Successful Debut for Orlando City SC
The new USL PRO Orlando City SC franchise kicked off their inaugural season on a high note, defeating the Philadelphia Union of MLS 1-0 Saturday at the Florida Citrus Bowl. The preseason match was the first game played by Orlando City.
The Union came into the match having played three previous February friendlies against the USMNT U-17 squad, the University of South Florida and the University of Central Florida. But it was the upstart Lions who scored the game’s only goal. The Union’s Carlos Valdes fouled Orlando City’s forward Max Griffin in the 19th minute. Originally a penalty kick was awarded, but it was determined that the foul occurred outside the 18-yard box and the Lions were granted a free kick.
Midfielder Lewis Neal stepped up and curled the kick towards the Union’s goal. Philadelphia goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon, a Colombian international, was unable to get to the shot, and the Lions had their first goal in team history. Neal, 29, is now in the history books as the first goalscorer in Orlando City history. The English veteran had made over 175 appearances for clubs such as Stoke City, Preston North End and Shrewsbury Town before joining the Lions for the 2011 season.
Being a preseason friendly, both clubs made numerous substitutions during the match but also featured many of the players counted on for prime-time action in 2011. Besides winter transfer pickups Valdes, acquired from Colombia’s Club Santa Fe, and Mondragon, acquired from FC Koln, Union mainstays Roger Torres, Sebastien Le Toux, Danny Mwanga, Jack McInerney and Kyle Nakazawa also featured in the match for coach Peter Nowak.
Orlando coach Adrian Heath called upon many of his former Aztex players now with the Lions, including the ever-threatening duo of Griffin and Jamie Watson, along with Cuban Yordany Alvarez, player-coach Ian Fuller, defenders Kieron Bernard and Mechack Jerome and goalkeepers Miguel Gallardo and Sean Kelley. Also on the pitch for the Lions were longtime Kansas City Wizards’ defender Jose Burciaga Jr. and former AC St. Louis captain Jack Traynor, also a defender.
Despite playing most of the match a man down, the Union were able to get some offense going, but shots by Le Toux, Mwanga, Tierney and Nakazawa went unfulfilled, with Gallardo and Kelley sharing the clean sheet. The crowd, which was described on a tweet as “good,” included members of the famed Sons of Ben Philadelphia supporters group along with the Orlando supporters group, the Ruckus. Former Colombian international and MLS star Carlos Valderrama was also spotted in the crowd.
Orlando City SC will try to follow up Saturday’s win on Thursday, when they take on FC Dallas in the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic on Thursday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. A win on Thursday would give the Lions their first chance at gaining silverware, which would be quite an accomplishment for the new franchise. Meanwhile, next up for the Philadelphia Union are overseas matches against Greek Super League club Ergotelis FC on Feb. 28 and third-division side Hersonissos F.C. as they prepare for their March 19 MLS season opener in Houston.
The Orlando City franchise was announced on October 25, 2010 as Austin Aztex owner Phil Rawlins moved the USL club to Florida, with the new club co-owned by Rawlins and fellow Englishman Brendan Flood. The Philadelphia Union were an MLS expansion club in 2010.
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Wow, if the crowds are as good as the team it’s debut this maybe the future of MLS soccer in Florida. If the fan support is their all season long, their is no reason not to see them within the 3 to 4 years promoted to the MLS. This should be the goal for both the owners and the fans. I wish the Orlando City SC lions all the best and good luck on a successful season both on and off the pitch.
S
So did Phil Rawlins get eaten by a Shark. I really hope so after what he did to Austin.
Dan, what did this for profit businessman do to Austin? It seems pretty clear that the model he envisioned did not work in Austin, and he thinks Orlando is a better market.
Would you have bankrolled his losses and guaranteed him a minimum return (meaning pay him cash out of your pocket) if he had stayed in Austin?
@Bart: Obviously, I’m not Dan…
I think that those people who want to criticize Uncle Phil Jr. have that right–especially if they supported the club.
In Baltimore, we still don’t think much of Robert Irsay for moving the Colts. The people in Cleveland don’t think much of Art Modell for moving the Browns.
Seattle Sounders is a great story but just ask some of the folks about losing the Supersonics.
There is going to be some bitterness. If nobody took shots then that would mean that Austin was irrelevant.
Uncle Phil Jr is a big boy–I’m sure that he can take it. Some things cross the line but taking harmless shots–it’s a therapy mechanism.
Even with the Ravens winning a Superbowl there are people around Baltimore who despise Bob Irsay and the Colts to the point where some won’t use the name–they just say “the Indiannpolis football team”.
From the outside looking in, it looks like UPJr dropped a bomb on Austin. Looks like they were pretty much caught by surprise. In the a couple of the other previously mentioned cases, the owners put the cities on notice.
Of course, I still remember the night that Uncle Bob moved the colts in the dead of the night (I saw it live because I procrastinated on an 11th grade sociolgy report and flipped on the tizzzube to take a break).
Fans and markets appreciate it when owners are straight with them and even being straight with them still doesn’t always mean that nerves are not going to be frayed and feelins hurt.
That’s just my take.
Maximun respect, Playah.
Very nice start for Orlando. Even if it is only preseason, it sets a nice tone.
@Steve J: Bro–love the enthusiasm but ya might wanna sip the Orlando to MLS punch in moderation.
Just ask the Rochester Rhinos fans. Heck, you can ask the Montreal Impact fans. Until Uncle Joey stopped looking for a discount (after backpeddling on not wanting into MLS), they didn’t have a chance of moving up to MLS with all that they had to offer.
I’m not saying it’s impossible for Orlando. I’m just saying that the MLS expansion fee might be $45 million in 3-4 years. That’s a heck of a lot of reasons that they probably won’t be getting “promoted”.
I join you in wishing them all the best.
MLS? Please!
Check out the crowd they drew for a game against MLS opposition, there’s like 18 people
in that huge cavernous stadium..
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D11XOnQzjwA/TWBxXQ2AprI/AAAAAAAAFJI/r32WXApBub8/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-02-19+at+8.19.14+PM.png
I sure hope Orlando City enjoys playing in a lower level of soccer and not D2.
As a former Aztex supporter, all I can say is I hope Dallas destroys them on Thursday.
@Steve J – Yankiboy is right, step away from the delusion inducing beverages. Can’t seem to find any attendance figures anywhere, but the few photos I’ve seen from the game show a very empty cavernous stadium. This may have been a preseason friendly, but it was the team’s first game! they couldn’t get ANYONE in the stands for it? Sorry folks, but as I’ve been saying since the move, Rawlins is definitely going to wind up regretting this decision….
Anyone out there able to come up with any attendance figures on this match? Gerry?
As a fan of the NASL, I thank Mr. Rawlins for leaving Austin open for NASL expansion since it was a a great market with a large active fanbase. Furthermore, I wish Orlando City great luck (despite the club’s lame name) because I want them to be strong when they realize their error and return to the Division 2 fold along with Rochester. The stronger they are on the field the more they will recognize the importance of playing at the highest level possible.
As far as the Philadelphia Union with whom I got stuck as my MLS team for reasons of geography, my patience is wearing out. A great logo & new stadium will only get you so far, they have to start winning games consistently instead of discovering new ways every game to throw away victories and frustrate fans. In some ways, it would be better if they just flat out stunk instead of losing so many games that they should have tied or won. Their propensity for getting red cards has to stop. This is not some rec league in the 1970′s, this is Division 1 at the turning point of soccer in US history.
Another example in favor for introducing promotion and relegation to American soccer.
Before anyone start saying otherwise, I know it’s going to be a while before P&R happens – and FIFA, by giving the 2022 World Cup to frickin’ Qatar, said that they want it to happen.
Mr. Rawlin’s Pulled a Baltimore Colts when he moved the Aztexs out of Austin not even giving the Aztex Supporters a hint. If it wasn’t for BQ, I think the Aztex fans would be wondering why the Aztex site was closed down.
Its more to do with the way Mr. Rawlins did it. No Warnings just moving trucks. Didn’t even wanna give the fans a hint.
I’m curious that there is no attendance listed for this game. Of course being from Austin, I want to compare it to the MLS friendlies Austin had in the first season of the Aztex. Did they match the 3500 from 2009?
And then when I see who is in the lineup: Jaime Watson, Max Griffin and Yordany Alvarez, my heart skips a beat. Those are our guys! Wait, maybe not anymore. They are Orlando City players now.
I had hoped that with the expanded rosters I thought at least one of them would be in MLS. Too Bad.
@ Strikers Return…I checked several sources for attendance but couldn’t find anything, so I just went with the tweet from the game that said the crowd was “good.” Of course good is a relative term…
@yankiboy …As an old St. Louis football Cardinals fan, I don’t know what is worse….the owner skipping out without a word like in Baltimore, or the protracted public negotiations that still leaves one without their home team. Either way sucks.
@Flacotex Well Eddie Johnson of the Aztex is with the Portland Timbers. But I know what you mean. I cringed a little to see that former ACSTL captain Jack Traynor is now on Orlando City. Good for him, cause he’s truly a great guy, but dang it I wish we still had a D2 team in STL. Hopefully someone with $$$$ and a solid plan will give Austin, Baltimore and St. Louis another chance.
OC colors/logo are atrocious.
Has there been ANY hints as to whether a team is going to return to Austin since the Aztex snuck out?
@El Padre: If the NASL’s death cert has been signed by this time next year–which is a distinct possibility–then the teams with regrets will be NASL teams not owned by Traffic and who are not moving on to MLS because it just isn’t possible.
If I were a betting man, I would bet that Clark and Uncle Phil Jr are going to be thrilled that they decided against playing in the NASL.
If the higher level doesn’t make it for more than a year then that will make Mr. “Whose Team am I on Now?” Clark look even smarter and Rawlings look like genius like.
It’s your money, passion and time–you can invest/divest them as you see fit but I would suggest that you give the Union a break. Not everyone can be Seattle. They had a history in the second division and one of the best coaches this in the the US along to help them (re)launch.
Philly should be better this year.
@yankiboy – Usually I’m right with you my friend, but not on this one. Orlando is going to be, as Kenn would put it, a train-wreck. I will be shocked if they are averaging even 1,000 by the end of the year. Orlando is not a pro sports town, it’s just not. Rawlins left behind a GROWING fanbase in Austin. How many minor level markets can claim growth year over year? His average attendance is going to plummet, he’s got to fly to every single one of his away games, and if he’s kept a lot of his Aztex players, is he forcing them to take pay cuts because they’re playing D3 now instead of D2? I’m telling you, he is going to seriously regret the decision to come to Orlando.
As for Clark, who knows. The guy is all over the place. But it would not surprise me at all, that if the NASL can get itself together, to see the Rhinos back up at D2 at some point.
@Strikers Return: Don’t forget Uncle Phil Jr’s secret weapon: DuRoss. If you listen to Econo and the USL, he is a freaking genius and they are lucky to have him (good luck with that).
Come to think of it–you might just be right, the grass may have looked greener…
If he had stayed in Austin he would have still had to fly every place (sorry but I am not drinking the NASL or USL Kool-Aid).
I’m glad that Jay Needham signed to return to Puerto Rico Islanders. I imagined that things were especially unpleasant for him, seeing how things went down in Austin.
Uncle Phil Jr–the Bob Irsay of American professional lower division soccer. I hope it works out for him.
Clark–let’s just say that I personally wouldn’t want to have my economic future tied to him. That guy flip flops more than fish that just got pulled out of the water.
@Yankiboy
So would you say that USL-Pro starting a team in LA and SA with no one near each team. As Red Foreman would say Dumbass. Right now USL-Pro and NASL are both not looking good. So whatever.
@Dan: Agreed. You are going to have you work cut out for you if you are in a remote location with no rivals closeby. I personally wouldn’t use the word “dumb@ss” (just seems a little harsh for my taste); I would prefer knuckleheaded (if you can’t actucally make the situation work).
Some of us here in the DC-Baltimore are like to use the term “hurting” to describe something that doesn’t look to well thought out or of inferior quality.
Excample:
“Bro–the NASL and the USL–They both are looking a little ‘hurting’ right now…”
If you have the money to travel then the expense is not a problem. The NASL requires you to travel great distance. Unless you are travelling from Traffic South (ATL) to Traffic Super South (Miami-er, uhm Ft. Lauderdale) you are going to need to fly.
So, San Anton–either NASL or USL–you had better be able to handle the travel expenses of the biznez like Puerto Rico Islanders or maybe, depending on where you are located you might want to drop down a level.
The LA Blues–my eyes have still not rolled back to their normal positin after their FO stated that the FPF or Puerto Rican clubs were going to help them with travel expenses or some per diem.
I gotta agree with Mr Brian Wellman:
(To paraphrase)the USLPRO format looks better (on the whole) but it’s still the wrong people running it.
The LA Blues debacle is so ludicrous that it is not even funny.
More of the USL same…
@yankiboy – That was my point with Rawlins. I can’t imagine he’s saving much money operating his D3 team this year over his D2 team last year. In fact, given he is certainly going to take a hit in attendance, my money is squarely on him taking at least a 50% loss in numbers, he might actually lose MORE money this year. As we said, still flying to all his away games; can’t possibly be asking his Aztex players to take pay cuts to stay with them; he HAS to spend some kind of money on advertising his team as they are brand new to this city, and I’m guessing the number of last year’s season ticket holders renewing is zero, heh; plus who knows what kind of rent they’re paying to play in that stadium that is absurdly too big for them. Train-wreck on its way for sure.
I love to drink the NASL Kool-aid, but I can also recognize the league’s struggles as well. They scraped by on the sanctioning issue, based on a lot of promises to the Fed I’d bet, and still took a slap on the wrist in losing the USOC invitations. San Antonio for all its big push at the start seems to be faltering. Baltimore, well you’d know better then most what the odds are up there for 2012. But an outsider’s view, one who is nearly as invested because the league needs every team it can get, is not great, not even 50/50 I’d say at this point. Plus I’m guessing the USSF is going to demand at least one of the two ownership situations in Carolina and Atlanta be in place without Traffic by next year. Asking for both of them might just be too much at this point.
USL Pro, well, I think we can all pretty much agree on the International Division being another disaster waiting to unfold. Maybe the PR teams will find a way to draw enough fans to at least give promise to the future. But the costs of travel for those teams is going to be insane for D3, and that’s not even mentioning LA. LA should have been put into PDL until more west coast teams were tricked, err uh, convinced, to move up. I think I said somewhere before that my prediction was for at least three teams who start USL Pro in 2011 to not be there at the start of 2012. That might be an optimistic prediction…..
I’m Routing for NASL if they stick to they vision they set out on. We need D2 to stabilize with MLS getting to 20 teams.
I’m routing for USL-Pro if it can realize that it is D3 and not a defacto D2. Also USL-Pro has to stick with the regional plan and focus on slowly going westward. USL-Pro is already off its plan moreso then NASL.
Lets just pray and hope that Both league learn to live with each other and find away to both become stable.
@Strikers Return
I think I said somewhere before that my prediction was for at least three teams who start USL Pro in 2011 to not be there at the start of 2012. That might be an optimistic prediction…..
And I think I can safely predict that in spite of Davidson’s stated desire to “stop the churn”, there will be at least two teams outside of Montreal that will not be back from NASL in 2012. This is also in addition to San Antonio, which will not be able to field a season in 2012.
I cannot help but believe that LA knew what it was getting into when it insisted that it wanted to play USL Pro in 2011. I also think that the PR teams are with USL Pro on a temporary basis, and that USL must be thinking about a separate league for those non US based teams. Otherwise, it defeats the long term strategy USL has talked about relating to regional play.
This is a newborn season for both leagues. USL Pro can sustain a loss of 3 teams. NASL simply cannot.
This is about individual league margin of error for longevity. I am not slamming either league, it is simply the way it is.
@Dan: Yeah-Let’s hope that both are successful and stable.
@Bart: LA has already proven–straight out of the box–that they have almost no idea of what the heck they are doing. The Puerto Rican financial support that they were counting on to help off set their enormous travel expenses.
They have already made it perfectly clear that they DIDN’T fully realize what they are doing. Embarrassingly so…
@yankiboy – Yeah, Holt having to step up to the mike, what, a day or two later, with egg on his face, saying, umm, no, all USL Pro teams are responsible for their own travel expenses, period…..that showed clearly what we’ve seen in the past from USL, which is the FO and the teams being on VERY different pages.
@Bart – While I don’t begrudge you your opinion about the possibility of NASL teams failing after this season (it’s never a gamble to guess some lower level teams will really), I don’t think you’re looking at it through the prism of the USSF D2 standards. Judging by the close shave the NASL got getting through the sanctioning process, I’d say it would be tough for anyone to argue that the USSF was not clowning around at all in holding them to it. Not even that idiot Archer on Big Soccer, sheesh, what a clown, but that’s another story. The whole point of the financial portion of the standards was to ensure there were no more fly by night ownership groups who were biting off way more then they could chew in such a short timeframe. They force a club to have a main investor worth enough to be able to sustain losses for a decent amount of time up front. This is where the NASL is intending to differentiate themselves from USL. All Marcos, Holt, Papa and Co. ever cared about, and seemingly continue to, is if you can write that expansion fee check. Once that’s covered, it’s good luck, hope to see you next year, but if not, it was nice having your check, err, I mean your team.
@bart – And I’ll add that, despite there being twice as many teams in USL Pro, oh wait a minute, that 16th team in Ft. Lauderdale never did quite materialize…….anyway, despite a nearly 2 to 1 margin in teams, I’d bet that, IF the NASL survives as a league into 2012, that we will see more teams gone from USL Pro from 2011 to 2012, then from NASL. Let me add the caveat of, if the Railhawks or Silverbacks get new investors who want to move the clubs to different markets, that doesn’t count as “turnover” just a move.
I have respect for some of those USL teams like Charleston, Richmond, and Charlotte, they’ll be fine no matter what nonsense Holt and Co. keep running the league with. And as we all know, even if I’m proven right and the NASL stabilizes all its teams, and USL Pro finds itself losing Antigua, one PR team, and say LA, it’s no sweat to the USL FO. They’ll just sign up three new guys in three new markets for a year.
Well lets just all agree that SoccerSam is an idiot.
@Dan: SoccerSam ia genius and a great entertainer. He’s a rock star! He has his finger on the pulse of American soccer.
He “gets” it.
Just ask him…No wait–you don’t have to ask him–all you have to do is listen to him talk for 5 minutes…
“If…USL Pro finds itself losing Antigua, one PR team, and say LA, it’s no sweat to the USL FO. They’ll just sign up three new guys in three new markets for a year.”
-Strikers Return
“Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!
Due nailed that one…”
-Ole Yanki Yank.
Having said that, I still would personally rather relaunch my Baltimore Bays in the USLPRO rather than the NASL.
Harrisburg, Richmond & Pittsburgh so close– I got my region right there and I can pay a lower wage (coz I my name ain’t Andrew Bell and my club won’t be Charleston–we aren’t gonna be a big dog).
I am still looking for investors who don’t mind taking a financial bloodbath.
I’m looking for capital.
@Strikers Return
The whole point of the financial portion of the standards was to ensure there were no more fly by night ownership groups who were biting off way more then they could chew in such a short timeframe. They force a club to have a main investor worth enough to be able to sustain losses for a decent amount of time up front. This is where the NASL is intending to differentiate themselves from USL.
So, in order to differentiate themselves from USL, they are looking for investors that know they will lose money in MINOR LEAGUE SOCCER, to the tune of $850,000 to $1,400,000 a year with a net worth of $20,000,000? What idiot tags on that line? No one I know that worked hard to compile a net worth of $20,000,000.
So here is the problem, and you already know it…..Traffic is funding 4 teams, meaning NASL could not find the minimum number of idiots(oops, I mean sophisticated investors) that can field the necessary teams.
I know, I know, good ole Hartman is just waiting in the corner to come on over in 2012, but let’s face facts, he is only in the wings because he is dreaming that D2 soccer will overcome his more serious problems with the cash drain of Morgans Wonderland. If he can’t solve the Morgans Wonderland problem, he will “sell” the team. So much for, as you put it, a main investor worth enough to be able to sustain losses for a decent amount of time up front.
The savior for the league that NASL is banking on to replace Montreal does not even buy into the increased standards, as he won’t play unless he gets someone else’s money to gamble.
Yes, this is all future forecasting, but logic is a non-wavering body.
Bart lets just face it the only way for D2 and D3 Soccer to work is for MLS to step in and take over. Get rid of both USL and NASL and take all the teams and force single enity on it.
I don’t think single entity is the savior, not even for MLS. Whether you like it or not, with few exceptions, soccer has little fan base beyond the soccer mom youth groups throughout the US. It is much like the debate club in high school, something one thought important at the time, but not something one sees as a pro sport.
MLS uses SUM’s marketing profits to offset the harsh realities of its team game losses, very smart, for sure, but it is only a band aid on the problem of a low fan base.
As for MLS, it also helps to be part of the billionaire boys club, as losing a few million dollars becomes less painful at the higher level.
@Bart “What idiot tags on that line? No one I know that worked hard to compile a net worth of $20,000,000″.
Or, maybe were not tax experts…
“Companies are allowed to record tax credits for current losses and use those credits to lower their bill when they return to profitability. If companies have more tax credits than profits, they are allowed to carry those credits forward for up to 20 years or until they are used up”.
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1934813,00.html
@Bart – Your cynicism is unending, and seems to cloud your view at times as well. I’ve never proclaimed that the NASL is definitely going to succeed where USL has failed over and over. Odds are actually in favor of them, despite trying things differently, to fail as well. And you’re right about the biggest problem – currently not a large enough fanbase. But what do you do if you love the game? Do you just quit? If everyone had that attitude since 1994, we wouldn’t have what we have now, which even you must admit, is light years ahead of what we had then.
Has the growth been painfully slow along most of the way? Yep. Are pro soccer teams, at any level, that actually turn a profit, still the exception rather then the rule? Yep. Would it be nice if soccer suddenly vaulted forward in popularity and filled the coffers more across the board? Of course. But things are what they are. You make it sound like you think pro soccer has reached its zenith in this country. Is that it? Do you really think the US and Canada aren’t the region of the world with the most potential for large scale growth left? Where do you envision better unrealized potential growth? Most of the world, where it is economically feasible, ie. there are dollars to be made, has been growing the game for decades upon decades, so the room for further growth is just not there in great amount anymore.
The key, that no one has still been able to hit on, is how to make soccer more relevant to American sports fans. It’s grown, but not to the point that those of us who care would like. It will keep growing. Losing the World Cup hosting hurt a little, but the performance of the men’s national team is certainly more important. People love to root for their country, especially when they’re winning. This is an important factor in drawing more fans in, the national team being relevant on the international stage.
But the bottom line is, you give NASL no credit whatsoever in taking their lumps, taking their losses, and still making the effort to forge ahead. They seem to believe the market is close enough to turning, close enough to getting to the point where the losses start diminishing because the fanbase has grown large enough, to keep moving forward. Are they right? Got me. But I’m sure damn glad they’re trying. And I’m doing everything I can to help. I have my season tickets for the Strikers for my entire family. Once merchandise is available, I’ll buy it. I’ll spend my money at the concession stand to make the experience more enjoyable for my family. And I’ll tell my friends about what a good time I’m having, and they should come down to Lockhart and enjoy a game and see if it hooks them too.
@Strikers Return: Just another reason why you are a bigger asset to professional league soccer than I am:
I am kind of a cheap dude (ok-I am a cheap dude); I usually don’t buy too much from the concessions. Way to spread the wealth around a little bit, Playah.
@yankiboy – LOL My wife would call me cheap sometimes too, but it’s really more a matter of WHAT I’m willing to spend money on, besides her and the kids of course. LOL