Search "phoenix rising"

  • USSF Division III

    USL League One, NISA and return of pro soccer to USSF Division III

    The history of lower-division soccer in the United States is a rocky journey through a rotating door of clubs, acronym-heavy leagues and the aspiring saviors of U.S. Soccer who mastermind them. As evidence, one needs only to look at two images sourced from the United States Soccer League System...
  • lower-division soccer - usl progress report

    USL Western Conference: Midterm progress report

    The World Cup has reached the knockout rounds with upsets galore and many a favored contender heading home early. But you probably knew that already. Instead of using some weird metric to rank and/or predict the World Cup, I’ve been itching to get back to my bread and butter:...
  • USL Western Conference

    USL Western Conference: Q1 progress report

    We’re now roughly one-quarter through the 34-game USL season, meaning most teams have played somewhere between 7 and 10 games each. As of right now, 147 of 561 matches have been played, which is 26.2 percent of the season completed. This is close enough to 25 percent for me,...
  • lower-division soccer - usl progress report

    ‘Too Small to Succeed’: The perils of owning a lower-division pro soccer team

    The lower divisions of American soccer are a tumultuous place. Whether it is the collapse of individual clubs, irresponsible behavior toward players or the death of an entire league, the stories of instability are as commonplace as a PBR at your local dive bar. Yet, there is one narrative...
  • USL - 2018 USL season preview

    Comprehensive 2018 USL season preview

    After a long, dramatic D2 offseason fraught with lawsuits, chaos and #HotTakes, we have finally emerged at the other side with the USL as our now and future D2 league. Last year’s season broke records on and off the field, and raised the bar for what we can expect...
  • USL - conference alignment

    USL announces 2018 conference alignment

    After a few offseason changes to its stable of clubs, the United Soccer League (USL) revealed its conference alignment for 2018 on Friday morning. With 33 total teams, the league will be divided up into 16 sides in the Eastern Conference and 17 in the Western Conference. The Mississippi...
  • change stadiums

    Swope Park to change stadiums in 2018

    United Soccer League club Swope Park will not return to Swope Soccer Village and is exploring stadium options for the 2018 season. The club, which MLS club Sporting Kansas City owns and operates, is working with the league to meet the United States Soccer Federation’s Division II requirements. Swope...
  • Anchorage

    Project 50/50: Part I

    Right now, the American soccer landscape is in the best shape it has ever been. We have a thriving top-flight league in MLS, two growing Division 2 leagues and two newly announced Division 3 professional leagues in the USL D3 and NISA. With new leagues come new markets, and...
  • Exclusive: San Francisco FC a potential USL team in 2019

    Nipun Chopra – Thanks for speaking to Soc Takes, Jordan. We understand you have information you’d like to share with everyone. Jordan Gardner – Yes, we have applied for an USL expansion franchise in San Francisco to kickoff in Spring 2019. We’re still looking at venue sites in the...
  • Andy Craven joins OKC Energy

    Soc Takes understands that OKC Energy have signed Andy Craven as a trade deal for Danni Konig; as first reported by Soc Takes. The 25-year-old striker heads back to OKC Energy having made just three appearances for FCC. His final appearance against Bethlehem Steel resulted in him being given a four-game...