June 17, 2013 By Ridge Mahoney Its shortened schedule to accommodate the FIFA international playing dates turned out to be a case of less is more for MLS. The five games played Saturday produced a seven-goal thriller, losses for both conference leaders, two red cards, several spectacular gamewinners, and the victorious debut of an interim head coach. Portland, unbeaten in 13 games, got off the tie schneid to beat Western leader FC Dallas, 1-0, with a superb goal by Darlington Nagbe. Eastern frontrunner Montreal took a 2-0 defeat in Columbus. The results juggled the top three spots, with the Timbers …
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June 11, 2013 Major League Soccer franchise fees have increased twenty fold from the league’s ten charter clubs in 1996 to introduction of the twentieth franchise in 2013. As the dust has settled following Major League Soccer’s much anticipated announcement of New York City FC alongside Manchester City FC and the New York Yankees, it is time to revisit the the rise of franchise fees across Major League Soccer. Since the league’s inception in 1993 and inaugural season in 1996, MLS has experienced the highs of a business born into the excitement surrounding the FIFA World Cup hosted by the …
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“Personally, I don’t think we should stop a child from playing soccer at the youth level because they wear a turban. However, I understand the decision made by the Quebec Soccer Federation based on a FIFA rule that allows for interpretation. Comments accusing the QSF of racism are misplaced in regards to the context with which the federation made its decision. The Canadian Soccer Association made a recommendation and did not officially state its position to provincial federations. Furthermore, the decision by the Canadian Soccer Association to suspend the QSF is exaggerated. All parties involved must find some common ground …
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By Sports Network, 06.07.13 The San Jose Earthquakes announced on Friday that the club has parted ways with head coach Frank Yallop. Yallop guided the Earthquakes to the Supporters’ Shield last season, but he has struggled to replicate that success this term despite returning mostly the same team as last year. San Jose has won just three of its 15 league matches so far, and Yallop will be replaced by assistant coach Mark Watson, who takes charge for the rest of the season on an interim basis. “Mark Watson is an excellent coach and the team is in very good …
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By Ridge Mahoney and Paul Kennedy, editors Soccer America Crowds totalling nearly 100,000 are quite possible at CenturyLink Field in Seattle for a Sounders-Whitecaps MLS match Saturday and the USA-Panama Hexagonal qualifier on Tuesday. To a season-ticket base of about 31,000 the Sounders have sold approximately 20,000 more tickets for the Cascadia Cup game with Vancouver. Rather than limiting capacity to about 39,000 as is done for most MLS games, the Sounders are opening up CenturyLink to its full capacity of nearly 67,000. The Sounders are tops in average MLS attendance at 39,066 per game, more than double the league …
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June 5, 2013, by Paul Kennedy, Editor in Chief + General Manager Soccer America Brett Lashbrook, the special assistant to MLS Commissioner Don Garber who was one of the point persons on MLS’s expansion efforts in New York, has joined Orlando City’s front office on its bid to secure an MLS expansion franchise of its own. Lashbrook will join the Orlando front office on Monday and assist the club’s ownership group in finalizing plans for a new soccer stadium and negotiating a MLS expansion agreement. The Lions’ stated goal is to bring MLS to Central Florida by 2015, though one …
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