotion, it still means something to the hardcore fans out there. As Tom Dunmore wrote at Pitch Invasion:

Ask any fan from Section 8, and they tell you last year's Open Cup final at Toyota Park was one of their favourite nights as a (Chicago) Fire fan. Yet as much as the hardcore loved it, only 8,185 were at the stadium.

Of course, as Jamie Trecker pointed out at ChicagoSports.com, the Chicago Fire are notorious for trying to market to everyone except the people who actually show up to the stadium.

Here in Chicago, I've watched with bemusement over the years as the Fire has chased after suburban whites and soccer kids while ignoring Polish and Latino community support. Ive watched security guards at Soldier Field go nuts on harmless fans because of the perception that all soccer fans are hooligans; Ive also listened to MLS higher-ups tut-tut the fan-friendly behavior of the team's old GM, Peter Wilt, who made a point of sitting with the teams most die-hard support.

Why, you ask? Apparently, all these loud, happy folks are bad for business because they might scare off the tremulous whites in the suburbs and their towheaded young.

Meanwhile, it appears that the New England Revolution want to scare off everyone, because they don't want people to see just how apathetic they really are to this tournament. Perhaps that's why they won't allow this game to be webcast, because this team cares so little that it might actually lose -- just like FC Dallas might become the third MLS side to go to Seattle and get demolished by the Sounders.

Maybe that's why MLS doesn't want you to watch the U.S. Open Cup -- because it's going to be an all-USL final in Seattle in October, and MLS wants to make sure that no sports fans discover that there's any sort of professional soccer in America beyond MLS, because if they do, the terrorists win.

I think I'll be rooting for both the Railhawks and Sounders on Tuesday night. I also hope Seattle sports fans show up at Qwest Field for the Sounders. Maybe they can get that Seahawks fan that dresses up like a giant koosh ball to be there.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised for Tuesday Night's U.S. Open Cup Match originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The U.S. Open Cup Really Needs a Sponsor

David J. Warner — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington, DC, Soccer, Carolina

And then there were three.

The Seattle Sounders, a USL First Division team, knocked off Chivas USA, 3-1, last night in the third round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. In fact, five out of eight MLS clubs, all of whom entered the U.S. Open Cup in the third round, have been upset by USL clubs. The Los Angeles Galaxy was upset by the Richmond Kickers, the top USL Second Division club, earlier this week. The Chicago Fire, the defending U.S. Open Cup champs, were beaten 1-0 by the Carolina Railhawks, a USL-1 expansion team.

And nobody knows about this. U.S. Open Cup matches aren't shown anywhere on TV, they're barely covered in local press where the games are played, and attendance for most of these matches has been very small. 3,589 fans showed up at Qwest Field last night for the Seattle-Chivas match. There's a growing sentiment that some MLS clubs care so little for this tournament and that they're fielding reserve squads for these games and getting out early to focus on other things.

This is not the fault of MLS. This is the fault of the Unites States Soccer Federation, which organizes this competition.

What does it say about American soccer when you can watch the FA Cup, England's top domestic cup competition, on Fox Soccer Channel, but the U.S. Open Cup, America's domestic cup competition, is relegated to streaming video feeds on USL's web site?

Consider the prize money at stake here, too. The U.S. Open Cup champion receives $100,000 and a nice trophy. Compare that to the FA Cup winner, who receives £2 million and an automatic bid to the UEFA Cup. That doesn't include the TV money and the share of the gate receipts for each game. Gate receipts alone have been known to save lower league clubs from bankruptcy in England. The U.S. Open Cup? No TV money, and really lousy attendance.

Even Superliga, a made-for-TV competiton between MLS clubs and top Mexican clubs, awards the winner $1 million. Some pundits have suggested that clubs participating in Superliga tanked their U.S. Open Cup matches to focus on the richer tournament.

If the USSF wants to avoid this perception in the future, it needs to find a sponsor that will chip in and raise the prize pool for this tournament. A $100K first prize clearly doesn't interest MLS clubs anymore, but $500K might make it more interesting. Then it needs to get these matches on television so that people can watch them. Fox Soccer Channel could certainly use the programming right about now. They have been airing reruns of Premier League and Serie A matches in prime time this month.

The USSF should also talk to CONCACAF about getting the U.S. Open Cup winner into the CONCACAF Champions Cup. That might make MLS clubs a bit more interested. Getting the winner into Superliga might be a bit more of a longshot, since that tournament was organized in part by MLS to increase its exposure south of the border, but it wouldn't hurt to ask, either.

Until something like this happens to improve the profile of the U.S. Open Cup, though, it's will continue to toil in obscurity, and MLS clubs that may have cared about it a few years ago will simply drop out and let the USL clubs have their fun. If this many upsets happened in the FA Cup, England would be bonkers right now. Clearly, this tournament needs someone to champion it -- even if it means renaming it the "Lamar Hunt Umbro Cup" or the "Lamar Hunt Cialis Cup."

Hey, here's an idea -- "Lamar Hunt FanHouse Cup." What say ye, Mr. Mottram? Can we get AOL to hook that up?

The U.S. Open Cup Really Needs a Sponsor originally appeared on Soccer FanHouse on Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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